Leveraging Purchase Intent Keywords For Better Return On Investment
Keywords are the foundation of our searches, but all 5.6 billion searches conducted each day can be summarized into 3 search categories:
- Information Searches
- Navigational Searches
- Transactional Searches
A well-planned search strategy takes into consideration these three types of search queries but it is most effective to hinge your paid search strategy (Google Ads / Bing Ads) on Transactional Search queries. And, the reason is clear – you might as well align what you’re paying for with what a customer is willing to pay for (or more generally “transact”).
Note: The image shows above-the-fold for a buyer intent SERP and its 100% paid placement.
Transactional searches are NOT limited to just monetary transactions but more loosely transactions of value. For instance, an individual may be searching for a small purchase and be ready to buy on that search so our keyword targeting and messaging would in that example match the monetary transaction. However, some of these may be around longer-term decisions in which the transaction may be an inquiry to learn more – consider a B2B product with heavy sales involvement.
Whatever the focus of the business, dictates the transactional style queries that should be in your paid search strategy. Let’s consider some ways of ensuring that search queries do show purchase intent.
Purchase Intent Signals:
Here is a list of different keywords that identify purchase intent when added to a keyword of interest:
- Localized/Navigational Interest
- [Brand] near me
- [Brand} store [location] – (i.e. Hardware Store Pittsburgh)
- Buy Now keywords
- Purchase [item]
- Buy a [item]
- Order [item]
- Sale/Specials
- Cheapest [item]
- Lowest Price for [item]
- Best Price for [item]
- Specials on [item]
- [Item] coupon
- [item] deals
- Rating
- Best [brand] dealer
- Best [Product]
- Availability:
- [Item] In Stock
- [item] available near me
- Automotive Specific Buyer Intent Keywords
- Lease Specials For [Vehicle/Manufacturer]
- Lease Price For [vehicle]
- [Manufacturer] Dealer Near Me
- [Vehicle] in stock near me
Excluding Navigational and Informational Queries:
Another way to focus on Buyer Intent Queries is by excluding what is not, and those are Navigational and Informational searches. Identify specific keywords used in non-transactional types of search queries and eliminate them from your campaigns. These keywords include:
- How To
- Compare
- Find
- DIY
- Tips
- Ideas
Making sure that most of the transactional-focused keywords utilized above are helpful, but utilizing this negative list will help to ensure broad match keywords maintain higher level of accuracy with the query match.
Other Search Queries to Avoid:
There may be additional search queries you may want to consider avoiding in a Purchase Intent focused search strategy. The reason for avoiding other queries is because they may seem like they are transactional in nature but due to added context, they may be wasteful.
These other queries are as follows:
- Phone Number (for competitors)
- Contact (for competitors)
- Repair (for sales focus)
- And (if you specialize – optional)
A Buyer Intent Strategy:
With this focus on a buyer intent strategy, the goal is to grow your return on marketing investment more quickly by attaching dollars out to dollars in. Keep looking back as this is a constantly evolving topic and actionable list. We’ll continue to make updates to it as long as it is helpful!
