SEO promotion of commercial keywords in Google's organic search

February 04, 2023

Table of Contents:

The basis of successful search engine promotion is correctly collected and properly grouped semantic core. On its basis the structure of the site is made, and then the positions are monitored to assess the dynamics of visibility in search engines.

When compiling a semantic kernel, it is important to understand not only the frequency and degree of competition of a keyword, but also its type. Understanding the type of keyword and the user's Intent allows the optimizer to compose the correct semantics.

Types of search keywords

All searches are divided into the following types:

  • Navigational. Such a keyword contains the name of the company or site that the user wants to find. For example, "public services" or "megaphone site". The task of the optimizer is to ensure that the promoted site was in first place when entering the name of the company or site address in the Latin alphabet without the domain zone, as well as entering the domain name in Cyrillic.
  • Informational. By entering such a keyword, the user wants to find information about the topic of interest to him without the obvious intention of committing any further action on the site. Content projects and information sections on commercial sites are created based on such keywords. The most famous content project is wikipedia, and an example of an information section is the one in which you are currently reading this article. Examples of informational keywords are: "characteristics of concrete", "landmarks in London".
  • Transactional. The user probably wants to perform a specific action. Such keywords are divided into:
    • Commercial. The visitor has the intention to buy something or order this or that service. Examples of commercial requests: "buy a phone", "florida lawyer services".
    • Other transactional keywords that are not commercial. For example, keywords with the words "download", "checkout", etc.
  • Multimedia. Such requests are related to watching or listening to video and music content. For example, "watch Rammstein videos," "loft apartments photos," etc.
  • Mixed. When the type of keyword cannot be uniquely defined. For example, "site promotion". What does the user wants: to find a performer for site promotion, to learn what it is all about, or to learn how to promote sites themselves?

Before you learn how to determine the type of keyword, you should understand what the user's intent is.

User content

Search engine user content is the intent or need that the user wants to solve through the sites found by entering keywords into the search engine.

The user does not always go straight to the satisfaction of his needs and desires. For example, a user has the intention to buy a smartphone with a good camera.

To begin with, he wants to understand what smartphones with a good camera are in general and enters the search engine keyword "smartphones with a good camera". The search engine offers the pages it thinks are the most relevant and accurately describes all kinds of smartphones with a good camera, their ratings and how to choose them.

It is important to understand that the request "smartphones with a good camera" is informational, but the intention of the user is clearly commercial - to buy a smartphone that will take great photos.

It's also worth noting that not all commercial keywords are the same between users. For example, if the user enters "smartphone prices", he most likely wants to buy a phone, but so far he is just checking prices from different online stores. Consequently, the search engine will probably show him more aggregators. And, for example, the keywords "buy smartphone", "order smartphone", "sale of smartphones" clearly express the intention of the user to make a purchase.

Understanding user intent is important for building successful sales funnels. For example, if a commercial site that sells smartphones has an article ranking smartphones with a good camera, when a user comes to it with the keyword "smartphones with a good camera," you can link the article to product cards of the corresponding smartphones to buy in order to satisfy the visitor's ultimate need.

Ways to determine the type of request

The easiest and most reliable way to determine the type of keyword - look at the search results for this keyword. If the majority of pages present in the output of the same type as the promoted, then the keyword is correct.

It is important to note that search results should be viewed in the same region where the site is promoted (search results may vary significantly from region to region, especially for commercial keywords), in incognito mode (so that the results of the output does not affect the cookie) and in all the search engines in which to promote (search results may vary significantly from search engines, especially for mixed keywords).

The second way is to determine the type of keyword by token words. For example, keywords with the words "+ buy", "+price", "+order" will clearly be of the commercial type.

The third way to select commercial keywords is to mass-check keywords from the semantic core for the degree of commercialization. Consider the most popular services for this purpose.

Services for the mass collection of commercialization requests

It is worth noting that you should not unconditionally trust the commercialization indicators of keywords in a particular service. This is just a tip to facilitate the processing of a large semantic core.

