Keywords that pay

Keywords that pay are the keywords people search for just before they make a purchase, request a quote or book a service.

That sets them apart from keywords that only pull in traffic. A term like “what is SEO” brings in thousands of visitors while almost none of them want to buy a service at that moment. A term like “hire an SEO agency” brings in far less traffic while almost everyone who types it is seriously considering a purchase. The moment of the search decides the difference, regardless of the number of searches.

How to recognise buying intent

• Action words. Terms with “buy”, “hire”, “price” or “quote” point to someone who is ready to decide. These words give away that the searcher has moved past the orientation phase.
• Specificity. The more specific the search, the closer someone usually sits to a choice, think of a brand name plus a problem or a service plus a place. Someone who searches that precisely already knows roughly what they need.
• Comparisons. Searches with “best” or “vs” come from people at the end of their orientation who are still choosing between a few options. See also recognising and using search intent.

Why volume says so little

• Plenty of traffic, little buying. Broad informative terms attract visitors who are still at the start of their search and may wait weeks before they buy anything.
• Little traffic, plenty of buying. A niche keyword with a hundred searches a month can earn more than a term with ten thousand, simply because a far larger share of those hundred actually becomes a customer.
• Context of the page. The same keyword can carry a different value depending on whether the answer on your page suits winning the answer box or a sales page where someone can order straight away.

Not sure which keywords suit your business? Have it worked out through outsourcing SEO and GEO.