Posted by: Nikki Johnson, Marketing Coordinator

As it turns out, we learned more from the recent swine flu scare than we thought. And not just that we needed to limit travel to Mexico or wash our hands more frequently. An article on WebProNews used the flu as an example of why we should be paying attention to the types of searches people are conducting on the Web.

According to the article, the website stats of a blog posting discussing the swine flu prove that people are now using more long-tailed search queries to find the information they need. In fact, the author claims that the days of focusing search engine optimization (SEO) efforts exclusively on short keyword phrases are gone. Search marketers should now target longer keyword phrases in order to try and capture exactly what someone is searching for. The top search phrase used by visitors to the particular swine flu posting was, “How do you know if you have swine flu?” Nine-word phrases like these are coined “money keywords” and are expected to bring in a targeted audience to your website.

Usually, people begin their search with short phrases, and as they see the thousands of results generated, the search queries become more specific and detailed in nature. With this in mind, SEO (and pay-per-click advertising) experts should explore various constructions of long-tailed keyword phrases. This will create a competitive edge as many competitors aren’t tapping into that pool of possibilities yet. Also, be sure to include content on the site that reflects these phrases. In the swine flu example, the blog’s content could have listed and responded to common questions being asked in search queries, for example. This will ultimately lead to more traffic and conversions.

Check out the full article at WebProNews for more information.