Tip. When you have a large pool of keywords, it is convenient to combine the tools for grouping keywords by top and definition of commercialization. First, the core is automatically grouped, and then commercialization is taken off for all keywords. Thus, you get a complete picture of the entire semantic core.

Mixed-intent keywords

While there are usually no problems with unambiguously commercial and unambiguously informational keywords, mixed keywords have a number of peculiarities:

  • They are often (but not always) high frequency;
  • It is not always clear what degree of commercialization to choose in order to allocate a request to one group or another;
  • If there is an information section, there are situations where it pulls in mixed requests;
  • Over time, the degree of commercialization may change in one direction or another.

First, you need to understand how a search engine is trying to determine the degree of commercialization of the keyword.

A search engine is a complex mechanism, so hundreds of factors influence the formation of results. But to simplify understanding, you can use a primitive scheme:

Initially, the search engine does not "understand" in what proportion to show results for a mixed keyword. Therefore, it begins to study the behavior of users. As part of this task, two important indicators are the CTR on the output (the percentage of users who clicked on a particular link) and the bounce rate (the percentage of users who returned back to the search engine results page within about 15 seconds).

For example, initially the search engine showed on the first page of results 50% of links to information sites and 50% - to commercial sites (with appropriate snippets).

But 70% of users click and stay on commercial sites rather than informational sites. Therefore, it is necessary to satisfy the majority of users and show them more commercial sites than informational ones.

Changing keyword intent over time

But not always the content of users remains stable over time. For a general understanding we can consider the following example:

  • "Central Park" keyword. The developer decided to build a new residential complex next to a park in Moscow and named it absolutely identically "Central Park". Started promoting it, real estate aggregators added it to their database. That is, before the appearance of this Residential Complex, the request "Central Park" was for information: it showed a wikipedia, the schedule of the park, etc. After the start of construction of Residential Complex, the request became mixed with a large bias towards commercial part - now 90% of displays are devoted to new Residential Complex, but not to the park.

Peculiarities of promotion of keywords with mixed content

To promote mixed-intent keywords, it is necessary to regularly monitor the results and check keywords for the degree of commercialization. For example, if the keyword "Central Park" was promoted on a page with events in that park, then after the construction of the residential complex begins, it is necessary to abandon attempts to promote this keyword with the same type of page.

It is also important to keep in mind that some events can change your results. For example, if a movie is released with a title identical to the keyword being promoted, the results are sure to be filled with sites with information about the movie.

In addition, search engines are constantly doing A/B testing, and the output can change for no apparent reason. For example, the results for the keyword "smartphone" on Google used to be mostly informational, but now they are almost entirely commercial. Perhaps this can be explained by the fact that previously users wanted to know more information about smartphones and how they differ from push-button phones. Now, the vast majority know what a smartphone is and the content when entering this word includes only the need to buy one.

Commercial factors in Google

It is not always the case that keywords in the text play an important role in the promotion of commercial keywords, and especially in online stores. Often there is no text block on the category pages, but only a grid of products.

To determine the relevance and ranking of a site in search results for commercial keywords, search engines use indicators of commercial factors. They are all based on improved user interaction with the site and overall trust (trust) in the site and company as a whole.

