Keyword Research: List of Buying Keywords
As you’re doing keyword research for your website content and page titles, it’s best to craft your content so you’re helping people right as they’re getting ready to buy. You can tell this is the case by the intent of their search. There are certain trigger words that indicate the searcher is ready to make a purchase. If you can have your product or affiliate link in the right place, you have a good chance of making a sale.
And remember the kinds of searches there are:
- Informational – where people want to learn something (OK)
- Navigational – where people are trying to find a specific website (AVOID)
- Transactional – where people are ready to buy something (EXCELLENT)
- Tire-kicker – someone just checking something out (OK)
You, of course, want to make sure your content is better than your competition, so take a look at what other results are showing up. Make sure your page has great, original content, images, video, and a cluster of keywords around the commercial intent keyword you’re focusing on.
35 of the Best Buying Intent Keywords
Here’s the list of the best buying keywords (not in any special order) with purchase intent – people ready to buy. I’ve put them where I think the keyword will probably be with each search but it could be in a different order, of course:
- best + [keyword]
- buy + [keyword]
- purchase + [keyword]
- order + [keyword]
- affordable + [keyword]
- cheapest + [keyword]
- low priced + [keyword]
- low cost + [keyword]
- top + [keyword]
- top 10 + [keyword]
- 24 hour + [keyword]
- new + [keyword]
- where to buy/purchase + [keyword]
- where to find + [keyword] online
- emergency + [keyword]
- discontinued + [keyword]
- [keyword] + review
- [keyword] + for sale
- [keyword] + on sale
- [keyword] + discount
- [keyword] + deal
- [keyword] + best price
- [keyword] + clearance
- [keyword] + coupon code/coupon(s)
- [keyword] + free shipping
- [keyword] + in stock
- [keyword] + pre-owned
- [keyword] + comparison
- [keyword] + treatment/cure/remedy
- [keyword] + fix
- [keyword] + solution
- [keyword] + services
- [keyword] + near me
- (specific product name/model number – like “iPhone 11”)
- (product category – like “mobile phone car mount”)
Searching for More Buying Intent
Make sure you have Google Analytics (GA) and Google Search Console (GSC) on your website. Here’s how I think of each of these valuable tools:
- Google Analytics: What happened
- Google Search Console: What you could be ranking for
GA also has more info about traffic and GSC also have things like errors and things you need to fix. I also think of GSC as a back-channel with Google – one that should definitely not be ignored (a common mistake by website owners). Make sure you take care of ALL errors there. If you need help, I have a company with an excellent website maintenance department that rocks at GSC cleanup.
In GSC, head over to:
Performance > Queries
to find out what your website is showing up for with search. If you’re not in the top 3 for a keyword, then you better start optimizing that page there, Skippy.
How Do You Optimize Pages for Keywords?
You can either optimize existing pages or else just decide to create new pages. If you have a page in GSC that is starting to get some traction, then work on that page.
Before I get into what to optimize, make sure you don’t over-optimize. Doing that will signal to Google that you’re trying too hard. What you want to do is cluster your keywords and I have 2 good ways to do that:
- Find good LSI keywords
- Check out Wikipedia
LSI keywords are what you find at the end of pages when you do searches – like this:
And then see if there’s a page on Wikipedia about your topic. Scan that page for unique words that relate to what your niche/topic/product is about. Get some of those words on your page (naturally, of course – don’t just list them at the bottom or something).
You’ll then use the keywords you find in:
- Your page title (HTML title)
- Your page headline/H1 text
- H2 and H3 headings
- In your page’s content
- In the page’s URL (best if it’s a new page – keep it short)
And you don’t have to (should not) use the exact phrases all the time. Google is smart enough to know what you’re after, so the phrase doesn’t have to be exact.
For example, if I were optimizing a page for “best smartphone accessories” I might use phrases like this:
- best accessories for a smartphone
- some of the best accessories for smartphones
- smartphone accessories that are the best
Of course, you can use the exact keyword once if it’s something that fits and sounds natural. The point is, don’t force exact keywords in.
Make Sure You Deliver on the Intent
Your page must deliver on what you’re promising, of course. If you’re optimizing for a fix/cure, then make sure you’re offering that and not something else, for example.
Do your research and find the best content. Make it your own / in your own words for sure. If there isn’t good research out there, then consider taking the time to do the research yourself and then you’ll have some really valuable content worth linking to or sharing (you’ll have gold there, Skippy).
To be the best result, you have to be the best result. Yeah, that’s reflexive but you get the point. To be the best, you have to be better than everyone else. Duh, right? Well, some people don’t get this. Take what the best result is and then make your content ten times better.
Even for this page, what I did was I looked at other pages of lists of buyer intent keywords, then combined them to come up with my list. My twist on the list was the order I put them in and then how I showed where the keyword would probably be.
Conclusion
I think most people are understanding that today, you need to put time into developing content. Just throwing something up on a page isn’t really good enough anymore. Invest in the content you’re putting on your website.
One thing I’ve said before and it’s worth repeating here is that your content is an employee.
The cool thing is, it’s an employee you pay once and they keep working for you (that’s super cool, right?). Since you’re putting this content up there once (sure, you can optimize later but let’s not think that way for a moment), make sure it’s the best it can be. This employee (content) works for you 24/7/365, so make sure you hire the best person. Don’t send some scrub out there to close the sale. If you were selling something really expensive, you wouldn’t put someone with no talent out there, right?
You’re essentially paying for the traffic you’re getting even if you’re not buying traffic – either by investing in content, development, optimization, or all of the above. Even paying for website hosting is investing in your website, right? You’re doing all that investing to get people to your website, so make sure you have the right salespeople (content) there when they arrive. Words matter.
Using keywords and optimizing for buyer intent will skyrocket your sales if you do it right. Don’t just “wing it” but do it right. Invest the time/money and optimize the right way.
I remember some websites I’ve worked on where we changed one word on each page and sales changed. Yeah, it was the call to action (CTA). We added a power word or something and wow, sales went up, up, up! Figuring that out takes some testing but it’s worth it.
Websites are critical today. Please don’t wing it but be intentional with every word.
Comments? Questions? Let’s See Them!
Alright, what did I miss? What wasn’t clear? What questions do you have? Let me hear all of that below.
