Kamil Wawer 
Published: 28.06.2019 
6 minute 
Your site generates a lot of traffic, and yet sales remain quite low? This is a problem that affects many an eCommerce store. Transferring traffic into sales is one of the main goals of online store optimization. However, not everyone pays attention to the fact that the first step to increase on-page conversions is to choose the right key phrases for the site. In front of you is a tutorial in which I will guide you through the process of selecting sales phrases step by step.
.What does the success of an eCommerce store depend on?
. .What does the success of an eCommerce store depend on? Two major factors can be mentioned here:
. .- SEO and technicalities – this includes such elements as proper category and product names and descriptions, as well as internal linking scheme, among others. By optimizing your site for SEO, you make it more visible in Google search results. .
- UX – in this case we are talking about the structure of the store, intuitive navigation, speed of operation and ease of finding the information you need. Even if the store’s traffic is high, poor UX will lead to low conversions. .
In this article, I will focus on the SEO-technical part, specifically, how to search and select keywords that will bring traffic that translates into sales.
.Knowing the keyword phrases typed into Google by your potential customers is the first step to improve website conversions. Without this knowledge, you won’t build the right category architecture, prepare product descriptions or blog articles that will be highly visible in Google and draw valuable traffic. Without knowing your users’ intentions, you’re also likely to waste time and money positioning the site for phrases that don’t generate sales.
.Badly chosen key phrases, or how to waste $150,000?
. .One of the main goals of Internet marketing is to increase a site’s position in search results for keywords related to a particular business. However, it is often the case that SEO specialists focus on the quantity rather than the quality of the phrases for which the site is visible. Thus, admittedly, they draw traffic to the site, but it is traffic that converts low.
.This is a disadvantageous situation, because at the end of the day, in most cases it is not the traffic that brings profits to your business, but only the sales, i.e. conversions.
.To sum up, if you are positioning for keywords that do not translate into conversions, you are wasting time and money. Anyway, see for yourself:
. .Example
. .Jacob Baadsgaard, owner of Disruptive Advertising agency, mentioned in one of his articles a situation that happened to his client. He was talking about a company specializing in business translations (international agreements, important documents, etc.).
.It turned out that the company ranked highly in the SERP for the keyword “translate”.
. .
Is this a good choice? It would seem so. After all, the company was in the translation business, and the keyword phrase “translate” itself had a lot of searches.
.As a result, with this phrase alone, the company was generating traffic worth over $150,000 per year!
.What kind of profits did it bring in?”
. .Zero!
. .What was the problem? In the intent of the user typing this phrase into Google and the non-sales nature of the keyword. When someone types in the phrase “translate”they usually just want a quick translation of a piece of text. However, this does not mean that he is looking for a company that offers advanced translation services. In this case, even if the user entered the site of the company in question, he or she would immediately leave it – after all, this is not what he or she was looking for.
.How to avoid a similar mishap? About that below.
..
A 2006 study by the University of Hong Kong found that, in general, search-related intent can be divided into two categories. The distinctions are:
.- queries directly related to the keyword; .
- general queries related to the topic; .
In this subdivision, in turn, you can detail how exact a query the user has made and how comprehensive an answer they are looking for.
.Another, more detailed division is also adopted. Usually 3 categories are mentioned here:
. .Information queries (looking for an answer to a question/specific information):
. .- What are the symptoms of tuberculosis .
- The best movies of 2018 .
- Distance to the Sun .
. .
- Richau City Hall .
- PKO login .
Transaction requests (desire to make a purchase):
. .- Pizza Poznan .
- CD-Action subscription .
- Housing insurance quotes .
You’ve probably guessed that the phrases in this third category will be the most selling. These are the ones that will help you optimize on-page conversions.
.How to search for keyword phrases that will translate traffic into sales? – tips
There are two important elements that will help you find converting phrases for your site:
. . .1. Ask yourself the right questions
. .To begin with, you need to set your goals. Consider:
.- Which products are most frequently purchased? .
- What products would you most like to promote? .
- How many sales per month does your store need to continue to grow business? .
- Does your business sell products with a short or long sales cycle? .
By finding the answers to these questions, you will be able to better define your strategy.
.For example, if you sell more expensive products and the buying decision process is stretched out over time, it’s worth investing in thoughtful, long-term content marketing. In such a situation, you should find keyword phrases related to the questions your potential customers may be asking themselves and touch them at every stage of the purchase path. It is also worth using benefit language in this context.
