IDX and Long-Tail Keywords

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In simplest terms, long-tail Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves targeting keyword search terms that are more obscure and less frequently searched. For example, a generic search term might be “Real Estate,” whereas a long-tail search term might be “green homes for sale in Cornelius NC.”

According to online marketing specialist Alan Mitchell, targeting long-tail keywords on your web site can provide the following benefits:

1. While individual terms may be somewhat insignificant, en masse long-tail keywords can generate significant search volume (high impressions).

2. Long-tail keywords have less competition than generic keywords, providing a potentially higher Click-Thru Rate (CTR) and lower cost per click (CPC) for paid campaigns.

3. Long-tail keywords are more specific than generic keywords, so paid campaigns can be better tailored to match individual searchers’ needs.  This results in higher CTRs and fewer wasted click-thru’s from irrelevant searches.

4. People conducting long-tail searches are usually further along in the buying or selling process than those conducting generic searches. This results in higher capture and conversion rates.

5. The combination of higher CTRs, lower CPCs and higher capture and conversion rates leads to higher profits via a much lower cost per acquisition (CPA).

With these benefits in mind, consider creating highly specialized content areas on your web site. These may include community pages, but it goes far beyond that. Think of featuring highly targeted listings within individual communities. For example, Jonathan Osman in Charlotte, NC not only has community pages that feature content about various neighborhoods around Charlotte, he also features pages on green homes, luxury homes, golf communities and forclosure/bank-owned homes. Creating dozens of highly targeted pages like these is excellent SEO for a large number of long-tail search terms relevant to Jonathan’s market area. A Google search for a variety of long-tail terms related to these pages usually finds Jonathan’s site on the first page of results, often with multiple entries.

Furthermore, Jonathan has linked to relevant IDX search results  from these pages using the URL Search Builder and related documentation. So if a web site visitor lands on the Green Homes for sale page, links to individual communities pull up matching homes with a single click (such as “Eco-Friendly Homes in Cornelius”). In other words, the specialized pages generate the long-tail search traffic, while matching IDX searches capture the leads. This combination of long-tail keyword targeting using specialized content areas, coupled with specific matching dynamic IDX searches fuels a lead capture rate for Jonathan that is far and away among the best of agents nationwide.

Of course, while it’s not rocket science, it’s not turn-key either. There is no secret sauce here; Jonathan has achieved these results through a lot of hard work, perseverance and creative use of available tools. But the results are well worth the effort.