By Dan Morris – SEO Consultant
When encountering a new client wanting to drive more traffic from search engines, we are always tasked with figuring out whether it makes sense to revamp old pages or create new ones.
For me, the answer is always new. In fact, until you do the keyword research to understand all the ways traffic is looking for you, how do you even begin to start revamping? Unless you understand the competition level, how do you even know what keyword would be best (vs easiest) to win?
So we start with building a complete keyword theme map to understand all the ways people would be excited to find your site. Then the next step is to figure out which old posts already fit keywords in the map and don’t need any revisions. We plug those right in.
Then we figure out which old content would be better served if we optimized it with a better, different keyword. We revamp those and fit those in to the map. Then it is time to take on all the new traffic that never could find us before.
What about the Buying Process?
That leaves the products and services pages largely left untouched and wandering in the field. Do we do SEO for those? Well, that depends what part of the buying process those pages address. Because you don’t want an audience searching for “Best SEO Company” to land on a page that describes what SEO is.
Clearly those people know what SEO is. You’re just annoying the customer now.
So we want to make sure that the keywords associated with a products, service or shopping cart page are optimized for keywords that people use when they are ready to buy. . . like “Buy Custom HALO Xbox Controller”
If the customer searched for that and landed on the shopping cart page for the Customized HALO Xbox Controller at ScufGaming.com, they’d really be on the right page. Right?
Well, maybe not.
What if they were unfamiliar with ScufGaming? Would that be an objection they needed to overcome before pressing the buy button? Don’t you want to have some level of comfort when shopping online? That means the page would need to include some sort of testimonial and money back guarantee seal too.
And would they be comfortable with the price? Scuf isn’t the least expensive option. So, would they need to know about the Professional Players who rely on Scuf’s quality first? Would they need to see the amazing level of detail and thinking that goes into creating a Scuf Controller? Would they need a comparison chart to prove to their brain that the additional expense is worth it over a generic controller?
And does any of this involve the back button? Pressing the About button? Pressing the Home button to learn more? And if so, why would we want them to land there in the first place if we didn’t yet overcome the basic objections and get them excited first?
That’s Why There is a Sales Funnel
So if we write content to reflect the point in the buying process of the consumer, we can send them to the necessary pages before they get to the “buy” page. We don’t really want them to open Amazon and search there first for a comparison. We don’t want them to go to Facebook looking to see if any friends liked their page.
All of that is a distraction from the process. A process we can control AND make awesome for the consumer.
So I want to first figure out all the ways traffic will find us. Then I want to figure out the sales funnel and what needs to happen in order to create a buyer. Then figure out which existing pages fit into that funnel, which also drive traffic and how the whole process works together.
Sometimes a Sales Funnel is one page.
Imagine looking for a place to hold your Wedding Reception. You Google it and click on the top result and it takes you to a page with 2 large wedding photos and a video. One of the wedding photos shows a small wedding reception, one shows a medium sized and the video shows a full black tie giant event, all with people smiling, dancing and beautifully decorated. Now imagine a map of the venue, a price list with comparison to other places and a calendar showing available dates.
And finally a call to action “If you’re ready to talk about catering, music, special deals and all that other stuff fill out the form below, or call ____________ now.”
- Can the venue accommodate our wedding size? Venue Pictures. Answered
- Are my people going to like it? Smiles in Video. Answered
- Is it the right part of town? Map. Answered
- Is the venue available? Calendar. Answered
- Am I getting a good deal? Price Comparison. Answered
- What do I do next ? Call-To-Action Form. Answered
Sales Funnel Complete.
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Jenny is an independent Digital Marketer and SEO Consultant with more than 10 years of experience helping companies and content creators generate brand awareness, traffic, and conversions with SEO. She is a frequent speaker and is on the faculty for the AMA (American Marketing Association) and has taught SEO to thousands of marketers over the past 10 years.
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