If you are a small business, you need to be riding the “long tail” in all of your online marketing. Why is it important?

Here’s why…

See Al Gore invented the Internet some time ago (joke), and I think you will agree it is a pretty competitive place these days. To compete (especially when you are getting started online) with your blog or website you need to compete in a smaller pond so to speak.

So, here’s where the long tail comes in…

If I optimize my website for the term “Marketing Consultant” I am competing with potentially millions of sites with years of history. Not that I am not going to try of course, but it will take me some time. That is a great long term goal, but like you I want leads NOW dang it!

So, here’s how you can win in that game. Leverage the long tail. Optimize your site for a term like “Marketing Consultant Tampa, FL” for instance. Or even get more specific, and use a keyword like “Marketing and Branding Consultant Tampa Bay” for instance.

Here’s a good way to do a little research. Go into Google and put your keywords in quotes. See my example below. You will notice there are only 12,300 competing sites. Now we are on to something here…

So…When you are optimizing all of your online digital assets you need to be leveraging the long tail. This includes images, video, audio and of course your blog posts. So how do I do that you ask? Well, in part 2 we are going to dive into that deeper and go into long tail research for your small business.

Start by writing down all of the top level phrases related to your service, product, or industry. These are usually one or two word phrases or keywords that are commonly used by your prospects when searching for your product or service.

Start there, and you will be ready for part 2…

Now…Get back to work and Target, Attack, and Profit!

To Your Success,