The Longtail-Up SEO Strategy

Here’s a unique take on a “silo” SEO strategy that delivers exceptional results, provided you can commit to consistent and substantial content creation. Over time, this method can significantly boost your SEO performance, increase the number of keywords ranking on page 1, and achieve this with minimal additional investment—or, for even greater impact, small increases in budget that yield exponential results.

How It Works

1. Initial Keyword Research Begin with foundational SEO research using a list of “seed” keywords relevant to your niche. Use this data alongside competitor analysis to identify keyword opportunities. After gathering all keyword data, the approach shifts.
   

2. Focus on Broad Keywords Select main topics for your niche based on the keyword research. For example, in a gym equipment niche, broad topics might include “treadmills,” “exercise bikes,” or “rowing machines.” Create optimized, user-friendly pages targeting these broad keywords, designed to convert and deliver a great user experience.
   

3. Leverage Google Console for Longtails As your pages gain traction, Google will reveal longtail keywords related to your content in Google Search Console. For instance, a page targeting “treadmills” may show a longtail keyword like “where can I buy a basic treadmill” ranking in a low position. Create a new page targeting this longtail keyword, linking it back to the broad keyword page.

   To identify the best internal page to link to the new content, use this search format:site:yourdomain.com "new longtail keyword"Over time, as you create more content, you’ll have additional related pages to link from, enhancing your internal linking strategy.
   

4. Content Optimization and Link Strategy After creating a new longtail page and linking it appropriately, ensure the URLs are shared for further SEO enhancement. This process is iterative, with each cycle reinforcing your website’s authority on specific topics.

   When identifying new longtail opportunities, ensure they don’t overlap with existing pages. Utilize tools to check for duplicate keyword-targeted URLs and focus on new opportunities.
   

5. Repeat Monthly Continue this process regularly to build a library of pages and posts targeting longtail keywords. This snowball effect allows Google to trust your website more for broad keywords while simultaneously driving traffic through longtail searches. Over time, you’ll see a compounding effect in SEO performance.
   

Practical Example

A 6-month-old website in the wheelchair niche recently identified 171 new longtail keywords through Google Search Console. By creating targeted content for these keywords and linking them to the appropriate pages, the site is set to experience a surge in traffic and rankings.

This strategy flips the conventional silo approach by building “up” from longtail keywords to broader ones, maximizing both short-term and long-term SEO gains.

Sharing Your Data

If you're working with an SEO package, follow these steps to share your Google Search Console data for analysis:

1. Navigate to Performance in your Google Search Console.

2. Enable the Average Position metric.

3. Set the date range to the most recent data.

4. Export the data to Google Sheets.

5. Review and clean the keyword list, removing any irrelevant terms.

6. Adjust the sharing settings of your Google Sheet to Anyone with the link can edit.

7. Copy the link and share it.
   

If you have any questions about this process or need support, feel free to reach out!