September 4, 2009 by Matt Thomas
#3: Buy Phase vs Browse Phase
The next point concerns the attitude of the person searching, are they interested in buying today or are they just researching a purchase for a later date. Obviously you have very little chance of making a profit from someone who is thinking about buying at some point (in the browse phase), whereas somebody who is in the mood to make a purchase in that internet session (in the buy phase) is much easier to convince. If your site is good and your prices are competitive, they’re probably going to spend money.
So obviously you want to target users in the buy phase rather than the browse phase. How do you do this? That’s right, with long-tail keywords.
It works like this. Someone who is researching is at the stage where they know very little about the product so they’re going to search generically. For example, if they’re looking for a laptop they’re going to search keywords like ‘laptops’ or ‘laptop prices’. Put simply advertising on these keywords is a waste of your time and, more importantly, money. The vast majority of the time, these people are going to use your site as a research tool and keep their wallet firmly in their pocket.
You’re much better off advertising on a range of highly product specific keywords. You’ll get fewer clicks, though someone who searches for ‘Compaq CQ60-109’ has quite clearly done their research and knows exactly what they want. In other words, they’re ready to buy.
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