General business factors

  • Availability of "Buy / Order" functionality. Without this feature, it would be difficult for the user to make a purchase or leave a request for a service.
  • Price availability. Price is the most important commercial factor. It is obvious that if a user wants to buy something or order a service, the information about the price is very important. Sometimes there are situations when the site owners do not want to show prices for their services or products for various reasons, thereby greatly complicating the promotion of commercial requests. For such cases, it is necessary at least to display the prices of "from ...". For example, this is true for some personalized services or products, where you can not uniquely form a price without knowing the details of the order. But it is always possible to display the price, for example, of the minimum package, etc.
  • Availability of SSL certificate (https). Indicates a secure connection between the client and the server
  • Thepresence of a city phone with a region code. This immediately gives the user and search algorithms an understanding of the company's affiliation with a particular region. It has a strong influence on local search, so if you want to promote in several regions, you need the city numbers of these regions.
  • Availability of a toll-free number for the client.
  • Placing the phone number in the <a href="tel:+1..."> tag. It is necessary so that the browser recognizes the phone number and when you click on it, it opens the appropriate application for communication (for example, Skype), or simply starts dialing the number in the smartphone. Although many browsers now recognize the phone without this tag, it is still better to use it.
  • Availability of online consultant and feedback forms. It is convenient for the user to get answers to their questions at once or to order a call back at a convenient time.
  • A page with the company's employees and their contacts. Increases the confidence of site visitors and search engines in the company.
  • A fully populated contact page. It should contain:
    • Work schedule (days, hours, break, weekends);
    • Telephones;
    • Mailing addresses (preferably with the domain name of the promoted site);
    • Alternative means of communication (messengers, Skype, etc.);
    • Links to social networks;
    • Interactive map with the address of the company (preferably with a map and information about how to get by car or from the nearest subway);
    • Photo of the building where the production facility or office is located;
    • Feedback form.
  • The presence of a page with details. Increases the credibility of both users and search engines.
  • An "About" page. It is necessary to describe the history of the company, work experience, its advantages in comparison with competitors, the number of completed orders, etc. You can also place awards and videos about the company.
  • Promotions and discounts. The presence of sales and promotions indicates that the company conducts marketing activities and increases the loyalty of its customers.
  • Certificates and licenses. Presence both in the template and on a separate page. Increases confidence in the quality of products or services with both visitors and search engines.
  • The presence of a block of benefits. It is possible to implement as in the template, and on the main page of the site. It is better to decorate with icons describing the benefits.
  • The presence of information about customers. You can implement a slider in the template, as well as make a separate page. Place client logos with the name and description of the type of activity.
  • Information on payment methods. Such information can be placed in the template of each service or product card, as well as in more detail on a separate page.
  • The search functionality of the site. It is convenient for the user to immediately find what he needs.
  • Information about warranties. This can be a separate page or instructions for each product or service.
  • Availability of reviews. Can be made on a separate page, or output to each product or service.
  • The presence of company information in Google My Business. Increases user and search engine traffic because the numbers and addresses provided on the site are used to validate the company.
  • The ability to compare products or services. This functionality improves the user experience and makes it convenient to choose in favor of a particular product or service.
  • Active groups in social networks. Many users spend a lot of time on social networks, so the company's presence in them increases sales, especially for the mass market. Social network widgets should be installed on the site, and social network groups should contain links to the site. With such linking, the user will find it easier to choose a site for ordering goods or services.
  • Availability of a portfolio. Allows you to evaluate the results of the company's activities or show the facilities where the products being sold are used.
  • A jobs page. Gives an understanding that the company is working and looking for employees.
  • Photo gallery. Allows you to quickly view photos of products or facilities where the company's services or products were used.
  • Information about service and repair. Can be used both on a separate page and for each product or service.
  • Availability of the company news section. Relevant only with regular content.
  • Answers to the most popular questions. Can be used both on a separate page and on a service or product page. It is desirable to use special micro markup.
  • Length control of the url. The page address must be static, transliterate, contain the main keyword and not be too long.
  • Site load speed. The higher the site load speed, the lower the bounce rate.
  • Adaptive layout. The share of users from mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) is generally higher in many niches. Therefore, first of all, you need to look at the site on a smartphone and take this into account when developing it. A modern website should be equally comfortable on all types of devices.

