We discovered this simple technique whilst conducting some keyword research for one of a client of ours. In SEO there is no question about the benefits of developing the longer tail terms as mentioned in this post here. Now, let’s pose the question ‘What about the shortened tail?’
The circled results show the irrelevant results to the search query.
Example number 2
Key Term: Leveraged buyout
Now this is what you might like to call a speculative gamble, and you may need some tests conducted to prove this theory – specifically looking at completed goals.
‘Leveraged buyout’ monthly search volume: 480 (low competition)
‘Lbo’ monthly search volume: 1000 (low competition)
I wanted to show this example as the top 10 results are not as relevant to the search term compared to the first example. This is why it may be a gamble to attract relevant traffic. However because the term has lower competition than the full term ‘leveraged buyout’ we think it is worth considering.
The circled results show searches through the abbreviation ‘lbo’ for leveraged buyout.
As stated this is pretty simple keyword research which many companies and their strategies may disregard. Granted, search traffic does gain volume because of irrelevant searches but if you find examples like these it could prove beneficial to your campaign due to the competition being lower and therefore easier to gain higher rankings.
Abbreviations will not be common for every client and maybe more suited for law, accountancy and business a little more than the likes of travel. Taking this in mind we are sure that there are some sectors which people may have ‘disregarded’ with some ‘abbrvs.’ that can produce a decent amount of relevant traffic.
