Long Tail Pro in 2017 – Is it Still the Best?

Finding Rankable, Long Tail Keywords With Ease – Long Tail Pro Review

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If you are looking for the best keyword research tool to support you and your online business then I am going to make the assumption that you understand the importance of keyword research, choosing the most relevant keywords that have low competition and a high amount of searches.

With that being said, let’s move on to our Long Tail Pro review where we will be investigating the efficiency and effectiveness of this tool in 2015. We will also be comparing the features & functionality of Long Tail Pro alongside other industry recognized tools.

But first, who am I and how am I eligible to make such bold statements & conclude what is and what is not the best keyword research tool currently on the market?

My name is Will Blears, I am founder of Perceptive Digital an online marketing agency which specialises in paid advertising for internationally recognised brands and I am also a veteran online marketing specialist with over 10 years experience in affiliate marketing. I’ve been using keyword research tools, such as Long Tail Pro since I began my IM journey and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, as they offer unparalleled functionality that acts as both time savers & a gold mine for finding low hanging fruit for new & established websites.

With the introduction out of the way, let’s get in to the nitty-gritty of Long Tail Pro!

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What is Long Tail Pro?

Long Tail Pro is an Adobe Air desktop based application that uses the Google Keyword Tool to pull through keyword data about a specific sub-set of keywords that the user is interested in analyzing.

Using seed keywords (up to 10,000) you can quickly build out a highly relevant list of related keywords that will be displayed alongside their monthly search volume, the average Adwords CPC, advertiser competition & lastly the Long Tail Pro keyword competition metric (only available to platinum users).

Long Tail Pro allows you to quickly, efficiently and effectively create highly relevant keyword lists based on singular or multiple seed keywords. With this data you can then analyse each keyword by its search volume or more importantly Long Tail Pro’s keyword competition metric.

What is LTP’s Keyword Competition metric?

Probably the best, definitely the most unique feature of Long Tail Pro is it’s ability to create a ‘keyword competition’ metric which determines the level of difficulty a keyword has.

How is the keyword competition metric calculated?

Similarly to how Moz Keyword Analysis works, LTP analyses the individual keywords top 10 search results displaying and using in its calculation the following metrics:

  • URL
  • Title
  • Page Authority
  • Page Links
  • Juicing Page
  • Domain Authority
  • Moz Rank
  • Page Rank
  • Site Age

Once calculated Long Tail Pro will produce a keyword competitiveness result ranging from 0 – 100, with 1 being the easiest to rank for and 100 being extremely difficult. However, in my experience the majority of cases keyword competition scores range from 10 – 55.

What is a good Keyword Competition score?

If you do decide to try Long Tail Pro, then I do recommend looking for keywords with a keyword competition metric of less than 25 for new websites, and up to 35 for established websites. 

Is the keyword competition metric available to all LTP customers? 

Unfortunately not, to gain access to the Keyword Competition metric you need to have a monthly subscription to Long Tail Pro this costs $17 per month.

Long Tail Pro isn’t the only tool with a unique keyword competition metric…

So far, we have introduced Long Tail Pro & discussed it’s unique feature the ‘Keyword Competition’ metric, however Long Tail Pro is not the only keyword research tool that has it’s own unique competition metric. Moz have developed their own metric that is simply called “Keyword Difficulty”. This is a percentage-based metric, the higher percentage the metric is the more difficult it is to rank for.

If we were to simply compare the keyword competition metrics of both Moz & Long Tail Pro, I’d say in my experience that LTP’s metric has been more reliable. However, a keyword research tool cannot simply be reviewed on this one metric, to give an objective review of Long Tail Pro we need to dig deeper in to the usability of the tool.

Let’s break it down…

Long Tail Pro can be broken down in to 3 core areas, these are:

  1. Keyword Research
  2. Competitor Analysis
  3. Rank Checker

Let’s start with number 1.

Long Tail Pro: Keyword Research Feature

As we previously mentioned, to create a list of keywords you simply need to add one or more seed keywords and click generate keywords, it’s that simple. There are a few different features you can also use, such as importing a list of seed keywords from an external source as well as filtering the results by number of words in the query, average CPC & number of searches.

