Marketers understand that a strong SEO strategy and a developed content strategy are crucial when it comes to being successful online.
However, over the last 10 years marketers and SEO agencies have been challenged as websites have increasingly started to accommodate digital shopping and buying whilst remaining sources of information and discussion. It has become essential to understand the process of a visitor converting into a customer.
Content needs to be adapted to engage the visitor and guide them along each step of the conversion process.
When marketers are knowledgeable about their customer journey, they can easily identify key moments where the behavior of the prospect can be positively influenced.
Key moments on the customer journey:
● Moment of Awareness: At this time, prospects discover that they have a problem and start researching possible solutions. They are open to suggestions and eager for information.
● Consideration and Evaluation: Prospects are now familiar with a couple of brands that promise to solve their problems. Their online searches are now more direct and so they may start comparing brands and products.
● Purchase Time: Prospects decide which product and brand better satisfies their needs and make a purchase.- converting into a customer
● Post-Purchase: Once the purchase is made, brands need to help buyers get the most out of their purchase decision. From offering help troubleshooting problems to offering a superb customer service.
Understanding Your Audience And Their Demands and Intents
It is essential that marketers understand the needs of their specific audience at each stage of the journey. When your website content is not aligned to your audience’s demands and intents, it is unlikely that a prospect with covert into a customer. Using Google Tag manager, or having an SEO agency set this up for you, allows for the tracking of onsite actions in each user journey, so marketers can put data behind the decisions they make.
Developing A Content Strategy For The Customer Journey
You need to develop a positive user experience by knowing how your website accompanies the prospect through their buying decisions.
In order to be successful, marketers need to think of visitors not as numbers and statistics in their Google Analytic reports but as individual personas. Having a deep understanding of the personas their brand is targeting with their content and what they expect to see will help marketing professionals develop a solid content strategy that will contribute to increasing the conversion rate of the website.
Once marketers outlined what their customers will be looking for during each stage in the buyer’s journey, doing a keyword research is important. This will identify the keywords or key phrases that prospects are more likely to use, helping to gain a higher influx of traffic to your website.
A Content Strategy For The Moment of Awareness
During this stage, people will be asking broad questions about their problem. They are most likely to use keywords related to issues they may be having. The best content for this stage are articles, info-graphics, videos and articles.
A Content Strategy for The Stage of Consideration and Evaluation
Search queries become more specific. Users have read a lot of information in the previous stage and now the audience is interested in more specific information. They’ve probably read about a couple of brands and products that may be helpful to solve their problem so keywords will be probably related to your brand name, your competitor’s brand name and the type of service or product offered.
The best content for this stage are those that provide your audience with more in-depth information such as eBooks, webinars, white papers or product demonstrations.
A Content Strategy For The Purchase Time
Queries are extremely focused and your audience is very likely to search about the pros and cons of your product or service. They may even compare your brand to a competitor.
When developing content for this stage, marketers should consider: free trials, how-to videos, free consultations and tutorials.
A Content Strategy For The Post Purchase Stage:
Now that the prospect has become a customer your content portfolio should include blog posts, newsletters, videos, triggered emails when an update or new version of the products released or just before renewal.
POLARIS is an SEO Agency in London providing SEO services across the Ecommerce, travel and B2B sectors. Please contact one of our account managers at info@polarisagency.co.uk today for a free audit.