Top Blog Search Terms or An Example of Long-Tail SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) has been a mainstay of web marketing for over a decade and the basics are well understood. Now, SEO is very much an arms race where things are constantly changing, so there are always new techniques. One aspect that has held steady is long-tail SEO where people search for specific phrases, often with little search volume, that result in targeted site traffic.

For this blog, here are the top search terms over the last 30 days, listed in order of traffic:

• benefitfocus ipo
• ringcentral ipo
• benefitfocus
• one page strategic plan
• jimmy johns how much is enough
• kpi spreadsheet
• publicly traded saas companies
• benefitfocus s-1
• 9 building blocks
• how much is enough jimmy johns
• office layout ideas
• startup ideas
• office floor plans
• open office ideas
• simple marketing budget template
• marketing budget layout
• v2mom
• difference between employee and employer
• ringcentral s-1
• how much is enough story
• client services expense saas startup
• recent saas ipos
• saas cogs
• cold calling ideas
• what are the seven characteristics of successful entrepreneurs

I removed the five search terms that included my personal name.

A few takeaways of note:

• Current events, in this case recent IPO filings, drive a good bit of traffic initially and then taper off
• Random topics, like “saas cogs” for Software-as-a-Service cost of goods sold, have been popular on the blog for years, showing some staying power for more specialized content
• Frequent posting of content that you believe is of interest and value to your readers, not Google, is the one of the best strategies for growing site traffic volume (absent frequent posting, the most difficult and valuable approach is writing extremely high quality content on a less frequent basis that is well regarded and heavily shared on social media)

Long-tail SEO works and drives traffic. It isn’t a short-term endeavor but is an important part of a long-term marketing strategy.

What else? What are your thoughts on long-tail SEO to drive traffic?