When website traffic increases, owners may experience higher sales or higher ad revenue. Knowing this and actually making it happen takes a bit of strategy. This is where the use of long-tail keywords can be extremely helpful.

The idea behind using long-tail keywords came from an article Chris Anderson published in Wired magazine. Anderson floated the idea that crowd sales of niche products could outsell popular products, especially since there is so much competition on the popular front. Since then, this idea has been applied to the Internet and to methods of driving traffic to sites.

Before diving into the concept, it helps to understand what long-tail keywords are. They are nothing more than longer keyword phrases that people use during their internet searches to help them find sites of interest. Instead of single keywords that most website owners and managers use to optimize, the long tail involves less frequently searched keyword phrases. These keywords tend to be more focused and targeted than a single global search. They also tend to reflect exactly what a searcher needs to find. So, in essence, they are the “niche.”

If a person is looking for information on dog training, for example, they may go beyond typing “dog training.” Your actual search might include terms like “golden retriever training”, “Labrador puppy taming”, “dog agility training”. These particular terms may not have the ranking or traffic potential that the top keywords have, but they have proven to be very helpful in leveraging traffic in a different way. The trick here is that these phrases don’t have the competition that headwords might.

Long tail keywords offer benefits. These can, when used correctly, lead to more targeted traffic in the long run. The benefits of using long-tail keywords include the potential for a higher conversion rate (since the exact focus of the searcher’s request has been met), easier ranking on search engine sites, increased traffic and, consequently, higher income. Basically, the benefits come from leveraging lots of different custom searches, rather than trying to compete with thousands of other sites that focus solely on single-word head keywords.

Putting the long-tail keyword strategy to work on a website requires finding the right keywords to use. There are several easy ways to do this.

One way that site administrators often use is to purchase or use a tracking program like HitTail. This program analyzes a site and makes suggestions about long-tail phrases that might work. HitTail is easy to use and very useful. Another method is to look at the phrases that website visitors type in for internal searches. This can be a great way to find out exactly what things visitors are looking for, which can lead to better optimization. The Google AdWords Keyword Tool and similar programs, such as Ad Word Analyzer software, can also be very beneficial.

There are other options to optimize traffic with the right phrases. They include looking at the competition to see what long-tail keywords they use and even allowing natural development to occur. The latter involves simply adding more content to a website on a regular basis, using main keywords and phrases as the backbone.

Starting to optimize a website for long-tail keywords is not very difficult. Most people suggest looking at competitor sites to see what they do and then discovering the best phrases to use in the optimization process. Then comes the need to increase content that could help tap into the traffic. And of course, consider using keyword tools to speed up the research process.

Driving traffic to a website is not always easy. Going through the back door by targeting niches can be one way to make this happen. Long tail keywords are the key that can unlock everything. It is very important to use them.