Building Long Tail Keyword Momentum

So, I've been keeping an eye on when this new domain and site could be found at all in search, and that was only 7 days after activation. Then, I looked at how long it takes to have a fighting chance on a competitive term like "long tail". And that was about 6 months after activation--but it was a very inactive site for that time period. I was not practicing what it preached. So, beginning about May 23rd, I "spiked" the site with content to stimulate the long tail writing process. There have been a smattering of posts during the long dry period in-between, but not nearly enough to get the long tail juices pumping.

So, what about now? It's only 3 weeks since my content push, and results are just now coming in. Those results are in the top position, so they're not being issued as suggestions (demonstrating the value of brainstorming and blogging-cold). But the data does appear under the Search Hits and Keyword tabs, which is still fascinating to watch, and perhaps just as valuable for a new site that is just establishing itself.

The HitTail site is being found on such concepts as:

• alternative to adwords and keyword bidding


• techniques for long tail marketing


• long tail keywords


• graph long tail keywords


• 80/20 rule vs. the long tail


• Should you use a shotgun or a sniper approach to Internet Marketing?

This is all just in the last day or two. You can really see the dynamics of a site coming alive with the HitTailing monitoring tools. Yes, you need patience while the process is kicking in. And yes, you can see this same activity in analytics or your log files. But...

Your log files shows way too much data to draw meaningful conclusions from what you're looking at (OK, except to a few of us techies who literally do watch the matrix).

You usually have to wait for your analytics reports, so you can't really "feel the pulse" of your website. The HitTail site is only really starting to produce results in terms of natural search today. And I am literally seeing the hits as they occur -- lots of fun!

So, for already existing sites, the Suggestions tab may spring to life instantly. You can see that in action with the Connors sample data (which I really need to start taking the suggestions from). But for a brand new site, the domain needs to spiked with content to get the process rolling, and you're going to see most of the initial activity (as it seems) in the Search Hits and Keywords tab. But that's OK. Once you've built a critical mass of start-up content, it should start to become self-fueling in terms of ever-improving new long tail writing topics. And so long as you TAKE some of the suggestions and continue rolling out new content, the momentum should build.