Short and Long Tail search engine optimization

When considering search engine optimization for your real estate website (or any website, for that matter) an often-overlooked discussion is that of long tail versus short tail key phrases.

If this is an entirely new concept to you, let me explain. Short tail key phrases are those that are broad in their search results. An example of a short tail key phrase would be "Ohio real estate," or "Canton real estate."

Long tail key phrases are those that are more defined in their characteristics. They can be broad, but more detailed, like "Jackson, Ohio real estate for sale" or be as specific as "three bedroom homes in Jackson Township, Ohio."

Studies show that while short tail search engine phrases generally generate more visits to the website, long tail phrases drive consumers who are more interested in making a purchase soon.

It makes sense. I have worked with several real estate brokers of a major franchise who expressed, upon the franchise releasing a national property search portal, that they received several more leads from the portal. However, their agents didn't want to bother with those leads because they were often from consumers who were "just looking" rather than those who were looking to make a real estate transaction within the next year. Thus, the reason they went to the national portal to search for homes rather than through a real estate website that was focused on a specific market.

Still not convinced? Consider the likelihood of a consumer purchasing a BMW X6 if he found BMW's website by searching "cars for sale" compared to the consumer who found the site by searching "luxury all-wheel drive 400 horsepower sport activity vehicle." Who do you think is more likely to purchase the X6?

If you're looking for more long tail versus short tail information, Marketing Hub has a good article explaining the long and short tail search debate, and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World's Eric Bryn is a huge long tail search advocate, and often speaks on the topic and updates his Real Estate Relativity blog with info on it.

I'll continue to post info on short and long tail search engine optimization as I cross it.

Looking for SEO for your real estate website? Delta Media Group recently released its Real Estate Search Engine Optimization platform. Contact Sean Cutright for more info at scutright@deltagroup.com.