If you’ve spent any time doing SEO, you’ve probably heard the same advice again and again: go after keywords with high search volume.
Sounds sensible, right?
Not always.
A keyword getting 10,000 searches a month looks impressive on a spreadsheet. But if the people searching it aren’t ready to buy, book, call, or even take the next step, that big number doesn’t mean much.
This is where long-tail keywords become interesting.
They usually have lower search volume, but they’re much more specific. And that little bit of extra detail can tell you a lot about what someone actually wants.
For businesses trying to grow through Google, especially smaller businesses competing with established websites, that can make a huge difference.
What Are Long-Tail Keywords?
Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific search phrases.
For example, someone might search:
“SEO agency”
That’s a broad term. It could mean almost anything.
Now compare it with:
“SEO agency for small businesses in Melbourne”
The second search tells you much more.
The person may be looking for an agency, they’ve mentioned a specific type of business, and they’ve already narrowed the location down to Melbourne.
That’s valuable information.
Long-tail keywords can contain three, four, five or even more words. They don’t necessarily have to be extremely long, though. The important thing is the specific intent behind the search.
Why Long-Tail Keywords Can Be Easier to Rank For
Let’s be honest. Ranking for broad keywords can be brutal.
If you’re trying to rank for something like “SEO,” you’re competing against massive websites, software companies, agencies, blogs and industry publications that have been building authority for years.
A newer or smaller website can spend months chasing that keyword and still struggle to reach the first page.
A more specific search gives you a smaller battlefield.
For example, instead of targeting:
“SEO agency”
you might target:
“local SEO agency for restaurants in Melbourne”
There may be fewer searches, but there are also fewer websites creating pages specifically around that search intent.
That’s the trade-off.
You may get fewer visitors, but those visitors can be much more relevant.
Search Intent Matters More Than Search Volume
This is probably the biggest reason I like long-tail keywords.
Search volume tells you how many people are searching.
Intent tells you why they're searching.
And why someone searches can be far more important than how many people search.
Imagine two people.
The first searches:
“SEO”
Maybe they’re a student trying to understand the basics. Maybe they're researching careers. Maybe they're looking for an SEO tool. Maybe they're interested in hiring an agency.
You simply don't know.
The second person searches:
“best internet marketing agency for small business Melbourne”
That’s a different story.
They’re probably comparing agencies or actively looking for help.
If you're an agency, that second visitor is potentially much more valuable.
This is why a website receiving 500 highly relevant visitors can sometimes generate more enquiries than another website receiving 5,000 random visitors.
Long-Tail Keywords Work Well for Local SEO
For businesses serving a particular city or region, long-tail keywords can be especially useful.
Think about local search.
Someone searching for:
“digital marketing”
could be anywhere in the world.
But someone searching for:
has already given Google a location.
Add more detail and the intent becomes even clearer:
“local SEO agency Melbourne for small business”
Now you're dealing with a much more specific search.
For an Australian business, this kind of targeting can be useful because the competition and search behaviour can vary significantly between cities.
An agency targeting the Australian market shouldn't automatically assume that a strategy working in the US or UK will work exactly the same way in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Perth.
Local relevance matters.
Long-Tail Keywords Can Bring Better Leads
Here's something that's easy to overlook.
SEO isn't really about collecting visitors.
It's about getting the right visitors.
If someone searches a very specific phrase and lands on a page that directly answers their question or solves their problem, they're more likely to stick around.
And if your business offers exactly what they were looking for, there's a better chance they'll contact you.
For example, an Australian business owner might search:
“Australia SEO services for eCommerce businesses”
If your page explains your SEO process, shows relevant experience, talks about technical SEO, content and organic growth, and gives the visitor a clear way to contact you, you've got a much stronger opportunity than you would with a generic page targeting “SEO.”
The keyword itself isn't magic.
The relevance is.
But Should You Ignore Short Keywords?
No.
I wouldn't recommend that.
Broad keywords still have value. They can bring large amounts of traffic, build topical authority and introduce your brand to people earlier in the buying journey.
The problem is relying only on broad keywords.
A sensible SEO strategy usually mixes different types of keywords.
You might have a competitive primary keyword for a service page, then build supporting content around more specific searches.
For example:
Main topic: SEO services
Supporting topics could include:
local SEO for Melbourne businesses
technical SEO for small websites
SEO for Australian eCommerce stores
how long SEO takes to show results
local search ranking factors
SEO agency pricing in Australia
Now your website isn't trying to rank for one phrase over and over.
It's building useful coverage around a subject.
How to Find Good Long-Tail Keywords
You don't need to make this complicated.
Start with the questions your customers actually ask.
What do they type into Google when they're stuck?
What services do they specifically need?
What location do they mention?
What type of business do they run?
What problem are they trying to solve?
Google's autocomplete suggestions can give you ideas. Related searches at the bottom of search results can help too. You can also use tools such as Ahrefs, Semrush or Google's own Search Console data to find phrases people are already searching.
But don't blindly choose keywords because a tool gives them a nice search-volume number.
Read the search results.
Seriously.
Search the phrase yourself and look at what's ranking.
If Google is showing service pages, users probably have commercial intent. If it's mostly guides and informational articles, the intent is probably informational.
That little bit of manual research can save you from creating an entire page targeting the wrong type of search.
Long-Tail Doesn't Mean “Easy”
There's another misconception worth clearing up.
Not every long-tail keyword is easy to rank for.
Some very specific phrases can still be competitive, especially when they have strong commercial intent.
And sometimes several long-tail searches are basically variations of the same query.
You don't need a separate page for every tiny keyword variation.
That's where things can get messy.
Instead, group keywords based on search intent and topic.
One genuinely useful page can rank for dozens of closely related searches without stuffing every variation into the copy.
So, Are Long-Tail Keywords Better?
In many cases, yes.
But “better” depends on what you're trying to achieve.
If your goal is simply traffic, broad keywords may look more attractive.
If your goal is qualified traffic, enquiries and customers, long-tail keywords can be incredibly useful.
For smaller businesses, they're often a practical starting point because you don't have to fight the biggest websites for the broadest terms straight away.
A good SEO campaign isn't about finding one magical keyword.
It's about understanding what people search for, why they search it, and creating something genuinely useful when they arrive.
That's where long-tail keywords earn their place.
And if you're working with an SEO agency Melbourne businesses can trust, the conversation shouldn't start with “How many keywords can we rank for?”
It should start with something much simpler:
Which searches are most likely to bring the right customers to your business?
That question usually leads to a much better SEO strategy.
If you want, I can also make this more Australia-focused, with Melbourne-specific examples and stronger commercial intent for an Australian SEO website.
