Today, I was looking over some SEO-related keywords and stumbled upon an interesting long-tail keyword: ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. According to SemRush, it has around 500 searches in the US and is very difficult to compete for (img.1).
When I searched in Google for it, the first 5-6 results were as follows:
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide
https://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo
https://www.mtu.edu/umc/services/websites/seo/
https://www.wordstream.com/seo
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/seo
https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-for-new-website/
(img. 2).
Now, the interesting part – none of the mentioned pages contain the exact match of ‘๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ’.
I decided to conduct a second search in Google for the exact match of “๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ” (using quotes) and the SERPs were more aligned with what I was expecting (refer to img.3).
I started reflecting and had a few ideas that didn’t provide me with a satisfying answer…
For instance, external or internal links with an exact term match could have been a factor … but it doesn’t seem realistic to be the reason for all of the results…
And in one moment something occurred to me – I decided to test another long-tail keyword including an abbreviation: ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ and “๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ” (refer to img.4 and img.5).
Please do not judge me too harshly about the choice – even though redundant – it still has its volume – 1.9K for the USA.
The conclusion I reached for myself would be:
Do not try to optimize for long keywords that include abbreviations as Google tries to find the intent behind the search and ‘opens’ the abbreviation, presenting results that may not exactly include your terms.
Marin Popov – SEO Consultant with over 15 years of experience in the digital marketing industry. SEO Expert with exceptional analytical skills for interpreting data and making strategic decisions. Proven track record of delivering exceptional results for clients across diverse industries.
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