On this glorious day, I am going to share some super fucked up and some super cool shit all mixed up in one with you. It’s super fucked up and super cool at the same time because it’s that damn easy and simple!
For the life of me, I don’t know why there’s a certain sect of search engine optimization folks who have made SEO seem mysterious and super complicated, like you need to know some crazy secrets to build a thriving blog or niche site that gets tons of search traffic and earns revenue, but here we are, fighting that world together.
I have proof that you can blog your way to a full-time income with long-tail keywords.
I will say that I wouldn’t build my entire strategy on long-tail keywords but you can build a nice, healthy foundation on it and I explain here how to do it.
In early 2022, I decided to go all in with my own niche sites and blogs. It’s been my ultimate dream to have a portfolio of revenue-generating blogs that I can flip so I started spending a lot of time on my own blogs.
But like anything that I think will be easy or typical in my life, the shit show of 2023 came along with AI content tools freely available to spam the web, devoid of human creativity, as well as announcements regarding SGE (Google’s Search Generative Experience) and unholy changes to the Google algorithm.
How nice and hot and cozy are we all?!
Safe to say, these intense changes had bloggers and niche site owners feeling all kinds of uncertainty so I did what I try to do best: refine my processes and get to the top quicker.
If this SGE hot mess was going to be unleashed, I wanted to know how I would get my blogs to appear in the top positions within the SGE display but not just that, I wanted to cut as much cost as possible while investing into the core of what makes a great blog.
Okay, let’s get into why long-tails are the best thing to ever happen to new and intermediate bloggers.
Proof of How Long-tail Keywords Are the Shit
I told you I would show this for three of my blogs. Let’s f***ing do it:
Blog 1:
Blog 2:
Blog 3:
Now, here’s the thing: niche sites and blogs take consistent work. I don’t want to make it seem like I was able to accomplish success with these blogs with the snap of my fingers.
I spend hours doing keyword research, then investing my time into writing articles, making sure they are optimized well, answering questions people would have in their respective niches, and so much more.
How I Accomplished Crazy Growth on All Three Blogs
I’ll be honest with you: I let go of everything I knew and started from scratch when it came to the main process that I had in place regarding SEO from years ago.
I have always loved on-page search engine optimization but admittedly, keyword research was one of the most boring aspects for me and I didn’t focus on it as I should have.
There’s a lot to the process of getting traffic and making money from your blog but I want to give you something for free to help you get started with your journey:
The Long-Tail Keyword Strategy That Works
I can not emphasize enough the shocking truth behind keyword tools and keyword data. If you have been taking the data from keyword tools as the end all, be all, then be prepared to open your eyes and understanding how these tools sorta suck butt.
These images show why I love zero search volume keywords as well as long-tail keywords:
And another one:
Here are the same keywords in the rank tracker:
There’s a lot more:
Here’s a few more that I had optimized for:
Understanding the Long-Tail Advantage
If your blog is new or you have a niche site that won’t bring in any traffic, you will want to look at what kind of keywords you are targeting and how competitive they are.
#1. Easiest Type of Keywords to Rank For
Unlike broad and competitive keywords, long-tail keywords are highly specific phrases that cater to a specific intent. Think of them as the secret passageways to your blog.
While they might have lower search volumes, they also have less competition, making it easier for you to rank higher on search engine result pages and gain visibility for your blog.
Within one month, I had 1/3rd of my published articles sitting pretty at #1 in Google. Within two months, quite a lot more of those long-tail keywords moved up.
#2. These Keywords Have the Highest Conversion Rate
Visitors who arrive at your site through long-tail keyword searches for product-related information are often looking for super-specific information regarding that product.
They’re actively seeking specific information or solutions, indicating a high level of intent.
As a result, these visitors are more likely to take desired actions on your site including signing up for newsletters, making purchases, or requesting more information.
How I Targeted These Keywords
At first, breaking out of the habit of choosing keywords that receive a minimum of 300 searches per month was extremely hard.
There’s a part of me that I had to fight to stick to keywords that were receiving 0-100 searches per month or less.
I’m glad I did because as you can see, the payoff was worth it as I was able to grow all of my blogs by targeting long-tail keywords.
Please keep in mind this is without spending a dollar on backlinks.
Not only that, all three of my blogs showed traffic increases within 90 days of targeting these specific long-tail keywords.
If you want to open your mind about zero search volume keywords, get the AP Zero Search Volume Keyword Strategy here. It’s 100% free.
Otherwise, come and say hi in the Affiliate Phoenix FB Community and let me know what you’re currently working on.