The term 'long tail' was coined by Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired Magazine in 2004. Long tail queries are those search engine keyword queries which are more targeted than the general keywords. Website publishers, as well as marketers have realized the potential of long tail queries that are triggered few times but can generate a lot of revenue for websites. The trend has been led by a change in the way people try to find content on search engines. According to Google every fifth search performed on their search engine is unique. By focusing on long tail queries, websites can offer a better customer experience to their users. Following are some of the tips for optimizing your site for long tail queries:

• Use Google Keyword tool: This tool helps you find the relevant keywords for any search term. You can also find how many searches are performed for each of the keywords in a month. You can use this tool to identify long tail keywords and then try to optimize your site for them.
• Unique content: Make sure the content of the website is unique and is informative for the readers. Remember to use long tail keywords in sentences. e.g. if your website is about weight loss, it's advisable to offer content for search terms such as "best diets to lose weight",  "effective ways to lose weight", "lose weight in 15 days" and so on.
• Meta tag keywords: Always try to meta tag the keywords so that it is easy for search engines to find them. You can meta tag the main keyword and the long tail keywords at the same time.
• Backlinks: the long tail keywords can be used while making backlinks. This will help improve the rank of the page where the content is located, improving the flow of traffic to your website.

Most online marketing experts only focus on Google when creating a strategy for online marketing and search engine optimization. The main reason for this is that Google is by far the number one search engine which controls more than 60% of the search market. Most websites receive up to 80% of their traffic from Google alone.

For a marketing expert, however, it is important not to overlook other search engines such as Yahoo and Bing. These two search engines now control almost 30 percent of the search engine market. Since Yahoo also uses some of the search technology developed by Bing, it is important for businesses to focus on ranking high in Bing also. As with any search engine, website operators have to understand how Bing works in order to optimize their websites for it. Here are some of the things that Bing focuses on.

Age of the domain
Age of the domain carries a lot of weight for Bing. Websites that have been in operation for a long time tend to rank high in Bing. Just like Google, Bing also likes to establish the authority of the content it shows on its results page, and the age of the domain is one of the factors that determines this authority for Bing. For marketers, this means that while there might be no immediate payoffs, persistence is likely to bear fruit.

Link building
Link building is also a very important part of SEO on Bing. While the inbound links establish the authoritative nature of the content, the outbound links establish its usefulness to the readers. Links, therefore, should always be pertinent to the content displayed on the page.

Quality content
Bing also uses algorithms just like Google to scan the content of the webpage in order to determine its quality and to identify any black hat techniques used by businesses to boost their search engine ranking. Website operators need to focus on providing fresh, quality content in order to improve their page rank.

Google is the leading search engine in the world with a share of over 65% of the search market. One of the reasons for Google's popularity with the users is the fact that it keeps improving its search functionality by updating its algorithm in order to make sure that its users find whatever they're searching for.

Most of the changes Google makes go unnoticed by the average user but they usually make a huge impact on the website rankings. Whenever Google makes a change to its algorithm, there are always winners and losers.

The latest change was made by Google on 3rd November 2011. The update is being referred to as Caffeine algorithm or Google's Freshness Update. As the name suggests, the update focuses on the freshness of information posted on a website while showing it on Google's results page. The update represents a significant change in the search engine's approach. Most SEO experts think that it should be interpreted in the context of the popularity of Web 2.0 websites. This update affects almost 35% of the searches.

This Freshness Update has negatively affected the websites maintained by small businesses since they're usually the people who have static websites. They usually don't have the resources to keep their content fresh and consequently, they're now showing up lower in search results.

In order to take advantage of the Freshness Update, websites operators need to focus on adding content to their websites on a regular basis. Small businesses can also make their blogs a part of the website in order to keep their content fresh. Widgets showing content from their social media profile pages can also be added as dynamic components of their websites. All these changes can go a long way in ensuring that your website benefits from the update and receives a lot of traffic from the search engine.

As the audience numbers have exploded for websites in recent years, it’s more important than ever for marketers to promote their companies online. The MyPRGenie.com experts have a few helpful tips on how to get started with online promotion.

1. Set up a website:

Think of this as a base of operations--all online promotions should bring the customer back to your website. An account on Facebook or Twitter can also be effective, and free. But they shouldn’t be used in isolation; they should be tools to draw audiences to your website.

2. Optimization:

Search engine optimization boosts your website’s ranking in online searches, such as with Google. By utilizing keywords and links to well-traveled websites on your own web pages, you can boost your ranking. See our other blog entries for specific SEO tips, at http://blog.myprgenie.com

3. Social media:

Social media marketing can produce wonderful results. Set up an account on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube; make interesting posts regularly; and link your followers back to your website.

4. I’d prefer to pay:

Many websites offer inexpensive online advertising, such as Google Adwords. Just make sure that the websites where your advertisements appear are reaching your target audiences.

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