Heads or Tails?

By: Nathan Wood, SEO Manager, 4MAT

ìWidgetsî. Attend any online marketing conference and youíll hear this word, a lot. Why? Because widgets are currently the standard example in the search marketing industry for how searchers will use increasingly more detailed queries to hone in on the information that they want to find. With Google announcing earlier this year that the average number of words per query has risen from 3 to 4 words, the indications are that searchers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their quest for information. Red widgets or big blue square widgets ñ to what level do searchers go to pinpoint their results?

The tendency to use increasingly detailed queries to find specific information is nothing new to the search industry. Indeed, we even have a term for it ñ The Long Tail of search. Whilst there are a small number of high volume queries (the Head of search), e.g. jobs, online recruitment, there are also a large number of small volume queries that, combined, can rival the volume of the small number of Head terms.

On a per query basis, the Long Tail is also often much less competitive than the Head. What's more, because the searcher is clearly after a very particular service, catering to this level of detail correctly can often result in higher conversion rates than Head terms.
Letís put this into context. The recruitment industry has perhaps one of the largest ranges of query complexities within search. Parameters for choosing a new job can encompass location, salary, skill set and current job title, and these requirements can be reflected in job search queries. Whilst it's true that a lot of searches are made for general phrases like jobs, the wide range of Long Tail queries can drive very targeted searchers, using keyword phrases as complex as credit risk analyst jobs in London.

But why should you be concerned about search engine usage? Well, use of search engines has grown enormously in the last 5 years, even competing against email as the most popular online activity. In 2005 a PEW Internet survey identified that 77% of the 94 million daily internet users in America used the web for email, while 63% used a search engine. The gap between the two activities has certainly decreased since. For the search engines relevancy of information is everything, since their reputation and user base depends on their ability to return accurate information quickly. In their attempt to always return the most relevant pages, search engines will try to index as much content as possible. Their pursuit of providing a comprehensive index of all online information, coupled with their huge brand awareness, has meant that the search sites such as Google are the first stop for many of us for our information needs. According to recent research (Eurostat Apr í07) 25% of UK internet users will have searched or applied for jobs online. Of those online job searches, many will have begun with a search engine. That's a lot of potential candidates.

And for those recruitment sites catering for niche areas, such as specific science jobs or academia, it's the Long Tail all the way. Trying to find your next role as a peptide mass spectrometrist using general search terms is next to impossible, and niche searches for roles like this will need to revolve around specific skillsets and job titles. Although there are many recruitment sites catering for very specific industries, direct awareness of these services may not be as widespread as we would hope, meaning job searchers are increasingly turning to easily memorised sites like Google.co.uk and Yahoo.co.uk in order to find their next roles. Search engines also have the distinct advantage of being able to display relevant job information from a number of different, and often competing, sources in one place, making it easy for the jobseeker to see at a glance the opportunities available.

Adopting a Long Tail strategy as part of your siteís SEO development is a great way to attract some very targeted visitors who are looking for specific vacancies and then hopefully registering their details or sending their CVs. So next time you speak to your SEO consultant, throw in the word widgets. Not only will you see an increase to your site traffic and conversions by opening up your site content, but you're almost guaranteed to win a wry smile for your efforts.