Why Businesses Need to Focus on Long-Tail Keywords Even More Than Ever

Recently, I had a client call me in a panic. Not only was he panicking, but he was also adamant that he wanted the issue resolved immediately.

The issue?

He wasn’t ranking on the first page of Google’s organic search results for a keyword that was ultra-generic.

Look, if you’re a small business owner and you see a keyword fall in the rankings, you might feel that you have a good reason to panic.

But the search engine optimization (SEO) game has changed and, as an agency, we’ve changed with it. This means our clients and you, as a small business owner, have to change your expectations when it comes your SEO efforts.

So, today, I’m going to show you how SEO has changed in 2025, and what you need to focus on going forward, plus what you need to stop focusing on to make sure that your business grows the right way online. Let’s go!

A Catch-All Approach Won’t Get You Anywhere

Okay, so first of all, let’s talk about this client. For the sake of privacy, I’m going to change his industry and say that he runs a bakery that specializes in custom cakes, cookies, and pastries.

So, he calls me last week and asks why the (BLEEP) is he not ranking for the keyword “cookies.”

He’s on page 5 for the organic search, which is not where he wants to be for the word “cookies,” and this has set him off to the point that he wants to have a call to discuss why this is happening.

Now, let’s go back a few years ago to when this client was onboarded. We gave our keyword recommendation at that time and he insisted, against our advisement, on adding the word “cookies” to his keyword list.

Why? An ultra-generic keyword like that is going to be tough to rank for. First of all, there are so many types of cookies: chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter, etc. Then, there are all types of commercial brands like Oreo, Girl Guides, Famous Amos, Peak Freans, etc. And, of course, the Internet is saturated with recipe sites for various types of cookies. Plus, you have to deal with sites like Wikipedia that will always outrank you on generic search terms. Heck, the word “cookies” can also refer to the text code in a website that remembers information about your visit!

So, when you’re a bakery trying to sell cookies in a local area and you try to rank on the Google organic rankings for the generic “cookies” keyword…well, simply put, you’re not going to rank. And that’s why you should never focus your SEO efforts on ranking for a generic keyword—you’re not going to get anywhere.

Focus on This One Thing with Your SEO Efforts

But here’s where things got interesting with this client…

He was ranking first in the Google Local listings for the word “cookies.” Upon further investigation, he was also getting a lot of traffic from his Google Business Profile in terms of clicking through to the website, clicking to call, and looking for directions, which are ALL great conversions for a business looking to grow online.

So, my first bit of advice to him—and to anyone doing SEO for their business:

Forget the generic keywords and where you are ranking organically for them. Instead, focus on what your customers are actually looking for, or, more specifically, what kind of problems you can solve for your customers.

And this leads me to the two most important words when it comes to current SEO strategy: customer intent.

Some small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are ultra-local, like this bakery, relying on foot traffic and phone or online orders to generate business. When we did an analysis of the results for the previous month, this bakery was ranking locally for specific keywords (a.k.a. long-tail keywords) like “cookies for kid’s birthday party” and “where to buy the best chocolate chip cookies in Toronto.”

And that’s where customer intent comes in.

You need to figure out what the customer intent is, and generic keywords involve a lot of guessing.

The Key? High Transactional Intent

Going back to our example, as a bakery, you have to put yourself in a potential customer’s shoes to see what intent people using the word “cookies” would have in their search.

If you need a little assistance with this, visiting a website like AnswerThePublic.com can show you which keywords you might want to rank for.

But a word of warning! Don’t just throw in generic keywords or you’ll miss out on potential customer intent!

For example, if you put the simple generic word “cookies” into AnswerThePublic, you can see the keyword phrases don’t relate to a local business that is looking for qualified traffic. You get phrases like “will cookies stick to parchment paper,” “where cookies are stored in chrome,” and “how cookies work.” None of these are going to help a bakery get more customers.

Now, if you slightly refine my search, even just a little, to “cookies near me,” you can now see terms that are more relevant.

You’ll likely see keyword phrases like “who sells cookies near me,” “ where can I order cookies near me,” and “who makes decorated cookies near me.”

Drill down even further with your search queries and you’ll get a lot more keyword ideas geared towards your business. In this case, it might be “gluten-free cookies for kids birthday,” “best cookies in Vaughan Ontario,” or “fresh baked cookie gift baskets near me.”

The goal isn’t volume of searches. The goal is higher conversion rates for keywords with high transactional intent from the searcher.

You might not think ranking at the top of the local search or the organic search for one keyword that only gets maybe three searches a month is a good thing.

But what if that keyword had a high transactional intent? Back to our example, if you were to rank first both organically and locally for the long-tail keyword “custom sugar cookies for a wedding,” the intent of the search is definitely transactional, as anyone plugging that into Google is at the very least pricing out bakeries for this type of product.

Now multiply these small searches with more high-intent, long-tail keywords, like:

• “large order chocolate chip cookies for bake sale”
• cookies for Halloween party”
• “best oatmeal raisin cookies in Toronto”

Yes, you might get just a few searches per day, but the people searching are going to be more likely to interact with your website and convert into sales.

Look at it this way: would you rather have hundreds of people walk into your store with a generic and maybe irrelevant question or would you rather have just a few people walk into your store already looking to buy a product you sell?

And that’s why you should ditch trying to rank for generic keywords and focus on the long-tail keywords that show the customer intent that you’re seeking.

The SEO Game Has Changed…Time to Change with It

If you want more help with determining your SMB’s target customer’s intent or coming up with long-tail keywords and related content that speak to them, feel free to reach out to me and the Numero Uno Web Solutions team. Let’s get going on making sure your business grows the right way online.