Search Engine Optimization & The Online Decision Journey

The way marketers use SEO and track customer behavior has changed dramatically in the last few years. (And it stands to change even further as we move toward a cookie-less future!) One thing that has shifted significantly is the focus from click stats and click-through rates to following and understanding the customer journey. 

Today, it's essential to look beyond clicks as just clicks and recognize that they are a part of a staged process from initial awareness to the purchase or conversion to the customer's real-life experience of the product or service and interaction with your business. 

There are five stages in the customer journey:

• Initiation
• Research
• Comparison
• Transaction 
• Experience

As the customer travels along this decision-making path, they will encounter your content differently depending on your SEO strategy and initiatives.

How SEO Impacts Online Decisions

As we follow a theoretical customer on their online journey, you'll see that SEO plays an everchanging role along the way. 

Initiation

In the initiation phase of the customer journey, they recognize a need or curiosity about something. This need or piqued interest sends them to a search engine for initial information. At this point, they may not even know that a solution exists for their problem or that a product serves their need. 

Research

We enter into the next stage — research — SEO and where your website ranks can provide initial visibility. Additionally, gaining a coveted featured snippet can drive traffic to your website given the "stamp of approval" by Google. This is the first step toward brand awareness and is primarily based on your SEO. 

A paid ad can also garner brand recognition at this stage and can lead to brand recognition and loyalty down the line if you play your cards right. 

Comparison

Moving along the customer journey to comparison, the brand recognition you gained in the research phase can give further insight into your business and your competitors.

At this stage, differentiating your brand from others is crucial, as is how you speak to your ideal audience. The customer will lean toward whichever brand resonates with them the most in the comparison stage, so it's essential to stand out and make a memorable impression. 

Transaction

After the customer has been won over, they enter the transaction stage. Sometimes this goes off without a hitch. The customer goes to your website, shops, and makes a purchase — hooray! But, often, the customer adds an item or two to their cart but then abandons it, having been distracted by something else. 

Targeted paid advertising and a strategy for abandoned carts pay off at this stage. 

Experience

After the purchase has been made, it's time to convert a one-time customer into a loyal brand ambassador. Providing excellent customer service and a stellar purchasing experience is a must.

Using SEO and targeted advertising together will help to keep your brand top of mind. Additionally, personalization and continued content marketing strategies to stay in touch will help you gain a customer for life. 

Branded VS Non-Branded SEO 

As your prospective customer travels along their search journey, to help you gain a leg up, it's essential to understand the value of branded and non-branded SEO and how and when to use them. 

Branded SEO is based on keywords that include your brand name. It may refer to specific products or services or other features on your website or are associated with your brand. For example, if your website is charlestonchocolates.com, your branded keywords may include:

• Charleston chocolate
• Charleston chocolate bars
• Charleston chocolate boxes
• Best chocolate in Charleston

Nonbranded SEO is based on keywords adjacent to your brand that apply to your industry but don't target you specifically. Using that same example, here are a few non-branded keywords:

• Chocolate in North Carolina
• Chocolate near me
• Best chocolate boxes for gifts

From this example, you can see that "chocolate" is not a branded keyword, even though it's part of your business name and website. However, chocolate is produced by many companies and can be found outside of your business. 

The best strategy is to target both branded and non-branded search keywords. You can even target non-branded keywords for your competition! Finding a balance of using both will help you rank higher in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) and hopefully drive more traffic your way. 

Building Awareness to Drive Conversions

SEO is an essential part of building brand awareness. Traditional marketing has taught us that people need to see your brand three times before recognizing it. While with today's shortened attention spans, that number may have gone up, SEO helps you get your name out there in front of people. 

As we discovered in the customer journey, brand awareness and the nurturing of the customer along the journey help lead to conversions. While you may not resonate with everyone during the comparison stage, customers who continue their journey with you are more likely to be brand loyal. 

Including SEO into your content marketing and overall brand awareness strategy will help you continue to attract new customers while maintaining a loyal base. Using SEO to brainstorm content for your website and social media such as blog posts, articles, guest blogs, videos, and infographics will help keep the search engines interested in your website. The crawling done by search engines is what drives your SERP rank, so creating new content with SEO in mind will soon see you up climbing the results page. 

How Are You Tracking the Online Decision Journey?

While digging through data and analytics isn't everyone's cup of tea, tracking your prospective and returning customers along their journey can be invaluable. Rather than looking at the data as clicks that occur in a vacuum, seeing them as part of a larger pattern can help. 

As SEO evolves, one of the best investments you can make for your business is continued education to keep up with the latest trends. Staying ahead of the curve will keep your company competitive and maintain your page rank.