long tail internet marketingIn case you haven’t heard, the internet has a tail. A very, very long tail.

Long tail internet marketing has become something of a catchphrase over the last few years, but for many marketers, it’s still unclear what, exactly, this phenomenon means for them.

Related Post: Why You Should Focus On Long Tail Keyword Marketing

In this post I’ll give a brief overview of long tail marketing.

What Is Long Tail Internet Marketing?

Long tail internet marketing is the idea of leveraging thousands of very specific searches in order to aggregate large numbers of users.

The theory is simple: target markets use a number of different keyword clusters, and for any given cluster there are primary, broad terms that are accompanied by a host of related, more specific terms.

The best way to explain is through an example:

Consider the niche for “soccer cleats.”

Some of the broad keyword phrases for this niche might include:

  • Soccer cleats
  • Soccer shoes
  • Soccer footwear

Each of these, while very relevant, is extremely broad. For each term you then have more specific searches, such as:

  • Soccer cleats for adults
  • Soccer cleats for men
  • Soccer cleats for boys
  • Soccer cleats for 10 year old
  • Where to buy soccer cleats for 10 year old

Now consider that there are a number of additional related terms you could throw in, like “good” or “best” + the rest of the phrase:

  • Best soccer cleats for 10 year old
  • Good soccer cleats for 10 year old
  • Top soccer cleats for 10 year old
  • Best place to buy soccer cleats for 10 year old

You get the idea.

The point is, for any niche there are thousands upon thousands of these terms. Even if each term only gets a few hundred searches per month, those searches quickly add up.

Click here to read more about why long tail marketing works. 

As a marketer, you have a huge opportunity here. Since many of these terms have low search volume, they also tend to have lower competition than their 1 or 2 word parents.

By targeting these smaller groups first, you’ll not only begin to rank on the long tail keywords very quickly, but you’ll be working your way up to having a site ready to compete against the broader, higher traffic terms!

One of the best trainings about how to do this from an affiliate standpoint is Wealthy Affiliate, which shows you exactly how to pick the low hanging fruit and turn them into a profitable, traffic generating website.

Click here to read more in my Ultimate Affiliate Marketing Guide.