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Conversion Strategy: How SEO Can Unveil Your Target Consumer

by Luke Richardson

In the giant realm of this buzz word “Search Engine Optimization” also known as SEO, what’s truly unclear to many people is what exactly SEO does that is so dynamic and valuable. Sure, it is understood to many that SEO drives traffic and improves visibility of websites…but so does digital advertising, social media, content marketing and P.R. So the question you need to ask is: what is it about SEO that is so different than other inbound marketing strategies? 

My answer is very clear: conversion behavior. 

In my time working as an analyst, I have always been most fascinated by this concept of conversion search behavior which I will define as any type of search data that indicates a user is likely to buy, register, share or download (depending on the ultimate objective of the company). In the image below, you can see the visualization of the typical “sales funnel” that deonstrates how close a user is to actually taking an action. The ultimate goal with conversion strategy is to capture those closest to the bottom. 

Search behavior is truly a brilliant thing. It reveals that there might be an unknown online market for a product and thus a major opportunity for a company to see exponential growth. It shows unusual linguistic patterns and tells marketers that the way they assume people will phrase certain queries might not be congruent with the way people actually type them. But most of all, search behavior tells us who is already educated about something, who has been spending a lot of time looking for a product and who is clearly demonstrating with certain words that they would like to take an immediate action. 

The First Search Insight: Learning the Market

Before even thinking about conversion indicators with search data, one first needs to determine that there is a legitimate and sizable market for online integrated marketing communication. In many cases, professionals in their field will tel you that their users simply wouldn’t use Google to find them. In some cases, those professionals skepticism may be valid. But a lot of the time, general search data proves them wrong. The reality of today’s world is that people are so accustomed to using search engines in every aspect of all online interaction that they subconciously search queries into Google looking for validation, explanation or data. 

The 4 Conversion Strategies in SEO 

Once it is clear that there is a substantial amount of people  searching for the product of service you are working with, the next step is to understand where that person is in the funnel e.g. how far into the buyer-decision process might they be. Do they already know a lot about the product at hand, more than the average person? Are their searches unusually specific and demonstrative of high product knowledge? These questions are all focused around conversion behavior and there are 4 primary strategies to determine conversion with SEO. 

Proactive Keyword Search: This method looks for users who are demonstrating agency and intent with their search queries. Someone searching “What are the best cloud security providers?” makes it easy for an SEO analyst to tell that the searcher is likely in-market for cloud solutions as opposed to simply “cloud security” which is ambiguous and unclear as a keyword. The former demonstrates conversion behavior and is a very valuable insight in the SEO world. 

Long Tail Search: Similar to proactive, long tail keywords refer to queries that are detailed and complex, demonstrating that the user has spent a significant amount of time educating themselves about the product and is likely lower in the funnel. Another example from cloud computing would be the long tail search “IT solution for cloud flare” as opposed to a more typical search such as “cloud solutions” which gives an SEO analyst very little to work with from a conversion standpoint. 

Geotagging and Localization: One of the most common conversion indicators in all of SEO is localized search and thus, many businesses live and die by the localization doctrine. The thinking around this strategy is very intuitive: when people are thinking about proximity as a factor of their query, they are very likely to  register or convert. For example, which of these two search queries would you be more excited about as a marketer for cloud solutions: “cloud computing solution” or “cloud computing solutions in boston ma.” Of course, the latter is the attractive option. The former could depict a user wanting a definition of cloud or perhaps an article that outlines free information about cloud solutions. Maybe that user is in-market but it’s impossible to know. With the second phrasing, we know that the user is very likely to be looking for a product or team to help him or her with cloud solutions simply because proximity has been specified.

Relevant Keyword Search: Finally, an easy way to find your in-market target is by looking for related products or needs that indicate to you that someone would also need your service. This is especially important for those companies working with a product that is new and unknown to many consumers or any complex product that doesn’t have simple and easy search terms. For example, a content management system (CMS) product (such as Weebly, Drupal, Wix, etc.) will have a certain percentage of the market that needs their help but may not know the acronym CMS or understand how content management for websites works. Instead of only optimizing for searches directly for their product category, the company might take a relevant keyword approach and look for those searching for “web hosting providers” and bid on that keyword or build out content that talks about it in order to steer consumers towards their CMS product. If the rationale is not clear here: those in need of a web host will also need a way to manage content for their new website and thus the relevance is established. 

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Revenue: $13.8 billion vs $13.984 expected.

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