Once you have clicked generate, Long Tail Pro usually takes between 1-3 minutes to product the keyword list, however this also depends on the type of seed keywords you are adding and the scale of the results. After the results have been delivered, the data available is basically a nicely laid out version of Google keyword planner, the only difference is if you have the monthly subscription then you can also calculate the individual keywords LTP competition metric.

However, to conclude this part of Long Tail Pro; whilst having data nicely laid out, the ability to add keywords to a favorite tab and delete irrelevant keywords is no huge advantage over using the Google keyword planner or simply exporting data in to an Excel sheet and using your own filters/formulas to hand pick the most relevant, highly searched keywords.

The biggest advantage of Long Tail Pro’s keyword research feature is the ‘keyword competitor’ metric and unfortunately as that is not available for all Long Tail Pro users I must give the keyword research feature of LTP a 6/10.

Keyword Research Feature: Our verdict 5/10

Long Tail Pro: Competitor Analysis Feature

This is definitely one of better features of Long Tail Pro, allowing you to analyse the top 10 search engine results for an individual keyword. By calculating the competitiveness of a keyword, you are given a variety of results, as we discussed above these are:

  • URL
  • Title
  • Page Authority
  • Page Links
  • Juicing Page
  • Domain Authority
  • Moz Rank
  • Page Rank
  • Site Age

These are all very useful data points to use when determining the competitiveness of a keyword. This feature collects and compiles all of the above data in a very easy to understand table structure.

As a standalone feature, it doesn’t offer a big enough advantage over any of it’s market competitors however once again, if you purchased the monthly subscription you would not only gain access to the data above but also have a keyword competition metric for the keyword you were analyzing.

Overall, similarly to the keyword analysis feature to really be of any significant benefit the competitor analysis tool needs to have the keyword competition metric. Without the KC metric, Long Tail Pro’s competitor analysis feature definitely has a time saving element to it, but it’s simply not useful enough.

Competitor Analysis Feature: Our verdict 6/10

This brings us on to our last feature in our Long Tail Pro review, the rank checker that we have not previously discussed. For anyone who is familiar with SEO, you would understand that having a tool to check rankings of your website for it’s target keywords on a daily basis is crucial. Well, Long Tail Pro offers a feature that can do just that.

Long Tail Pro: Rank Checker Feature

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For those familiar with rank checking tools, Long Tail Pro is probably not the first tool you would associate with this process. However, Long Tail Pro does have an in-built feature allowing you to do exactly that, which definitely comes in handy!

How does it work?

Very simple, you add the domain URL & keyword, as well as the country in which you are trying to rank for. After this, simply click check rank.

Once the results have been compiled you will see the position number appear for your website and the target keyword within Google, Yahoo & Bing.

And that’s that, it’s a very simple feature but that doesn’t stop it from being a very useful feature and definitely a nice added touch to the long tail pro offering.

Rank Checker Feature: Our verdict 8/10

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So far, we have introduced Long Tail Pro, explained the inner workings of its keyword competitor metric & explained it’s 3 core features. However, what we have yet to do is talk about it’s negatives so let’s do that now!

Long Tail Pro: Issues

I am going to be blunt here, in the several years I have been using Long Tail Pro I have yet to see an update that has actually had any significant (if any) changes to it’s functionality or the interface. I have also yet to find a solution to its biggest problem that I have and still do experience very frequently and that is the inability for Long Tail Pro to consistently bring back data.

Unfortunately, after many E-mails back and fourth with the Long Tail Pro support team I still experience an issue where I will create a new campaign or try to dig further in to an already established data set with new seed keywords and the keyword analysis feature will show the load box but simply do nothing.

This is one of their biggest problems in my opinion and whilst it doesn’t stop me from using Long Tail Pro it does cause a lot of unnecessary frustration.

To be honest though, apart from the issue I just talked about there really is no other problems with Long Tail Pro, the way it is. Of course I could list several features I’d love to see in Long Tail Pro but I won’t.

Why?

Well, the same could be said for everything I own, the Macbook Pro I am currently using to run Microsoft’s Office for Mac, the Word document I am currently using to write this article or the CMS system I will later be using to upload and publish the article. There is very little in life that is perfect, but for keyword research Long Tail pro does a good job.

