If you do any work researching keywords for your Internet Marketing needs, you’ve probably dealt with the concept of long-tail vs short-tail keywords.

The best example I can think of is based on “golf.” That’s a short-tail keyword. It’s just one word.

Google Golf and you’re going to find a lot of results. Each of these results contains the word Golf. For some reason, possibly mystical, one page has the #1 result. Many look upon this ranking with awe.

“How can I get top ranking for a single keyword?”

Now consider the phrase “buy Nike Golf shirts”. This is a long-tail phrase. Google this and you’ll get far fewer results than for golf, but is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Someone who types “golf” is probably at the beginning of the online research phase. These are tire kickers. They’re not likely to buy. A million clicks from this bunch might equal a few sales. It also equals server load and requires your website to bear the traffic. What is that traffic really worth?

On the other hand, less gross traffic from people searching for “buy Nike Golf shirts” seems like a high ROI effort to me.

Long-tail keyword ranking isn’t just about finding phrases that are easier to rank for than short ones, it’s about maximizing results.

Do what you love: Make your business stand out online with Dave Saunders  at http://www.davesaunders.net

A lot of energy goes into search engine optimization. Searching for the best keyword phrases. Comparing keyword density between your site and the next guy. Looking for the latest tricks for getting indexed quickly.

It’s a big cat and mouse game.

There’s a bigger consideration you should be making though.

What do you want someone to do when they find your stuff?

I’ve seen companies spend huge sums of money on website designs where the phone number is buried on a single contact page requiring three clicks to get to. Other people will do nothing but Tweet keyword phrases and links without ever providing the slightest thing of value to the reader.

So before you crack into something like WordTracker to dig up keywords with high traffic and low competition, take a minute to ask yourself some key questions.

• Who do you want to find you?
• What do you want them to do when they find you?
• Why do they want your stuff?
• Why should they believe you?

These may seem like simple questions, but few take the time to answer them. The current state of the economy is a reflection of that. Average people are doing what other average people are doing and getting average results. Unfortunately, average right now means they’re losing money.

SEO opens some amazing doors that have never existed before. Don’t ignore its value, but don’t forget that in the end, you’re still dealing with people. Just because Google points someone at you doesn’t mean they’re going to buy.

Learn how how stand out online with Dave Saunders  at http://www.davesaunders.netRead the Social Media Manifesto from http://www.yoursocialbrand.com

Our team at divShare has lots of respect for what it takes to maintain a blog.  After all, it’s not always easy for us and we know it’s not for our customers.  One of the main challenges for bloggers is just continually providing interesting content, also known as “blog writer’s block.”  Enter the trend of team blogging.  Team blogging can shoulder some of the work load, as well as lend an interesting tone to a blog.  An interesting example of this is Southwest Airline’s Nuts About Southwest.  The use of about 30 bloggers who contribute quarterly not only offset workload, but brings more inspiration and different voices to the mix.  Southwest’s customers and the community at large get a view into the company that is more personal and seen from many vantage points (pilots, flight attendants, or those who work at the corporate level).   In the case of team blogging, it usually most manageable if the team has the ability to post their contributions directly.  This approach probably won’t work for the larger corporation or an environment where it’s necessary to control content.  But, for many team bloggers, it has really worked well.

Another approach to writer’s block on your blog, is to invite guest speakers.  This can not only add a different flavor, but it can be helpful for search engine optimization by including names of your guest blogger that may have their own following.  And most bloggers are interested in cross pollination, i.e., generating some traffic back to their own blogs as well.

Final thought, whether you are considering team blogging or guest bloggers, it will be important to know a bit about the contributors, their reputations, and their writing style to make sure it will indeed enhance your blog.  Happy Blogging.

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