Short Tail vs. Long Tail Keywords: Nailing the Specifics of Content Marketing

If I had to select a single feature that sets Pinterest apart in the realm of social media marketing, it would undoubtedly be its knack for targeting specific niches with enduring content. For we book sellers and creators, a niche refers to a distinct group of customers (readers) characterized by specific needs, preferences, or interests. These niches are precise and clearly defined. While it may require some effort to craft a strategy that appeals to our desired audience, the time invested in doing so is unquestionably worthwhile. Without a doubt, it truly is. 

Beyond crafting eye-catching graphics, the essential elements required for niching-nailing are relevant, applicable, and relatable keywords - terms that users type into the search bar in hopes of finding that one special niche-like thing they are looking for. 

Keywords come in a variety of forms. The best known are short tail keywords and long tail keywords. Short tail keywords are general and broad, making them competitive on the digital marketing scene. Long tails are short, yet concise. They are specific, descriptive, niche-centric phrases that cast a wider net in efforts to attract one’s intended audience. Savvy Pinterest marketers create lists of both short tail and long tail keywords to feature everywhere possible – on pin graphic, titles, descriptions, on in board descriptions (I’ve also heard that they make for some swell looking tattoos, too.). 

You ask, “Where can we find these treasures known as short tail and long tail keywords?” They are hiding in plain sight! Analyze your books, programs, and services from every angle. Identify the genres, categories, themes, premises, educational value, social impact, age-level, academic standards coding … of whatever you can think. Therein lies niche-finding gold, pal. For sure. 

For example, let’s have a look at the keyword coding potential for AT THE EDGE OF ICE, written by Carolyn Armstrong, the first installment in the Eco Warriors series for middle school readers. (Here is looking at you, Carolyn. Wink. Wink.). 

Not only is AT THE EDGE OF ICE a delightful middle grade novel about rivaling twin sisters and their quest to save the threatened Arctic ecosystem, but the author is also offering loads of educator resources that would make any classroom teacher or homeschooling parent jump for joy! With a little bit of research, Carolyn can discover a nice extensive list of short tail and long tail keywords to use that will serve to narrow her niche. This type of creative keywording allows Pinterest users in search of the topics she addresses in AT THE EDGE OF ICE to find just what they are looking for. Here is how to do it. 

To start off, Carolyn must first pinpoint her genre, classification, and target age range. Incorporating phrases like eco-fiction, middle grade, ages 10 to 14, grade 6, grade 7, and grade 8 into her long-tail keywords will accomplish this task effectively. Following that, to further refine her focus, she could consider including some of the following elements in all aspects of her efforts in creating pins: 

• MG books about climate change

• MG books about global warming

• MG books about polar bears

• Next Gen Science: K-ESS3-3 Earth and Human Activity

• Ecology for Middle Schoolers

• Arctic habitat project for kids

• Animal food chain pyramid

• Sibling jealousy parenting tips

• Parenting sibling jealousy

• Middle grade geography lessons

• Longitude & latitude lessons

• Engaging map skills activities

You get the picture, right? By highlighting aspects of information about the book's foundation, themes, and storyline, Carolyn can leverage the timeless effectiveness of Pinterest marketing to reach a broad online audience, aiming to pique the curiosity of her target demographic on the platform. Who is to say she will not also contribute to the preservation of some precious marine life along the way, as well! 

How about you? Do you need help nailing your niche(s)? Sign up for a Fit Call today. Let’s see what the power of Pinterest can do for you. 

Keywords – Here. There. EVERYWHERE!

Crafting effective copy for Pinterest content goes against any creative writing practices that we writers have come to know. We’re encouraged to avoid the repetition of words or phrases. We’re also taught to constantly strive to engage the reader on an emotional level with vivid verbs, metaphors, similes, assonance, alliteration, and/or onomatopoeia (my favorite). 
 
Friends, that kind of blather just doesn’t cut it with Pinterest. You won’t get any traction on the platform if you insist on writing like a poet. Nope. If you want to get your goods and services seen on the platform, you’d best toss out the thesaurus and start again. 
 
Building a solid presence on Pinterest requires an understanding of what your products and services are, who they are intended to serve, then translating that information into searchable key terms that the Bots can categorize. We must be willing to set that lofty literary language aside to get the job done.
 