Let’s begin to wrap things up, I’ve covered off the main features of Long Tail Pro, the main issues I have experienced with Long Tail Pro and now I am going to summarize who is the intended user of Long Tail Pro, why you would want give it a go and why you have nothing to lose in doing so.

Who should purchase Long Tail Pro?

Firstly, if you have an established website and you are looking for new content ideas, ways of driving more organic traffic then try Long Tail Pro.

Secondly, if you are looking to build a brand new website, whether you have a topic idea or not, try adding a couple of seed keywords in to Long Tail Pro and see what results you get. Not sure what to start with, then look around the room you are in, think about the topics that interest you most, consider the things you are most passionate about, niches you have come across, products you have come across, news you have read about and then put some seed keywords together and click go!

Thirdly, if you are an online advertiser then Long Tail Pro can come in handy when trying to pull together a data set of keywords to bid on.

Basically, if you currently spend a significant amount of time doing keyword research in the Google Keyword Planner, then try Long Tail Pro. If you haven’t even got that far, then stop and try Long Tail Pro before you have even used GKP.

What about the alternatives?

alternative choice

It seems I am telling you to try Long Tail Pro, without even considering the alternatives available out there.

Why, would I urge you to try Long Tail Pro without considering the alternatives?

Well, because you have absolutely nothing to lose, simple.

Long Tail Pro comes with a 10-day $1 trial; with absolutely no need for credit card details, meaning even if you forget about it, you won’t be charged!

If you got this far down my Long Tail Pro review then I urge you, actually no I command you to go and try Long Tail Pro, and at the end of the day a review is only one person’s opinion.

Go and try it for yourself, right here.

Still wondering about those alternatives?

Then go and check those out as well, they all come with some form of free trial and are definitely worth testing, there is no one tool fits all solution here. The alternatives are:

Moz – 30-day free trial, after entering credit card details but you get reminded before the trial expires.

Note: Moz doesn’t actually serve as a Keyword research tool, but instead you can use it with either Long Tail Pro or Google Keyword Planner to help determine the competitiveness of a single keyword & analyse the top 10 results, as well as analyzing the competitions website and finally tracking your target keyword rankings.

SEM Rush – Upfront cost of $69.95 with a 7-day money back guarantee, so unfortunately in this case you have to actually invest the money in the product but it is covered by a 100% reputable money-back guarantee.

Note: Similarly to Moz, this doesn’t actually provide additional keywords based on seed keywords that you enter, but instead it is a massively beneficial tool for competitor analysis & keyword analysis.

Authority Metrics – this is a new tool to the keyword research market, and acts similar to Long Tail Pro. It has been created by a couple of the guys from No Hat Digital and is definitely worth taking a look at. Fortunately, your money is covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee, giving you plenty of time to review the tool and it’s features and functionality.

OK Will, thanks but out of interest what tools are you using?

Good question, it’s one thing to recommend tools but if your not using them then that’s a bit silly isn’t it?

Well, I am actually using Long Tail Pro, Moz Pro Account, SEM Rush & Authority Metrics as convenient as it may sound. I also have Market Samurai although I haven’t used it in maybe 4 years? Apart from that, I also use Google Keyword Planner, and I use them all together, as a combined effort to find the best keywords, analyze the SERPs and understand the overall market scope.

Let me wrap this up, as this is beginning to turn in to a monster piece, to conclude I do enjoy using Long Tail Pro, it’s keyword competition metric is very useful and has helped me to cut out thousands of keywords in the past and still does today. If you were looking for an affordable solution to your keyword research then I’d definitely recommend Long Tail Pro over the rest, as it’s far more affordable.

However, I would not recommend purchasing Long Tail Pro without access to its keyword competition metric as I simply find the tool to not be of a big enough benefit without it.

So, give Long Tail Pro a try today – remember it’s a 10-day free; no credit card needed trial account so you have nothing to lose.

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Will Blears
 

I am an online advertising expert, with 10 years experience in affiliate marketing and paid media advertising. The founder of Perceptive Digital, an online advertising agency specialising in paid advertising for internationally recognised brands, I am also the founder of One Mans Brand, my personal blog where I write about various online marketing techniques. Lastly, I've launched a new venture which fuses big data and affiliate marketing under one roof, Consumer Essentials.