Target the Long Tail Keywords

One of the things that popped up in Etsy's new search guide was "do target 'long tail' keywords". Which we've all been doing already, right?

No? What is a "long tail" keyword? Ahem...

Let's pretend we're in a big box store, ambling about. We have no specific destination in mind. We're just killing time. But then we notice the bedding section.

Hey, you think, I could really use a replacement set of sheets.

So, you head over and walk up and down the aisles. And as you peruse, you think. It's fall. The weather's turning cooler. A warmer set of sheets, like flannel, might be what you need. You head towards the flannel sets, and you look for queen size as that's what's going to fit your bed.

What color? Do you want a print? Thread count? As you look, you narrow down what kind of sheet set you want.

If you were to look online, at this point you wouldn't search "bed sheets". No. Your query would be something along the lines of "flannel bed sheets queen size" with color indicated and maybe thread count.

That's a "long tail" keyword. You pretty much know what you want, so you can be fairly specific in the search. And you're pretty much ready to buy.

This is what we want to target when finding tags. We want to end up in the search by the buyer who is ready to buy and pretty much knows what they want. This means being very specific in your tags.

So, let's take a look at this bag from annie k designs:

Chihuahua Hipster Bag

Who's going to want this bag? A dog lover, preferrably one who loves chihuahuas. Someone who's looking for a purse and wants a crossbody one. 

A good long tail keyword for this might be "pink chihuahua crossbody bag". Obviously, this won't fit in one tag as it's way longer than 20 characters. But "pink" should be one of the attributes (which will show up in Etsy search). And "chihuahua" and "crossbody bag" will both work as tags. 

(While they didn't come out and say it, the new guide hinted that exact phrase matches in the title and tags weren't as vital as in the past, so if "bag" is used once in the tags, it doesn't have to be repeated.)

Have you been targeting long tail keywords?