Grabbing Hold of the Long Tail

In The Long Tail Effect, I addressed the concept of the long tail in social networking. Today we’ll explore several low cost, easy-to-implement tactics to leverage the power of the long tail on the Web:

RSS – Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a technology that allows information to be distributed quickly and automatically as a Web feed, bypassing e-mail spam filters. Not only do Web feeds extend your content to new audiences, but RSS can also help improve organic search results if your feeds are well optimized.

Lower Volume Search Terms – Did you know that around 25% of all Google search queries have never been seen before?

In a recent ClickZ article, Mary Bowling made a keen observation that bidding and optimizing solely for high volume keywords overlooks the long tail of search. Instead you may want to consider terms (or phrases) that return a much lower search volume, but also have less competition and therefore potentially cheaper pay-per-click bids.

Niche Social Networking Sites – Do you know who your target audience is? Psycho-demographic profiles can help you evaluate advertising for content and placement, maximizing ad dollars by ensuring advertising reaches your target audience(s) where they live, work, and play.

And if you’re looking to find your niche – whether personal or professional – visit findasocialnetwork.com where you can peruse niche sites for everything from shoe lovers to fans of High School Musical.

Widgets – Widgets give your audiences something they love: personalized content for free! This technology allows marketers to embed interactive elements – think calendars, quizzes, games, factoids, contests – into mini applications that can be downloaded onto Web pages, desktops, and mobile phones. ComScore estimates that 625 million people worldwide viewed or engaged with a widget in June 2008.

For a great overview on key considerations and best practices, check out Liza Hausman’s in-depth article on the subject.