{"id":1191,"date":"2025-04-30T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/30\/how-to-use-buyer-journey-keyword-research-to-unlock-seo-generated-revenue\/"},"modified":"2025-04-30T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T11:00:00","slug":"how-to-use-buyer-journey-keyword-research-to-unlock-seo-generated-revenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/30\/how-to-use-buyer-journey-keyword-research-to-unlock-seo-generated-revenue\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use buyer journey keyword research to unlock SEO-generated revenue"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know the impact of ignoring buyer\u2019s journey keywords all too well. Early in my SEO career, I generated two million clicks for an ecommerce store. The client and I were thrilled<\/em>. The graph on Google Search Console was trending strongly up.<\/p>\n\n

The problem? I couldn\u2019t quantify a single sale from two million visitors. I had no idea how to generate a keyword strategy for<\/em> buyers.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

I learned my lesson the hard way. Now, everything I do in SEO is centered around the buyer and the end goal: a sale. Using buyer journey keywords, I can better quantify the value of my work. I know which landing page converts and which keywords influence sales, and I can quantify the monetary contribution articles had on sales. Keep reading to learn how.<\/p>\n

Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Role of the Buyer’s Journey in Keyword Research<\/a>
\n Keyword Intents for Each Buyer’s Journey Stage<\/a>
\n How to Do Keyword Research for Each Stage of the Buyer’s Journey<\/a>
\n Tips for Doing Keyword Research Aligned With the Buyer’s Journey<\/a> <\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Role of the Buyer’s Journey in Keyword Research<\/h2>\n\n

Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The buyer\u2019s journey<\/a> includes the steps a potential buyer will take before they purchase. SEOs who want to serve buyers and sell products or services need to understand the buyer journey to effectively strategize content.<\/p>\n

Generally, the buyer journey will have three stages:<\/p>\n

Identification = <\/strong>pain and problem awareness <\/p>\n

Consideration = <\/strong>solution awareness <\/p>\n

Decision = <\/strong>provider aware <\/p>\n

Sometimes, it\u2019s represented in a funnel, known as the marketing or conversion funnel<\/a>. I\u2019ve placed an image of one below. You may also know these stages as:<\/p>\n

Awareness <\/strong>= Top of Funnel (ToFu) <\/p>\n

Consideration<\/strong> = Middle of Funnel (MoFu) <\/p>\n

Conversion<\/strong> = Bottom of Funnel (BoFu) <\/p>\n

Understanding buyer\u2019s journey keywords will pivot your SEO strategy from clicks to revenue, which matters for every business. Google is serving more of your potential buyers with AI overviews, which appear in 47% of results<\/a>. Now, people can just read the AIO without clicking a link. So, SEOs must be tactical to win clicks and conversions.<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

Keyword Intents for Each Buyer’s Journey Stage<\/h2>\n

Each buyer journey stage has a separate need that you need to meet by matching the right keywords to the right stage. Meeting the buyer at different stages on their journey isn\u2019t always about sealing the deal but building relationships.<\/p>\n

In the State of Marketing survey<\/a>, HubSpot found that marketers believe that building connections across the buyer\u2019s journey and developing relationships at scale introduces new operational needs.<\/p>\n

Awareness<\/h3>\n

The buyer has identified a problem but doesn\u2019t fully understand it or doesn\u2019t know a solution exists. They are seeking general information or education to clarify the issue. This stage is about discovery and research.<\/p>\n

This stage of the buyer journey needs helpful, educational content<\/strong> to better understand the problem or opportunity.<\/p>\n

Keywords for this buyer journey will be problem-based and question-driven, such as \u201chow to,\u201d \u201cwhy does,\u201d or \u201cwhat is.\u201d These terms align with the buyer\u2019s intent to learn and explore their situation without feeling sold to.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of a buyer in the awareness stage and the keywords to support them.<\/h4>\n

Consider that a buyer in the awareness stage is using keywords about a problem. For example, a sales manager might research:<\/p>\n

Why doesn\u2019t my team follow up with leads?
\n How to motivate a sales team.
\n Processes to manage leads. <\/p>\n