The secret to the process is to break your offerings down into categories, no more than three to begin with. Some examples for starter categories might be Books, Audience, and Genre. Then jump on the Pinterest search bar and drop in terms and phrases that describe your categories. Make a list of the words that keep showing up. Those are the keywords that your audience is using when they’re searching for treasures on Pinterest. Those words are their pathway to finding YOU!
 
Say you are a published poet who teaches writing. Here are a handful of phrases you might want to explore:

• Creative writing

• Creative writing tips

• Creative writing prompts

• Figurative writing

• Literary activities

• Poetry book

• Poetry book for children

• Nature poems (You can get genre-specific here)

• Poetry prompts

• Language arts

 
The next step is to use, use, and reuse those keywords in your Pinterest profile, on your graphics, in your pin titles and descriptions over and over and over again. Take care to use a conversational tone when doing so. Light, lively, and to the point. You can add a touch of cool, if you want to. Have fun with this. 
 
Happy keywording!

The Taxonomy of You: How to Rank in Keyword Searches.

You might know that I began my teaching career as a Montessori teacher. For well over twenty years, I immersed myself in Maria's remarkable methodologies and materials. I particularly enjoyed working with the elaborate taxonomy materials, known as “The Tree of Life”.  The students and I would spend hours sorting and organizing cards representing phylum, classes, orders, and families for the plant and animal kingdoms. Geeky good times, for certain.
 
Did you know that there is a taxonomy for search engines? One that can be used to optimize marketing efforts to the max? Here’s what wise and wonderful Wikipedia has to say:
 

Taxonomy for search engines refers to classification methods that improve relevance in vertical search. Taxonomies of entities are tree structures whose nodes are labeled with entities likely to occur in a web search query. Searches use these trees to match keywords from a search query to keywords from answers (or snippets).

 
Well, that sounds like a bunch of gobbly-goop, doesn’t it? In short, Wiki is explaining that there is a search engine hierarchy taxonomy. Much like Montessori’s Tree of Life, this type of taxonomy is broken down into nodes, categories, and sublevels. Easy peasy, right?
 
Say that you have an adorable picture book highlighting ways to make friends. While aspects of relationship building can be complicated, promoting your message on Pinterest doesn’t need to be. With consistency, clarity, and strategy you’ll find a way for your friendship content to be discovered with a vertical hierarchical search pattern like this.
 

Education > Education Level > Early Elementary > Social Skills

 
Following this sequence, break down your hospitable picture book message into itty bitty informative pieces, much like those Tree of Life cards the kids and I sorted. Then address each of these levels by tastefully piling on keywords in all your graphics, boards, pin titles and descriptions. Remember to be clear. Not cute. We don’t want to confuse the bots. 

Creative Dismantling: Genres, Themes & Pain Points

I recently finished creating a teacher guide for Melanie Conklin’s amazing new middle grade novel, A PERFECT MISTAKE. Melanie is a master of crafting relatable, yet highly complex characters, multi-layered plots that are rich with theme and premise – a Pinterest marketer’s dream!
 
There is so much more to Pinterest than surface-level, eye-catching graphics. With books and content like A PERFECT MISTAKE, we can go considerably deeper than that.  To do so we need to dismantle the constructs of her intricate plot and her reader’s interests into itty-bitty pieces called keywords. We will then use these keywords on the graphics, board titles and descriptions, and in the pin titles and descriptions. Here’s a sample of keywords one might use to communicate what this book is about:

• Mystery novel for middle grade readers

• A compelling middle grade mystery novel about ADHD

• Time Blindness & ADHD

• Overcoming conflicts with friends & family

• A moving mystery 5th - 8th graders will love!

• A middle grade novel about honesty & truthfulness

• A gripping middle grade mystery about friendship & responsibility

• CCSS-aligned educator resources available

• Free educational resource for teachers & librarians 

The goal is to anticipate her readers’ “pain points” — problems that reading her book might solve — and then offer the solution. By reviewing the list of intriguing keywords, you can easily see how A PERFECT MISTAKE could be the ideal middle grade novel caring teachers or librarians are searching for. 
 
Isn’t this process fun? I just love it!