Texas SEO: What the heck is long tail and do I want one?

Texas SEO Advice and Tips:

The more I talk to people about their website/search engine goals the more I realize everyone basically wants one thing.  Page 1.  And by Friday :)

By the way, if anyone guarantees you page one within a certain period of time. Run. Fast.

Real life phone call scenario at Jakerbaker:

“Ring Ring!”
Hi, thanks for calling Jakerbaker.
“Yeah, I’m like really busy and I’m, like,….you know…want to be on page 1 of Google…and um…I, like, you know, want to–you know-hang on I need to tee off can you hold?…”
Sure, take your time.
“Yeah, I’m back….yeah…ummm…can you put my website on page one?  Like, by Friday?  Because my rent is due in 2 weeks!
Probably not, Search Engine stuff takes time and patience and diligence.  Plus you’ll need a budget.   SEO is more like growing a garden–you must water it and over time you’ll see some good stuff.
“Sorry you broke up, all I heard were some words that sounded like patience and diligence.  What if I waited a week, could you call Google and get it done by then?”  And can I pay you after my website ranks #1 for the term “Lawyer”.

That’s the typical  “I want to be on page one of Google by Friday” phone call. 

Happens more than I care to admit.  But the purpose of this article is to help set some basic expectations because for most people, they need to go with a PPC (pay-per-click) campaign.  PPC  results are FAST and EXPENSIVE, and-in my humble opinion, not sustainable.  Eery year PPC rankings only go up in price and therefore you have to pay more the same page rank.  But for what PPC lacks in affordability it makes up for in speed.  Want to page 1?  Just be prepared for some $$$.

 PPC is like renting a house.  Organic search engine placement is like owning  it..   It takes time…sometimes a LOT of time.  But it does happen.   

Remember, I’m an organic search guy. I truly believe in natural, organic search vs. PPC.  It’s changed my mortgage business (www.mylendingplace.com)  and I’m only willing to offer what I truly believe in.

So let’s talk about organic search and how to improve your natural, organic search results. Let’s talk about “Long Tail”

I recently read a book by Chris Anderson called ”Longtail” and it truly changed the way I thought about SEO and page rank.   For the geeky types, check out the two links below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Tail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yku0GTrcuw

In a nutshell long tail is where most of your business is likely to come from. The middle and long tail is where you’ll cash checks. 

 Think of a ski slope.  That’s the idea of long tail… people type all kinds of things in search engine search fields.  Some not specific at all (“lawyer”), some people type very, very, very specificly.  EG “lawyer in Dallas Texas who helps people with adoption rights”

Another example:  Let’s take my mortgage business, www.mylendingplace.com.  If one were to type “mortgage” this is the tippy top of the ski slope.  Short tail ususally is one or two very specific words.   Mortgage Rate, Divorce Attorney, Wedding Chapel are just a few examples.   And becaues these are very broad  they are very, super-duper, competitive.  Very broad=very expensive if you were to rank this way with PPC.

Now think about moving out of longtail and adding just one thing:  A geographic indicator.    So  ”mortgage rates” becomes “Mortgage rates Houston Texas.”  With the addition of words we are leaving the top of the ski slope and moving towards long tail.  The more specific the search =Long Tail.

Check this out, check out this real-life search I got on www.mylendingplace.com.  Long tail city! 

Long tail search is where you’ll get most of your customers in the first 1 to 2 YEARS of your SEO campaign.  Yes, I said YEARS.   For people who don’t like that word and don’t want to wait that long just open your checkbook and call a PPC dude. 

But I’d rather own a house than rent one so, naturally, I’m an organic search kind of SEO dude.   If after 3 years with Jakerbaker you’ll still rank well.  You might send me a “dear john” email and say, thanks for your work–see you around.  Bye bye.   And you’ll still maintain your search rankings.  But with PPC, the moment you stop feeding the PPC machine…your search engine rankings go night-night.

Another reason I don’t like PPC.   In fact, the only real reason I like PPC as a website owner is it’s easier to type.   All joking aside, the only way I would advocate PPC is if I first used organic search and knew without a doubt what my top 3 money-making key phrases were.  And then, armed with those proven key phrases, launched a PPC campaign.

So how do you get traction with the long-tail?  Without boring you to tears here’s my advice.  Blog.  Blog a lot. Blog often.    If you treat your blog/website like you would treat a garden you’ll be A-OK. 

Do something everyday, provide lots of good content, add links to your site (huge!), and link out of your site too good sites. 

It might take 3 months, it might take 1 year.

Here’s another example of longtail search in action.  Take a look:  Notice my mortgage company is page 1, #1 for the term “best mortgage rates houston texas“…this is text-book longtail!  Out of 1.5million pages, I’m #1.   Hang on, let me enjoy this moment.  Okay, I’m over it.  How long did it take for me to rank for “mortgage rates houston texas.”   

 A long time.  How much do I pay if you click on that link. Zero.  How much would you pay one of the PPC people around me.  Probably $1-3+ dollar per click.  

www.mylendingplace.com

Remember these words and your SEO efforts will be fruitful:   Serious buyers search specifically.   Take it to heart.   So blog about your subject in every way possible.   Just like I’m doing now. Today I’m talking about longtail SEO, tomorrow I’ll blog about in-bound links, next I’ll talk about anchor texts and anchor jpgs…..you get the idea.  After a while, the collective force of your website’s content drives you up…and up….and uP….and UP! 

 If you’re a lawyer, talk about the cases (on your website) directly related to the business you want to get.  Want to focus on divorce or adoption work??-  Then only blog (or add content) relative to that topic.  Heck, consider launching a totally new website just for your adoption work.    Wash rinse repeat.

“Do you really want me to own or manage 2+ websites.”  Yes.  Ask me how many mortgage sites I own and manage.  Wait, on second thought please don’t. :)

I mean, if you’re going thru a divorce you’re probably are not going to Google “divorce” which is the short tail, the top of the ski slope term everyone is throwing PPC money at.  No,  you are likely to Google “Divorce  lawyers Austin Texas“.  Right?    This is long tail baby!  And this is really what you want.  If you are an Austin lawyer you don’t want Miami people calling you…right?  So not only is long tail good, but it’s predictable.   So as you’re re-tooling your SEO stuff go after the middle of the road and long term key words with geographic indicators.   DO NO T chase broad terms.   Go after the middle or the road, less broad stuff.  IE  “Divorce lawyer Austin, Texas.”

Remember, serious buyers search specifically so your content needs to be specific.  Blog a log, blog often and you’ll be okay.  Don’t want to deal with all the website blah blah…then call us and pay us to do it for you.   :)  End of sales pitch.

Add content.  A lot.  Be patience.  Be diligent and over time your phone will ring.   Promise.

~~Mr. Jakerbaker, Ie.  Search Engine Dude (TEXAS)