LOL… this is yet another post that was first a comment on another blog, but got so long that I decided to write a post instead.
Mary wrote an interesting post on why she believes that the long tail does not work well for real estate bloggers. I found it to be an interesting read… but like so many of the “how to” real estate marketing blogs out there, I found it to be too one sided and unbalanced. It reminds me of the argument that has become classic in the real estate blogosphere: should you write for the search engines or write for readers? The answer is BOTH!!
By the way, Mary: you know I love ya, and I’m not trying to start an argument here, just wanted to share my opinion on the subject.
I strongly believe in the concept of the long tail. It is a sound principal, and it works for many different industries including real estate. By the way, if you don’t know what the long tail is, try this link. Does this mean that everyone should be going after the long tail keywords? Not necessarily… let me explain:
The Problem With Targeting Long Tail Keywords
An example of a long tail keyword for a real estate blog would be something like this: “Seven Meadows community pool hours Katy Texas”. As you can see, it’s very long and specific, and it is probably only searched for a handful of times per month (if at all). I’ve seen many people that will write posts like this thinking somehow that they will really get some great targeted traffic from it. That may be… but there are a few simple problems with that idea. First of all, there are very few people searching for this phrase on the search engines. Even if you get top positioning, you may only get 1-2 visitors per month. Secondly, is this search phrase related to real estate? The answer is no, which means that chances are extremely slim that any traffic coming to the site will convert. I’ve seen many well intentioned RE bloggers try to target phrases like this, and I’m sorry to break it to them, but they will probably never convert into a customer. There is nothing wrong with posting helpful community information, but with the relatively low number of search queries for that phrase you will likely never see anything out of it.
The Problem With Targeting Short Tail Keywords
Targeting the short tail keywords is what Mary is suggesting as the best way to target customers with your real estate blog. As I see it, there are a couple problems with that view. An example of a short tail keyword would be something like: “Katy Texas real estate“. The first problem is that everyone and their mother in the Katy market is trying to target this same keyword phrase. The competition is fierce, and you need to have an authoritative well written, and well optimized site to rank well. It’s not necessarily a problem if you know how to get a site to rank well and have the time to spend on it, but many people have a difficult time achieving this.
The 2nd problem is that the phrase: “Katy Texas Real Estate” is extremely generic. Just because it receives many search queries per month does not necessarily mean that everyone searching for that phrase is looking to buy/sell real estate. Many studies have shown that the short tail phrases do not provide the best ROI (Return On Investment). This is because of the fact that many of them are too broad and do not convert well.
Thirdly, as a blogger, it’s simply not practical to keep targeting the same 5-10 keyword phrases over and over and over… Can you imagine if you used one of your top 5-10 keyword phrases in the title of every single blog post? You’d be arrested by the spam police! LOL (that may not happen, but it will really turn your readers off, and it won’t help your ranking)
So, as you can see, there is a problem with both views. Which is why I present the third view…
The Money Tail
Ok, I know it’s a corny name, but it was better than “medium tail”. Here’s why you should be targeting the “Money Tail”:
These would be keywords like: “katy texas condos for sale” or “real estate listings in Katy Texas”. The benefit of targeting keywords like these is that they are searched fairly often, but are specific enough to not have a high level of competition.
The side benefit of targeting the Money Tail is that the keywords usually have a very high ROI. They are specific phrases targeting real real estate consumers, and they convert extremely well. “real estate listings in Katy Texas”, will always convert better than “katy real estate”. The Money Tail Keywords aren’t too generic like our short tale example, and they aren’t too obscure like our long tale example.
So, in my opinion… a balance must be struck. Target those money tail keywords, and you will see a higher ROI, better rankings, and a higher conversion rate.
Related posts:
- Is Your Website Eating Itself Through Keyword Cannibalization?
- Hittail.com: a Revolution in SEO
- 8 Unique Ways to Use Google Alerts To Capture New Customers
- Is Your Market Saturated with Other Bloggers?
- Have you Been Slapped by Google?
April 23rd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Justin:
Great post. I am beginning to see that the value of the long tail is limited - it generates traffic but not enough meaningful traffic.