During this stage, content wants to educate the buyer. While this top-of-funnel content might not seem the most impactful for sales, according to Hubspot\u2019s State of Marketing survey<\/a>, the website and blog are some of the most effective channels for ROI.<\/p>\n

Consideration<\/h3>\n

The buyer understands the problem and is exploring different approaches or solutions. They are actively researching options and comparing them.<\/p>\n

This stage of the buyer journey needs solutions and guidance<\/strong> on which route might be best for them.<\/p>\n

Keywords for this buyer journey will be comparison and solution-oriented keywords like \u201cbest tools for,\u201d \u201ctop strategies,\u201d \u201c[solution] versus [solution]\u201d or \u201csolution to [problem].\u201d These help your content show up when the buyer is evaluating ways to solve their issue.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of a buyer in the consideration stage and the keywords to support them.<\/h4>\n

Let\u2019s stick with the example of a buyer looking for a CRM. In the consideration stage, they will know what their options are, and they might be overwhelmed. They are looking for support and want help weighing up solutions.<\/p>\n

Conversion<\/h3>\n

The buyer is ready to make a decision and take action. They\u2019ve narrowed down their options and are looking for reassurance, offers, or reasons to choose your product or service.<\/p>\n

This stage of the buyer journey needs to reassure the buyer\u2019s confidence<\/strong> in your solution and make conversion easy and tempting.<\/p>\n

Keywords for this buyer journey will be targeted, intent-driven keywords like \u201cbuy,\u201d \u201cget a quote,\u201d \u201cpricing,\u201d or \u201c[product\/service] near me.\u201d These align with transactional searches and indicate the buyer is close to making a purchase.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of a buyer in the conversion stage.<\/h4>\n

If looking for a CRM, the buyer is ready to click \u201cStart Free Trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

The key things to understand are:<\/p>\n

Every buyer goes through a series of stages before they buy.
\n Not every buyer starts at the awareness phase.
\n The three stages above could be considered broad stages, and each has its own nuance, varying by industry, business, customer, and more. You need to understand your buyer\u2019s journey <\/em>before you can serve them.
\n At each stage, buyers have different needs. <\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

How to Do Keyword Research for Each Stage of the Buyer’s Journey<\/h2>\n

Now you understand the context of the buyer journey, each phase, and some ideas of keywords, I\u2019ll walk you through a step-by-step process of how I do keyword research<\/a> for each stage of the buyer\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n

When doing keyword research, it\u2019s tempting to start from the top with the awareness stage, but I reverse this process and start at the bottom buyer journey stage, conversion. I start with conversion for two main reasons:<\/p>\n

Conversion-driven keywords are the most important.
\n Starting with conversion keywords keeps me focused. You can quickly become overwhelmed by the content opportunities starting ToFu. <\/p>\n

Stick with me as I share the complete guide.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Prepare a Google document.<\/h3>\n

I love to record my buyer journey keyword strategy on Google Sheets. For now, you don\u2019t need to do anything fancy.<\/p>\n

Simply set up a document and save it somewhere safe. You will use this document to import all your keyword research.<\/p>\n

Step 2: Identify your bottom-funnel keyword.<\/h3>\n

There are many ways to gather bottom-funnel keywords. If you have a strong and well-managed ads account, start there.<\/p>\n

Use Google Ads to identify buyer journey keywords for bottom-funnel keywords.<\/h4>\n

To find keywords that convert, follow these steps:<\/p>\n

Sign in to Google Ads<\/a>.
\n Click \u201cInsights and Reports,\u201d then \u201cSearch Terms.\u201d
\n Filter the table by the highest conversions. <\/p>\n

The screenshot above shows a redacted Ads account for one of my clients. It shows the steps you take to find the keywords.<\/p>\n

I want to note that not all keywords in the ads account work. The highest-converting keyword is excluded because although it received conversions, it didn\u2019t get sales. The ads manager excluded this keyword, so SEO should likely exclude it, too.<\/p>\n

Top tip: <\/strong>Many of the highest-converting keywords will include your brand name. You will be ranking for these anyway, so don\u2019t focus on them. Choose keywords that you need to work on to increase rankings.<\/p>\n