. .Learn more about guiding your customer through the buying path in Luke Kolodziejczyk’s article >
. .It’s also good to determine early on which products are most popular and which need more advertising. This will allow you to focus on keywords that will improve the sales of your less profitable assortment and strengthen the position of the one that is already highly profitable. You’ll also be able to estimate at this stage how promoting specific products will translate into the higher sales you’ve set as a goal.
.So point one – answer the above questions to adjust your key phrase selection strategy to your business decisions.
. .2. Target long-tail keywords
. .Long tail keywords are those phrases that consist of three or more words. For example, if the phrase “shoes” is a generic phrase, then “elegant black suede shoes” is already a long-tail phrase.
.It turns out that such phrases account for ok. 70% of all queries on the web.
. . .
Although short phrases (so-called generic phrases) are fewer in number and each has a lot of searches, first it’s hard to achieve high rankings for them in Google (high competition), and second they are often phrases that bring low converting traffic. So if you are positioning for keyword phrases consisting of 1 or 2 words, you are probably getting a lot of traffic. However, it is possible that it does not necessarily translate into high sales. The reason? The user’s entry of generic phrases is not necessarily directly related to purchase intent.
.Long-tail phrases, on the other hand, tend to have better conversions because the person typing such queries has a clear goal and knows what he or she needs. When someone types in the phrase “pants,” he or she is unlikely to be looking for a specific model, but, for example, only for a graphic of any pants. When, on the other hand, a user queries Google for “men’s plaid black pants,” heprecisely expresses his need and purchase intention.
.This was confirmed by the Long Tail of Search study conducted by Conductor.
. .
As you can see, long-tail phrases have practically 2.5 times more conversions than short, generic queries.
.The authors of the study summarized this phenomenon as follows:
.The benefit of optimizing for long-tail queries is not only easier to gain positions in Google compared to short phrases. Such an objective is also advisable for sites whose goal is to stimulate the visitor to take a specific action (online stores, lead generation sites, forms, etc.). Longer and more specific queries mean that the searcher is further along in the purchase/conversion cycle and will therefore convert better than visitors from shorter phrases.. .
Conclusion: to increase conversion from organic traffic, you need keyword data
.So, as you can clearly see, conversion optimization in eCommerce is closely related to proper search for long-tail keyword phrases. How to find keywords that will help optimize conversions. .
In Senuto, you will find tools that will help you find search phrases searched by potential customers at each stage of the purchase path. Use the following modules and reports to search for phrases:
. .- Keyword database .
- Report Questions .
- Report Phrase Features .
I will describe below exactly how to use them in practice.
Use the Senuto Keyword Database
. .Precise data collected by Senuto will help you find exactly the phrases your potential customers are searching for.
.I will now show you how to find the phrases typed into Google by your potential customers. You can find them in the Keyword Database.
. .
In Senuto you will search for keyword phrases typed by Google users not only in Poland, but also in many other countries. Thanks to this, in the Keyword Database you will find phrases for pages in other languages, which will be especially important for you if you operate in an international market.
.To search for phrases in, for example, the German market, simply enter a phrase in a particular language into the search box and select the appropriate country. As a result of such a query, you will get a list of phrases typed by Google users in that market.
. .1. Search long-tail phrases
. .Enter the example phrase “curtains”:
. . .
As you might guess, a one-word and fairly generic keyword like the phrase “curtains” has the most searches. As you already know, for such keywords it is relatively difficult to position a site, and what’s more – general phrases often bring low sales.
.Long tail phrases will have much higher buying potential. So let’s try to find them:
. .
Click “number of words” to sort the results by the number of words – from the largest, to the smallest.
.If you want to narrow the results to those with a higher average number of searches, apply the appropriate filter:
. . .
Examples of long-tail phrases:
. .- beaded macaroni curtains super dense lux .
- crystal beaded macaroni curtains 300×250 allegro .
- set of curtains for window and balcony doors .
- firans for children’s room for balcony window .
- curtains for meters height 270 cm .
- firans for balcony window in a block of flats .
- firans macarons with crystals white .
- firans for balcony window modern .
- firans for living room balcony window .
- firans for kitchen ready short (880 searches) .
- firans ready for living room long (also 880 searches) .
- beaded macaroni type curtains .
- firans for windows/balcony doors .
- curtains for a specific height .
- ready short or long curtains .
