How to Find Long Tail Keywords That Rank Faster (With Examples)

What are long tail keywords?

Long tail keywords are search terms that few people type each month, usually because they are specific. "Running shoes" is a head term with huge volume. "Best running shoes for flat feet women" is a long tail keyword. Together, long tail terms make up most of all searches, which is why the name comes from the long tail of a demand curve.

The word count is a side effect, not the rule. Most long tail keywords have four or more words, because it takes words to be specific. But "leica m6" is a two word long tail keyword, and "how to lose weight" is a four word head term. Judge by demand and specificity, not by counting words.

Those two numbers explain the whole strategy. Almost every keyword is tiny. And every day, people type millions of searches nobody has typed before. Sites that only chase big head terms are fighting over a small slice of the total.

Long tail keywords in SEO also have a second job. They show Google what a page is about in detail. A page that answers ten specific questions about heat pumps often ends up ranking for "heat pump" too. It covers the topic better than a page that only repeats the head term.

Long tail vs short tail keywords

Short tail keywords, also called head terms, are broad terms with high volume and high competition. Long tail keywords are specific terms with low volume and, usually, lower competition. The table shows how they differ in practice.

The two work together. A head term is the topic of a strong page. The long tail terms around it are the sections, FAQs, and supporting articles. Ranking for the long tail first builds the authority you need to move up on the head term later.

Long tail keywords examples by intent

Here are long tail keyword examples across four intents. Notice that each one tells you exactly what page to build.

• Buying. "best budget espresso machine under 200", "waterproof hiking boots for wide feet men". A review or product page.
• Comparing. "notion vs obsidian for students", "airpods pro 2 vs sony wf-1000xm5 for running". A comparison article.
• Fixing a problem. "why does my sourdough not rise in the fridge", "wordpress site slow after plugin update". A step by step article.
• Learning. "how does a heat pump work in winter", "what is a good roas for shopify ads". A short explainer with a clear answer at the top.

How to find long tail keywords: 8 methods that work

Here is how to find long tail keywords in practice. Start with one head term for your topic. Then run it through these eight sources, in order. You will have more ideas than you can use by step five. Keep everything in one sheet with the keyword, the source, and a note on intent.

1. 1

   Mine Google autocomplete

   Type your head term into Google and note every suggestion. Then add each letter of the alphabet after it, and words like "for", "with", "without", and "vs". Our free Google Suggest tool does this in bulk and adds volume and competition for each suggestion.

2. 2

   Collect People Also Ask questions

   Search your term and open the People Also Ask box. Click a few questions and more appear. Each one is a long tail keyword in question form. Our People Also Ask guide shows how to turn them into sections and FAQs.

3. 3

   Scroll to related searches

   At the bottom of the results page, Google lists eight related searches. Search each of those and read their related searches too. Two levels deep is enough to map a whole topic.

4. 4

   Read your own Search Console

   Open the Performance report and filter to queries with impressions but few clicks, or an average position between 8 and 30. These are long tail terms Google already connects to your site. A new section on an existing page often moves them into the top 5.

5. 5

   Read forums and Reddit

   Search your topic on Reddit, Quora, and niche forums. The way people phrase a question in a post is usually the way they type it into Google. Look for questions that repeat across threads.

6. 6

   Borrow from competitors

   Pull the keywords a smaller competitor ranks for and filter to four or more words. These are long tail terms that a site your size has already proven it can win. Our guide to competitor keyword research walks through the full process.

7. 7

   Expand with a keyword tool

   Enter your head term into a keyword research tool and filter by word count, question words, or low difficulty. This turns one seed into hundreds of ideas with volume and difficulty attached. Export the list so you can sort and group it.

8. 8

   Check the SERP before you commit

   Search each shortlisted keyword and look at who ranks. Forum threads, thin pages, or a mismatch with the intent are green lights. Ten strong brand pages are a red light. This one step saves more time than any tool.

How to choose which long tail keywords to target

Finding long tail keywords is easy. Choosing is the hard part, because a raw list will have hundreds of terms. Use three filters, in this order.

Filter 1: intent

Ask whether the person typing this could become a reader, a lead, or a customer. Cut anything you would not want to rank for even if it were free. This filter alone usually removes half the list.

Filter 2: difficulty and the SERP

Keep terms where the top 10 has weak pages: forums, old posts, or pages that only half answer the question. A difficulty score helps, but the SERP check matters more. Our guide to low competition keywords explains what to look for.

Filter 3: volume, with a caveat

Volume comes last for a reason. Tools round small numbers and often show 0 for terms that get 20 searches a month. If a term passed the first two filters and shows up in autocomplete or Search Console, real people type it. Our guide to what search volume means covers why the numbers lie for small terms.

How to use long tail keywords in content

The biggest mistake is one page per keyword. Google treats "how to descale a breville" and "descale breville barista express" as the same intent. Two pages on that topic compete with each other and both lose. Group by meaning, then decide how many pages you need.

Track your long tail pages in a rank tracker so you can see which ones move. A page that lands in position 6 to 10 within a month is a candidate for a refresh and a few internal links. One that never appears usually picked the wrong intent.

Free long tail keyword tools

You can do all of this without a paid long tail keyword tool. Here is what each free option is good for.

• Google autocomplete, People Also Ask, related searches. Free, real, and endless. No volume data on their own.
• Google Search Console. The only source that shows what your site already almost ranks for. Free for any site you own.
• Zutrix Google Suggest. Pulls autocomplete suggestions in bulk and adds volume, competition, and trends. Free.
• Zutrix Free Keyword Planner. Search volume, difficulty, CPC, and trends without a Google Ads account. Good for checking a shortlist. Try the free keyword planner.
• Google Trends. Shows whether interest in a term is rising or fading, which matters for seasonal long tail terms.
• YouTube suggestions. For video topics, our YouTube keyword tool pulls long tail ideas from YouTube search.

Paid tools add three things. You get the full list from a seed in one click, difficulty scores you can trust, and a view of what competitors rank for. Start free, and upgrade when you spend more time collecting than writing.

One last note on long tail keyword generators. Many free generators just combine your seed with a list of common words. That produces phrases nobody types. Prefer sources that show what real people searched, such as autocomplete and Search Console. Check anything a generator gives you against the SERP.