Research buyer journey keywords using SEO tools.<\/h4>\n

SEO tools such as Semrush offer insights into keywords, volumes, and intent. There are many on the market, but my favorite is Semrush, so I\u2019ll demonstrate this stage using Semrush\u2019s Keyword Magic Tool.<\/p>\n

On your chosen keyword research tool, add your head keyword. Your head keyword will be the product or service you are selling.<\/p>\n

For this example, I\u2019ve chosen \u201cCRM.\u201d Many keyword research tools allow you to filter results, including \u201ctransactional\u201d keywords, which are likely to convert.<\/p>\n

You need to:<\/p>\n

Identify your head keyword.
\n Search it in your keyword tool.
\n Filter results by \u201ctransactional\u201d intent keywords.
\n Manually review keywords, choosing the keywords that work for your business. <\/p>\n

Top tip:<\/strong> Don\u2019t worry too much about search volume and keyword difficulty. Generally, conversion keywords are the most difficult to rank for and often have lower search volumes. Remember the funnel from earlier? The smallest section is at the bottom, as users at this point in the buyer journey reduce.<\/p>\n

Research buyer journey keywords using Google Search Console and G4.<\/h4>\n

Google Search Console is not the easiest way of identifying buyer journey keywords, but it is free, so I\u2019ve included it.<\/p>\n

To determine whether a keyword is helping you make sales, you need to understand how users engage with the pages the keyword drives traffic to.<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s find pages that convert.<\/p>\n

Log in to G4.
\n Navigate to Reports
\n Navigate to Life Cycle > Engagement> Landing Page Report
\n Filter by revenue <\/p>\n

Take your highest-performing pages and analyze the URL in Google Search Console (GSC).<\/p>\n

Log in to Google Search Console.
\n Go to Search Results.
\n Click \u201cAdd Filter.\u201d
\n Add a page.
\n Add the URL. <\/p>\n

GSC will filter all keywords generating clicks for the page input. Review the keywords and identify if keywords are likely to result in a sale.<\/p>\n\n

Top tip: <\/strong>Google Search Console won\u2019t tell you which keywords are converting, so you\u2019ll need to use some common sense.<\/p>\n

Step 3: Conduct keyword research for middle funnel (consideration) buyer journey keywords.<\/h3>\n

From the stage above, you should have a list of keywords that you\u2019d love to rank for. These are your bottom-funnel or conversion keywords.<\/p>\n

Generally, these keywords are used on:<\/p>\n

Product pages
\n Service pages
\n Conversion-driven landing pages <\/p>\n

Later, I\u2019ll discuss keyword mapping<\/a> so you know exactly where to place your keywords.<\/p>\n

Before creating more content, though, I like to ensure I have the content available to support bottom-funnel pages in a way that builds E-E-A-T. I like to start with the next most important item, which is content that fits the middle-funnel buyer’s journey: Consideration.<\/p>\n

The type of content we can use for keyword research includes:<\/p>\n

Case studies.
\n Reviews.
\n Some articles. <\/p>\n

You likely already have these pages on your website. I might take these pages and put them into Google Search Console to see if I can find any relevant keywords. To do this, use the steps above for keyword research and filter by page.<\/p>\n

Important note: <\/strong>Your review keywords are really important and often missed by brands. I see too many websites that lack a review page and therefore give clicks away to review sites or even social media. You want a page on your website that showcases your reviews and manages your brand narrative.<\/p>\n

Top tip:<\/strong> If you don\u2019t find much in terms of keywords and search volume, don\u2019t worry too much. Not every piece of content for the buyer journey has to be for SEO. Some content can be shared with other marketing departments via email, for example.<\/p>\n

Step 4: Conduct keyword research for top funnel (awareness) buyer journey keywords.<\/h3>\n

Finally, I identify keywords for the awareness buyer journey stage.<\/p>\n

Visualize the funnel from earlier. The funnel shape provides a visual for the traffic volumes at each stage of the buyer journey. Awareness is at the largest point of the funnel because it has the most searches, keywords, and users. As you get further down the funnel, it narrows because the audience gets smaller.<\/p>\n

