Loooong story short: buying keywords target search users at the end of their buyers’ journey. You’d use these keywords on pages with a high conversion-rate goal. Typically, the buyer’s journey is split into different phases:
Awareness
Research
Decision
Purchase
Each phase calls for a different type of keyword – aka, “keyword intent.” KEYWORD INTENT speaks to the INTENTION a person has when they search for something on the internet.
As an Ecommerce brand, you will need effective SEO strategies to attract customers at different stages of their buying journey. Using keywords with the right intent will help your site appear before the right audience at the right time. This is where buyers’ keywords come in really handy.
If you want to be a keyword pro, you could match each stage of the buyers’ journey with a different type of keyword intent.
Yes, we can categorize keywords based on the user’s search intent. The four common types of keywords by search intent are informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional.
Buyers’ keywords (or buying keywords) are a subcategory of TRANSACTIONAL keywords.
By this, I mean to say that NOT all transactional keywords are buying keywords. So then…
Again: these refer to search terms used by people who intend to purchase a product or service. It usually implies that they have made the decision to buy x product and are actively looking for it in the market. To understand these keywords and their intent better, you need to look at – as hinted above – where they stem in the buyer’s journey.
A buyer’s journey includes all the phases a customer goes through from the moment they realize the need for the product/service until the end when they find the solution. It includes four or five phases.
Awareness: The buyer realizes the problem they are facing and looks for a solution
Research/Consideration: The buyer researches and reviews the solutions available. They will also make comparisons between different brands at this stage.
Decision: The buyer understands the product and how it solves their problem and decides to purchase it.
Purchase: The buyer purchases the product or service.
Advocacy: The buyer will provide feedback and recommend it to others if they like it.
Buyer’s keywords play a key role when the customer is in the “purchase” phase. They have researched for a solution to their problem, considered their options, and are now ready to purchase the product/service.
Targeting search queries of buyers in the purchase stage is profitable because the traffic is more likely to convert to sales. HOWEVER… your keyword strategy should not only focus on this type of keyword.
Targeting your audience right at the start of their journey will benefit your brand visibility in the long term. Informational content adds value and helps resolve queries, hence giving people the chance to get to know – and like – you.
Buyers’ keywords can include phrases like:
buy, buy now, near me, discount, order online, where to buy, promo code, same-day shipping, next-day shipping, free shipping, deal, shop, for sale, best, top, gifts, gift card.
Keep in mind, purchase seasons, brand names, and specific locations can also signal buying keywords.
Glad you asked. I touched on how many keywords you should use on any given page within your site before, so you can simply apply and sprinkle your buying keywords to your category, product, and blog pages.
You’ll include your chosen keywords in your title tags, URL slug, main title, meta description, and in your content.
For example, a Top 10 Gifts for Christmas blog post will attract people actively researching and even – maybe – ready to purchase. It’s not the exact same as “How to choose a Christmas gift,” where you’d be giving valuable tips to pick a present.
You could have both articles on your site, and each would target people at different stages of their buying journey.
So say:
Someone lands on your site after searching: “How to choose a Christmas gift.“
And then they click on: “Top 10 Gifts for Christmas blog post”
And then they click on: “shop our Christmas gifts choices.”
(I’m sharing a very simplified example for the sake of clarity. The buyers’ journey can take many different shapes as people usually go back and forth on their research)
Your organic rankings efforts should be accompanied by building links to the pages you want to boost – both internal and external. Having these pages available within 2 or 3 clicks will also help. And then, great content, copywriting descriptions, and tons of value across the board.
Always make sure the pages you want to rank for are indexed, or you risk them not showing up on Google.
I also love a good combination of organic and paid. I always say to my clients that when you pay it is like renting SERP Real Estate. You stop paying…you stop showing up. However! I do feel a sense of certainty with Ads that sometimes take longer to achieve with SEO. Both are part of the same and make up the magic and fun of SEO – geeking out on SEO here lol.
Joyful SEO is an SEO marketing agency based in Christchurch, New Zealand. We work with small businesses, digital marketers, and ecomm stores. Take a tour around our SEO packages, book an SEO coaching session, or drop us a line with your top SEO Qs. We LOVE to help our clients better understand and apply SEO, and leverage it for growth.