2. Add modifiers to your phrases
. . Pay attention to the phrases prompted by the Keyword Database that contain additional modifier words, that is, those that directly express the user’s intent. Translating traffic into conversions from these phrases will be much easier. Add modifiers to your keywords – both generic and long-tail phrases. . Consider the following examples: .- Haste: fast delivery, 24 hours, immediate. .
- Price: sale, cheapest, discount, coupon, lowest price, price, half price, clearance stock.
- Location: city, street, country. .
- Date: latest, current year, season (e.g. summer sale). .
- Quality: recommended, best, highest ratings, reliable, new. .
3. Answer questions asked on Google and present your offer
. . In the above examples of phrases prompted by Senuto, keywords also appeared in the form of questions. These included queries such as “what to wash curtains in to make them white?”. Knowing these types of phrases will help you plan content marketing activities based on the data. But how do you know what questions your potential customers are asking on Google? You can find them in Senuto’s Queries report. .How to put the data from the Questions report into practice?
. . If you have a blog on your online store, you will be able to generate ideas for new articles that will aptly answer questions in the context of your business that are bothering users. Do it right, and readers who come to your site from such a phrase will gladly convert. Depending on the stage of the purchase path he is at, but as I mentioned above – it is worth accompanying him at each stage. . You can read about how to write a blog article using Senuto data by HERE. .How to use the Questions report?
. . Report Questions can be found in the Keyword Database module, namely here: https://app.senuto.com/keywords-explorer/questions . .
Use the Phrase Features report in Senuto
. . As a person working in eCommerce, you should not only have insight into SEO activities, but also understand the specifics of the phrases for which the site is positioned. All this to verify their quality and sales potential. While you probably don’t do SEO directly (that’s a task you outsource to an agency), it’s worthwhile for you to control and understand the agency’s activities. . For this purpose, you will find the Phrase Features report useful. You will find it when you open the module Visibility Analysis. . .
Difficulty
. . Under Difficulty you can determine how many phrases from the selected difficulty range your site manages to position for. The difficulty of a phrase is influenced by factors such as its length, the number of searches per month, or the estimated cost of advertising for the phrase in Google Ads. . As you can see, videotesty.pl succeeds in positioning for a noticeable number of the most difficult phrases. However, most of the phrases they have gained on the difficulty scale are in positions from 21 to 40. Below is also a more detailed breakdown of phrases from specific difficulty levels. Senuto also indicates how many of them you are in the TOP 3, 10 and 50.
Key phrase types
. . I mentioned at the beginning that it is important to know the intent of the user typing the keyword. Ideally, the phrase should be transactional – this means the customer is close to buying. How do you determine if you are positioning for such phrases? . This is where the Key phrase types tab will help. You will be most interested in the Brands section. Here you will find key phrases that are related to specific brands. .
Data you need
. In summary, the data you need if you want to properly select phrases for the site so that traffic translates into sales are: .- keywords searched for in the context of your business – here pay attention to the seasonality of the phrases, the average monthly number of searches and the CPC (cost per click) metric – thanks to it you can check how competitive a phrase is in the Google Ads advertising system.
- long-tail keywords – find long-tail keywords and position your product pages for them. These are phrases that convert great!
- phrases with modifiers like price or location – by typing these phrases, the user is already very close to buying. Make it so that at this point in their customer journey they are on your site, not on a competitor’s site. .
You can find these phrases in the Senuto keyword database.
. .- questions asked on Google – answer them in the form of blog articles, and there link the products in question. Such advertising in context is considered non-intrusive and converts very well. For questions typed into Google, see Questions. .
- translation of visibility for specific phrases in Google into traffic – this data will be available to you as soon as you integrate Senuto with your GA and GSC account. .
- branded keywords – by typing in the name of a specific brand’s shoe model, the user is already close to buying. Show him then that you also offer the product! .
How to find the key phrases that will make your traffic translate into sales? Summary
It is important to keep the following in mind in the context of improving the translation of traffic into sales: .- A lot of traffic on an eCommerce site is useless if it does not translate into sales. .
- Gaining quality traffic is all about positioning yourself for the right keyword phrases (long-tail, transactional).
- Important to answer questions and needs of potential customers at each stage of their purchase path – weave links to specific products into the article content.
- Analyzing data related to traffic generated from specific key phrases will allow you to make better decisions about your SEO efforts. So integrate Senuto with your Google Analytics account and Google Search Console. .
Use Senuto for 14 days for free and using the data, optimize your store’s conversion rate.