To do keyword research for this phase, I go back to Semrush, following the steps above, and navigate to the Keyword Magic Tool. I remove filters for the intent and look at Questions as well as keywords to see which keywords inspire content.<\/p>\n

Important note<\/strong>: The tools do a fantastic job of providing keyword inspiration, but there is no replacement for talking to customers and your peers. Ask sales what types of questions people ask. Find out exactly who your target audience is and what they need from you. It\u2019s very easy to get distracted at this stage. You must create content that your audience needs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Creating the right content and targeting the keywords your audience needs has never been more important. With the rise of AI, top-funnel keywords get far fewer clicks as AI overviews serve the buyer. You need every click to count.<\/p>\n

Step 5: Understand search intent and SERP analysis.<\/h3>\n

These next two steps are my favorites.<\/p>\n

You might already have an idea of where you’re going to use your keywords. Bottom-funnel keywords are generally pretty self-explanatory. \u201cDemo CRM,\u201d for example, clearly needs to go to a page where a CRM can be demoed.<\/p>\n

Many keywords won\u2019t be as self-explanatory, though.<\/p>\n

I like to use Google in private browsing, so the search engine results pages (SERPs) are not tailored to my usual search history.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s Google \u201cbest CRM for sales and marketing teams,\u201d and I\u2019ll show you how I analyze the SERPs.<\/p>\n\n

Here\u2019s what I\u2019m thinking when I look at these SERPs:<\/p>\n

Which pages are ranking?<\/strong> Looking at the organic listings, all pages, bar the top result, are product pages with \u201cdemo\u201d or \u201cfree\u201d in the URL and or title tag. <\/p>\n

Which SERP features are available?<\/strong> I can see People Also Ask, videos, and review snippets. <\/p>\n

Priority is given <\/strong>to the Zapier round-up article and videos. <\/p>\n

From this information, you can gather:<\/p>\n

The type of page you need to rank (a product page).
\n Components to include on the page (video, questions, aggregateRatings schema).
\n Videos are a high priority and should be added. <\/p>\n

What you\u2019re doing here is using Google\u2019s \u201cunderstanding\u201d of the searcher\u2019s needs to determine what they want and what you\u2019ll create to meet it.<\/p>\n

Google has a complex algorithm dedicated to providing helpful content to its users. Google\u2019s success in being helpful and providing quality information is paramount to its success as a search engine. It\u2019s fairly safe to assume Google has search intent right.<\/p>\n

Mimic the content Google is prioritizing (but do it in your own way), and you\u2019ll likely meet user needs.<\/p>\n

Step 6: Map keywords to pages.<\/h3>\n

As an extension of the step above, correctly map buyer journey keywords to the right content. This is called keyword mapping<\/a>. You assign keywords to the page that have the highest possible chance of ranking.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve done the first step, you need to correctly identify your supporting keywords.<\/p>\n

A good example to illustrate this point is People Also Ask. I often see websites that see each FAQ as its own page or article, but this isn\u2019t always the most efficient way to map keywords.<\/p>\n

For the search \u201croad bike for women,\u201d People Also Ask provides the following questions:<\/p>\n

What is the best road bike for ladies?
\n What size road bike do I need for a woman?
\n Which bike is best for females?
\n Are road bikes good for weight loss? <\/p>\n

It would be a mistake to use the keywords \u201cWhat is the best road bike for ladies?\u201d and \u201cWhich bike is best for females?\u201d as keywords for the same article.<\/p>\n

You can see this in your SERP analysis. When Googled, you can see the ranking articles.<\/p>\n

There is one commonality, but the rest of the articles are different. The keyword \u201cWhat is the best road bike for ladies?\u201d is more nuanced, bringing up results that mention \u201croad,\u201d whereas the other keyword is more general.<\/p>\n

Important note: <\/strong>Although this search is an excellent guide, sometimes you need to use common sense and do what is right by your values and business. For example, if you only sell road bikes, you might choose to cluster those keywords together.<\/p>\n