I love your idea of the “money tail” and will start putting it to use immediately. However, it’s tough to come up with more than a handful of keywords. Thanks!
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Justin,
I completely agree with you about the money tail. We are constantly trying to convince our clients to not go after Orange County Real Estate or their county + real estate and its really hard for agents to understand…they percieve it as turning away business!
I like to think of it as “weeding out” the unqualified traffic and only paying for exactly what you want, and the exact target market you serve. Let everyone else fight over the rest, right???
As a SEO / Realtor I can tell you I have CLOSED SALES from long tails, and closed sales from short tails, but the short tail closes seriously are 1-3 years out for closing. So unless the agents have follow up campaigns for years I recommend they stick with the long tails and money phrases.
Thanks for always posting such insightful stuff!!!
Angie Weeks - CFO Cal Coast Web Design
First Time Buyer specialist Metro Realty
April 24th, 2008 at 6:45 am
very good explanation. i myself target long tails first, after a few months i’ll move on to shorter and much more competitive terms.
April 26th, 2008 at 5:47 am
This is the first I have heard about “tails” but it was a great explanation. I don’t see how anybody could argue with this.
April 27th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Excellent post. I go after both short tail and long tail. One of my real estate websites ranks very well for both. However, I am promoting a new site and plan to do a combination of long and short tail. If you create enough content you can do both.
I love “The Money Tail” and totally agree. The traffic is not the most but still steady and the leads are usually of better quality.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Could the reason keywords like “katy texas condos for sale” and “real estate listings in katy texas” are so cheap is because it’s a really small area and there just isn’t real estate competition in the area? I’m not sure if you meant no competition for the keyword or just no competition for the real estate market there. A keyword like “austin texas condos for sale” would be very costly and competitive, so I guess the only real benefit in “katy texas condos for sale” is that not many people live there.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
@JBourne
No, I didn’t point out Katy since it’s a smaller area. The theory stands in any market.
It may be that “austin texas condos for sale” is more competitive than “katy texas condos for sale”, but I was comparing it to broad terms like “Katy Texas Real Estate”, which is vastly more competitive and costly. And the same it true if you use your example and compare “Austin Texas Real Estate”.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:32 am
Great Post, I have never heard of the “Money Tail” Before, but now it makes perfect sense. I have been putting to much emphasis on the short tail keywords
May 1st, 2008 at 5:42 am
I think you argued the point I have been thinking of quite succinctly. The money tail is a exactly where we want to be. No need to fight for the very short tale terms like “real estate” or “homes for sale” but no need to try and get found for “light green two story one bedroom home with swimming pool and swamp view in Podunk County Nebraska” either. It’s the money tail that fits in between these.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:17 pm
The “Money Tail”? I like it!
This has given me some stuff to digest. It has always been my understanding that you target the long-tail first, all the while building up your ability to take on the short tail. Perhaps the “money tail” is where those 2 meet?
Thanks for the post! (I just found your blog, and it’s just what I’ve needed)
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:03 am
I’m on board with you about the long tails. I thought the very nature of long tail searches were that they were really something that you can’t (easily) optimize for. Rather they’re the natural result of active blogging or article efforts and the luck of the draw.
When I write a post or article, I focus on a general subject and usually end up hitting most of the major keywords and probably countless long tails. Personally I feel it’s a big waste of time to even try to target long tails unless it’s a pretty active long tail. Rather, I think it’s more useful just to be an active blogger - this of course increases all long tails.
I tend to think that going after short tails is OK even with competition. There’s no such thing as “bad” content unless it’s off-topic.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:20 am
The problem is also one of search volumes, I think they are on the slide as the brands become more established. Don’t think this is true? In Australia real estate is dominated by one player and Google search traffic is minimal as a result. Everyone goes straight for the bookmark.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:47 am
It seems as though if you target your city, (as opposed to say your county or state) it brings better results on the medium (or money area) keywords.
Though some are really competitive.It pays off just getting listed at all.
I would advise anyone to read this blog (and do) several things suggested here have put money in my bank account.Thanks for that! Dave