Getting online conversions often comes down to one element: keywords.
Keywords drive online users to click on websites or ads, leading to organic and paid traffic for your website. And while website traffic is important, it doesn’t always lead to a conversion — the ultimate goal. To turn a prospective user into a customer of your product or service, you need to incorporate buying intent keywords. These keywords solely target those users who are ready to make a purchase right then and there.
How do you discover valuable buyer keywords for your website? You need to break down search intent and the online buying process. From there, you can begin to use a variety of marketing strategies to line up buyer keywords for your site and reap its benefits.
First Things First: What Is Search Intent?
Diving into search intent will help you understand how and why internet users use buyer keywords. Search intent reflects a user’s journey online and is defined by user behavior. There are three stages of a search intent online:
- Informational: Users at this stage are searching for information on a topic. They have no intention of buying yet and are instead focused on research.
- Commercial: At this point, a user is considering making a purchase. However, they would still like to do a little investigating before making the jump.
- Purchase: Now, users are ready to make a purchase. They are looking for the best place to go through with their buy.
The purchase stage is where buying intent keywords come into play. After all, when a user is at this stage, they aren’t looking for any more information. Instead, they want to find the best deal for them at that moment. Using the right buying intent keyword can make the difference between a sale or bounce.
What Are the Different Types of Buying Intent Keywords?
The purchase intent phase comes with its own different levels of buying intent keywords. The keywords are divided into three categories: “buy now” keywords, product keywords, and informational keywords.
Buy Now Keywords
“Buy now” keywords are in the name: users are looking to buy a product right now. They’ve completed all of their research and are ready to make a buy based on the top deal they find. Common buy now keywords include:
- Buy
- Discount
- Deal
- Coupon
- Sale
- Promo code
- In stock
- Near me
- Suppliers
- Seller
It’s best to use buy now keywords on your product or service pages, as these are where users hope to arrive after completing a search query. Likewise, you can include them as part of any product or service campaign if you do email marketing.
Product Keywords
With product keywords, users are ready to buy, but they also want to know their options. They compare products and brands, look at reviews, and eliminate possibilities until they get the exact one they want. Some typical product keywords are:
- Best
- Top
- Review
- Better
- Recommended
- Comparison
- [Product/Service] vs. [Product/Service]
There are various ways to factor in product keywords through content marketing. For instance, you can write blog posts or articles exploring your product or service in-depth, describing its features and advantages.
Informational Keywords
While informational keywords don’t bring the highest conversions, they often give users the information they need to purchase eventually. The most-used informational keywords are:
- How to
- Guide to
- What is
- Where is
- When to
Potential customers searching these keywords need encouragement to purchase. As these are often first-time visitors to your site, you can advertise an email newsletter signup or your social media pages to prompt visitors to follow your brand and learn more. You can create guides related to your product or service. For instance, if you sell home repair equipment, write a guide on undergoing a basic home repair project.
Buying Intent Keyword Factors to Consider
Before reviewing the most valuable methods to find buying intent keywords, there are two essential factors to keep in mind. These will help you avoid putting your efforts into the wrong endeavor.
High Search Volume Keywords
There’s a common misconception that high search volume keywords are the most important. While these keywords are great for bringing in web traffic, they don’t always lead to conversions. Focus on using high search volume keywords for informational content over commercial or purchase content.
You can see which keywords have a high search volume by using a tool like Google Trends. Here, you can type in a keyword and see its popularity on a scale of 0-100. The higher the number, the more popular the keyword is. For instance, the keyword “laptop” had a popularity of 71 in January 2022. On the other hand, during the same period, “brand new laptop” only had a popularity of 31.
In this case, you could use “laptop” on your homepage or in informative pieces to bring in traffic and “brand new laptop” on your product pages to target those looking specifically for a new laptop.
High vs. Low Intent Keywords
High intent keywords show a user does indeed want to make a purchase. On the other end of the spectrum are low intent keywords, which indicate a user is not interested in spending money on a product or service. Instead, they use low intent keywords like “free” to avoid buying. Alternatively, they could use keywords like “cheap” or “affordable” to save as much money as possible. As a result, using low intent keywords will rarely lead to profit-making sales.
However, if you offer a free trial, product, or service, incorporating “free” is a good way to interest users, perhaps leading to a future purchase. The key with low intent keywords is to use them carefully and with long-term goals in mind.
How to Find Buying Intent Keywords
There are several ways to find the right buying intent keywords for your business, each of which has its own set of steps.
Perform Keyword Research
Undertaking keyword research takes time and effort but will bring you valuable insight into finding and choosing which buying intent keywords to use. While you complete the following tasks, make sure to build up a keyword list that you can refer to when creating your content.
Undergo Internal Research
A good first step is to get information from the source: your customers. After all, these were once first-time visitors who were convinced to purchase from your website. You can gather information by sending out customer surveys through email or directly on your site. In your survey, ask questions about how your customers discovered you, what problems you could solve for them, and what they’d like to see more of on your site. Through this information, you can uncover patterns to inspire ideas for implementing buying intent keywords.
If you’d prefer, another good idea is to send follow-up emails after a customer has made a purchase that asks these same questions. That way, you’ll be targeting the most recent customers and receive the most up-to-date feedback.
Make Use of Google Keywords
Another excellent source for buying intent keywords is Google search engine results pages (SERPs). With over 40,000 search queries processed every second on Google alone, the search engine site is a treasure trove of data. SERPs offer real-time buyer keyword insights in a few different ways. The first is through Google’s autocomplete suggestions. Think of a keyword you’d like to use, and type it into Google’s search bar. See what suggestions Google recommends. These suggestions show what Google users are searching for, letting you know what prospects are interested in your products or services.
