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Avatar Went Hot: September 11, 2007 - 11:54 am
Posted By: thejenn 361 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.searchengineguide.com)
Category: SEO
One of the first bits of advice I give to those who are new to search engine optimization is to stop trying to rank for highly competitive phrases and to focus on the long tail of search. While some in the SEO world think aiming low is a cop out, it's actually a pretty smart long-term strategy.
12 Comments     

Comments

from MattMcGee 360 days ago #
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Seems to me that a good foundation of rankings/traffic on less competitive terms often gives you the knowledge and experience you need to tackle the more competitive terms.

from HamletBatista 360 days ago #
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It seems that my post was not clear enough. When I said aim high, I did not say not to start low (on the long tail).

Here is a quote from my post:

... I did not initially target the competitive keywords, I always started from the tail, but the head was the ultimate goal. The advantage is that you see some, albeit minimal, results as you improve. You continue with these incremental results as you move your efforts toward more competitive keywords.

from thejenn 360 days ago #
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I already responded to you more in depth in the comments of my article Hamlet, but your right. You do say that at the beginning of the article, but then you go on to say how you'd never have accomplished things if you aimed low at the start.

What I was trying to point out was that it's ok to aim low, whether you plan to aim high in the long run or not and that not only is it ok to aim low...but there are actually really good reasons for doing so.

from HamletBatista 360 days ago #
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I guess the slight difference in opinion is whether you want to stay low or not. I think it is a matter of personal goals.

It is clear we all need to start low, but I personally don't like to stay there. That's why I aim high ;-)

from thejenn 360 days ago #
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LOL, no arguments here. I think everyone should aim high in the long run. But the reality is, that a company CAN be successful without aiming high.

There are plenty of insurance agents out there who do just peachy without ranking in the top ten (or even top 100) on Google for related phrases.

That said, it would be silly to build up a web presence and not eventually try to work on attracting more traffic for higher ranking phrases.

from LisaStewart 360 days ago #
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100% dead on. One of my biggest challenges has been to get clients to understand this and use any number of analogies to help them "get it" ..trying to describe long tail search can be a difficult concept to get across. I see the proof in this over and over again in client blogs and my own personal blogs, but I would be lying if I didnt say it was an uphill battle. I wouldnt describe it so much as aiming LOW but aiming WIDE :-) Great piece Jenn!

from MiriamEllis 360 days ago #
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Great post, Jennifer...and I like Lisa's idea of aiming 'wide'. That describes the concept better than 'low', somehow.

Miriam

from DavidLaFerney 360 days ago #
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Good post. Aim smart, use the effort you would have wasted on a broad term to target another High Converting one. Anyway, as you point out, the long tail always contains the broad term as well.

from thejenn 360 days ago #
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Yeah, yeah...you're brilliant Lisa. :) Wide would have been a much better term. :)

Not near as catchy though. :)

from MikeLevin 360 days ago #
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I know of a certain demo that gets it across in under 5 minutes ;)

from thejenn 359 days ago #
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Pimp much these days Mike? :)

from SpostareDuro 284 days ago #
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Sphunn. Thank you. I liked the comparison using Dave Thomas and the search buying cycle. Made sense.


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