I like to record my buyer journey keyword map in Google Sheets. Here\u2019s what my sheet looks like:<\/p>\n\n

I record a draft title, the page’s focus keyword, and supporting keywords. This way, when I write the content, I know where the keywords are mapped.<\/p>\n

If you want more support with SEO content writing, HubSpot’s SEO Marketing Software<\/a> allows you to optimize your content within one easy-to-use-tool.<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

Tips for Doing Keyword Research Aligned With the Buyer’s Journey<\/h2>\n

Finally, here are some final tips to help you feel confident about keyword research aligned with the buyer journey.<\/p>\n

Ask customers what they searched to find you.<\/h3>\n

This tip is easy to implement, especially in B2B, because the person on the other end of the phone likely understands. If you work in marketing, there\u2019s a good chance the buyer will also respect your diligence.<\/p>\n

Once you’ve built a good rapport with the prospect, ask them what they searched for to find you.<\/p>\n

This information will give you exactly the type of keyword your buyers are searching for.<\/p>\n

Start with buyer needs.<\/h3>\n

If you follow my process for buyer journey keyword research detailed above, you\u2019ll do this, but I can\u2019t stress enough the importance of starting with buyer needs<\/em>. It\u2019s very tempting to go to the tools and start finding keywords, but you really want to hone in on conversions and scale back from there, discovering impactful keywords that actually help your<\/em> buyer.<\/p>\n

Talk to sales and customer service representatives.<\/h3>\n

No one knows your customers like sales and customer service. Ask them which questions buyers ask frequently and what you can do in content to address common apprehensions and build trust.<\/p>\n

Remember to repurpose content.<\/h3>\n

Although keywords and SEO are incredibly important, it takes time to rank in the top spots of Google. In the meantime, get content out to your users through other means: ads, emails, social media, etc.<\/p>\n

Refer to Google Search Console regularly.<\/h3>\n

Google Search Console (GSC) data updates frequently. Keep a close eye on keywords you search, clicks, and impressions. Look for new opportunities to add more keywords to your content.<\/p>\n

I like to look at high impressions and low clicks to spot keywords people are searching for.<\/p>\n

Feeling conflicted about SERPs? Do the integral thing.<\/h3>\n

Sometimes, you\u2019ll encounter a keyword map or SERP analysis that doesn\u2019t quite feel right. You should always do what\u2019s right for your buyer and business.<\/p>\n

I always say that you should do the integral thing first. You might be surprised at what you can rank, even if the SERPs aren\u2019t quite in line with what you want to create. You can always come back and compromise later.<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

Buyer Journey Keyword Strategy Helps You Qualify Content\u2019s Role<\/h2>\n

SEO is notorious for being tricky in tracking its contribution to sales. It\u2019s not like ads where you have keywords with sales assigned. Instead, you can only really assign click quantities.<\/p>\n

However, there is a major benefit to buyer journey keywords: you know that not everything is created to convert. Some keywords are used on pages that convert, and others are there to build awareness. This means you can alter your tracking accordingly.<\/p>\n

For ToFu pieces, track clicks, impressions, newsletter signups, and return visitors.
\n Use segment gap analysis to establish content (and therefore keywords) that contribute to the buyer journey and sales. You can create two segments: purchasers and users who viewed an article and bought it after X time. This helps show the role of content and keywords on the buyer journey..
\n Track sales from bottom-funnel pages gaining clicks from bottom-funnel keywords.
\n Monitor pages that are generating revenue and ranking only for non-brand keywords.
\n Use ad data to determine SEO\u2019s impact. If something converts in ads, then it likely converts organically, too. <\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

Turn Your SEO Strategy Into a Revenue-Generating Machine With Buyer Journey Keywords<\/h2>\n

Since using buyer journey keywords and building a strategy from the bottom-funnel keyword, I\u2019ve felt much happier with my SEO.<\/p>\n

Upward trending graphs are still deeply fulfilling and exciting, but the benefit of generating revenue (and being able to prove it) is far superior.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know the impact of ignoring buyer\u2019s journey keywords all too well. Early in my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}