After you complete a search for a keyword, scroll down to the “People Also Ask” and “Related Searches” boxes on the SERP. Like autocomplete suggestions, these show you what users are curious about, but they also give you alternative options for utilizing your keyword. This is especially useful if you want to avoid using very competitive keywords.
Lastly, look at what ads appear on the SERP. Ads will usually consist of “buy now” keywords. You can get an idea of which buying intent keywords are most competitive for your market. If you plan to create pay-per-click ad campaigns, brainstorm ideas for variations of the ad keywords you see. For instance, you might want to use long-tail keywords or synonyms of the ad keywords instead to rank your ad higher.
Check Out Your Competitors
To further your keyword research, consider what keywords your competitors target. The first step is to scour your competitors’ websites, including their product and content pages. Look for any keywords that stand out or are repeated. Similarly, look for areas where keywords seem to be lacking. Are there any opportunities that would do well on your site?
The second measure is to scope out reviews of your competitors’ websites, products, or services. What are customers saying about your competitor? Are there any repeated words? Are there any negative opinions? Not only will this information help you know which keywords to include, but it’ll let you know which ones you should avoid.
Create Keyword-Focused Content
After you’ve finished the research phase, it’s time to think about incorporating the keywords on your site. The following considerations can narrow down your list and make sure you use the most suitable options.
Consider Your Niche
Considering your niche is important for two reasons. The first is that not all buying intent keywords will be useful for your niche. If you sell a service, such as financial consulting, users probably won’t include words like “discount” or “coupon.” Instead, their search inquiries might resemble something like “best/top financial consultants near me.” You should eliminate keywords not relevant to your product or service.
Secondly, considering your niche will assist in discovering more specific buying intent keywords. This goes back to that internal research you conducted. Were there any particular customer responses that stood out? Perhaps there was a specific pain point you solved or a feature of your product or service that some customers liked. Gathering unique ideas can help you zero in on solutions competitors don’t offer.
Craft Informative Content
If you’ve gathered informational keywords as part of your buying intent keyword list, you can use them to create informative content to post on your site. For ideas, check out online communities like Quora and Reddit. Here, users often post questions about products, services, or features. Read the discussions and see if you can develop an article or blog post that can answer user questions in-depth.
Along with articles or blogs, you can write tutorials, how-to guides, or FAQs related to your products or services. This will establish you as an authoritative and trustworthy source in your market. After all, 59% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand they trust.
Gather Keyword Metrics
Fortunately, you don’t have to tackle the buying intent keyword process yourself. Many online tools and resources can help you measure your keyword performance, gather important analytics, and decide on impactful keywords.
Measure Your Current Keyword Performance
The first keyword metrics you should gather are the performance of your own. Google Analytics works perfectly for this, and — best of all — it’s completely free. Google Analytics can show you which keywords bring you the highest traffic and lead to the most conversions. Compare these keywords to the ones you’ve found to be most relevant and effective on other sites. Are you using the same keywords? Or do you need to weave in some new ones?
Use Outside Keyword Tools
While Google can give you a great idea of where you stand right now, other research tools take it further by giving you the top keyword suggestions and practices to implement. For instance, popular keyword tool Ahrefs lets you type in a keyword and receive numerous analytics, including the keyword’s search volume, ranking difficulty, and the amount of paid and organic clicks it receives. Even better, the tool provides thousands of keyword suggestions that rank highly and lead to impressive impressions.
For focusing purely on buying intent keywords, look no further than SEMrush. The tool’s “Keyword Intent Filler” narrows down keywords you enter by search intent. You can see which ones are best reserved for commercial and purchase intent, further narrowing down your options. Even better, the tool lets you view the keyword’s trends over time, including when the keyword was most and least popular.
Another strong option is Neil Patel’s UberSuggest. This keyword research program has two unique tools. Firstly, the program lets you see competitors’ rankings for certain keywords. It will also link competitor web pages that rank high so that you can go directly to the source of the competition. From here, you can gather other content ideas or see where your competitors are lacking. The second reason UberSuggest is a top choice is the ability to see the number of social shares your competitors are getting, including on Facebook and Pinterest. This data lets you know what’s trending with consumers right now.
A/B Test Keywords
After you’ve done your buying intent keyword research, looked at your metrics, and tried out a keyword research tool or two, it’s time to start testing out keywords as much as possible. The most effective way to do this is through A/B testing. This testing method refers to the process of testing two versions of something against each other. For buying intent keywords, that means testing two different keywords against one another.
For example, perhaps you can use “discount” on one product page and “deal” on another. Track your metrics to see if one page outperforms another in clicks and conversions. From there, you can use the data to select the best keyword to use from now on. With some testing, you’ll know for sure what’s working — and what could be improved.
Optimize Buying Intent Keywords Today
Using buying intent keywords is the key to increasing your site conversions. The process does take some initial time and research, but the insights you receive are invaluable in developing a buyer-oriented website.
To get started, first examine your own website and see where your keyword performance stands. Look for gaps in keyword usage that can turn into profitable opportunities. If you need ideas or inspiration, head to Google, your competitors’ sites, and a keyword research tool. From there, it’s simply a case of trial-and-error until you build a keyword list that’s full of clicks and conversions.
If you’d like even more keyword knowledge and to learn how to capture leads with them, check out Redstitch’s article on capturing leads with buyer intent.
