Realtor Q & A: What is the ‘the Long Tail’ and what does it mean for my Real Estate business?

By admin • November 12th, 2007

The phrase ‘The Long Tail’ was made popular by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 Wired Magazine article to describe certain business and economic models. Later Anderson, the editor of wired, authored a best selling book on the subject.

Not to say that one should disregard the ’short tail’, but from an economic standpoint it may be cost- prohibitive. The importance of the ‘Long Tail’ theory as it relates to a regionally- based Real Estate business is demonstrated by a Realtor that has achieved search engine visibility and/ or discover- ability for the maximum no. of variations on a highly targeted [or more ambiguous/ short tail] search.

Long tail key phrases are those topics & keywords affiliated with one’s primary targeted search terms & phrases (i.e. Malibu Home) also considered ‘short tail’ terms & phrases. It suggests that, while a prepared Realtor may generate less individual discovery for those variations of a highly targeted search phrase (i.e. Malibu home near Pacific Ocean with views) than for their primary short tail target (i.e. Santa Barbara Home), that the collective impact from buyer discovery for those variations can be much greater. Let’s face it, the battle to rank for ‘Aspen Home’ is expensive and it’s fought for by thousands; whereas, ‘Vail CO home walking distance with view’ is likely far less competitive and/or costly to compete for. The fact is, people are searching differently these days. They search more words OR much more specifically… but most Realtors aren’t necesarily targeting them. Blogging consistently on one’s marketplace, by the way, is an incredibly cost- effective means for maximizing visibility OR for achieving ‘Long Tail Search Engine indexing.’

Enough rhetoric, let’s look at the genuine article. A deeper look into a Resort [area] Real Estate client demonstrates a commitment to blog [and to be indexed] on virtually everything going on in a marketplace. In this example, we’ll examine one month’s worth of client data [rounded/6 search engines tracked] to demonstrate the kind of Home Buyer & Seller ‘Long Tail’ search discovery they have generated… and how:

I. Short Tail Discovery: 19% [190/1,015 = The town looked at including the words Property, Real Estate, Home or Homes 190 Total]
II. Long Tail Discovery: 81% [825/1,015 = ...]
 * Specific Communities: 10 different/ 130 Total Searcher Discoveries
 * Condominium/ Time Share Complexes: 10 different/ 299 Total
 * Developments: 7 different/ 89 Total
 * Clubs: 3 different/ 101 Total
 * Restaurants/ Local Business: 3 different/ 27 Total
 * Listings or specific Street names: 5/ 32
 * Developers: 1/ 56
 * Random/ Miscellaneous: 91

Again, this only represents search discovery and does not inlude repeat visitors, subscribers or folks who come to the site directly; however, the firm makes a commitment to blog [and to be indexed] on virtually everything going on in their marketplace AND, in our view, they demonstrate how blogging is not only a successful ‘Long Tail’ execution strategy, but cost- effective versus the war waged by thousands for the most obvious organic search results OR ‘Short Tail’. Beyond cost, Blogging requires a small commitment of time and we’d argue the firm is benefiting from a much, much more qualified buyer search discovery than those solely focused on the most highly sought after [i.e. Vail Real Estate] key phrases.

Folks, you can achieve the ‘Long Tail’: we recommend consistent, on- topic blogging!

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