Commercial factors for online stores

  • Availability of a shopping cart. Basket is a familiar and convenient for all users functionality for ordering goods. It allows you to order several products and specify all the details for order delivery.
  • An opportunity to buy a product in one click. The visitor doesn't always want to make a purchase through the cart. For example, he only needs to buy one item and doesn't want to go through all the checkout procedures via the cart. It's necessary to give him that opportunity.
  • Assortment of goods. The more the better. The visitor has a lot to choose from, the search engine perceives the company as bigger and more reliable.
  • The presence of a product filter. The user is more convenient to choose the necessary products. In addition, when properly configured statistical url - the formation of new pages to attract additional traffic.
  • The presence of sorting of goods. It is convenient for the visitor to sort products by price or see the most popular products.
  • Information on the availability or unavailability of the product. The user is always aware of whether the product is in stock. An additional plus will be the information about the amount of leftovers in stock and the possibility to set up a notification to the mail about the arrival of goods in case they are unavailable at the moment.
  • Product rating output. Allows the user to better navigate through the assortment.

Promotion of commercial inquiries in online stores

Algorithm for the promotion of commercial requests for the online store:

  1. Collection of the semantic core. Selection of commercial and mixed keywords, sorting by groups. Adding to the services of collecting positions.
  2. Analysis of competitors. Check the structure, the presence of commercial factors, information blocks, texts, etc.
  3. Designing the structure of the site. Or checking and adjusting the current implementation. It is important not to forget about setting up 301 redirects when the url changes.
  4. Technical audit of the site. Elimination of all technical problems.
  5. Elaboration of metadata. Writing individual metadata in accordance with the collected semantic core and / or customizing the generation of Title, Description and h1.
  6. Writing texts for categories and product cards. It's worth carefully analyzing competitors for the presence of texts on category pages, as texts may not be necessary.
  7. Elaboration of commercial factors. Implement all possible recommendations for the commercial factors described above.
  8. Conduct optimization of category pages:
    • Check for bread crumbs:
    • Check the output of h1 with keyword inclusion;
    • Configure the output of the number of products in the category:
    • Configure the output of filters and sorts, if there are a lot of goods;
    • Display a short description above the product grid, and a detailed description below it (not always necessary);
    • Check the implementation of linking between adjacent sections and to articles on the theme of the category (if any);
    • Set up links to tagged pages and subsections;
    • Check for occurrence of the main key and synonyms in the anchors of links to products;
    • Check the presence of pictures and the output of the alt tag with the inclusion of keywords;
    • Check the output of prices with the currency sign (with the digit group separator);
    • Customize the output of a short description or preview;
    • Display product status (in stock, on order, out of stock);
    • Display product tags (hit, popular, experts recommend);
    • Implement the ability to add items to cart and one-click shopping;
    • Display additional product options (e.g., other colors);
    • Implement the ability to add a product to the comparison;
    • Check the option to add the product to your favorites;
    • Output the rating of goods;
    • Check the output of the amount of residuals in stock;
    • Output the number of reviews;
    • Configure the output of the delivery date;
    • Check item availability.
  9. Conduct optimization of product cards:
    • Check the availability of the ability to configure notifications to the mail about the arrival of the product, if it is out of stock;
    • To output the rating;
    • Adjust the output of similar products;
    • Check the display of several images and the implementation of the slider for scrolling through them;
    • Configure the possibility of enlarging the picture;
    • Display links to other colors, sizes, or other modifications;
    • Place information to facilitate product selection, such as a size chart for clothing;
    • Add a social media sharing button;
    • Check if you can add the product to comparison;
    • Configure the ability to leave a review of the product and view others;
    • Display the status of the product (for example, "Novelty", "Promotion", "Hit of the sale");
    • To realize the opportunity to buy on credit or installments, if possible;
    • Place a video review;
    • to show expert opinion;
    • Place a discount and indicate the old, higher price. It is possible to present in a crossed-out form and specify the saved difference, for example:
    • Display the delivery time to the desired city;
    • Place links to instructions or indicate in the card itself;
    • Implement a bright and clear call to action (to order, to cart, to buy);
    • Set up metadata generation:
      • Title - highlight words, transliteration, synonyms, toponym;
      • Description - the inclusion of the title, benefits;
      • H1 - category name + product name (if appropriate);
    • Check the availability of the image with the generation of alt (category + manufacturer + model) and title (photo of the product + manufacturer + model);
    • Check the availability of the product description;
    • Display product characteristics (color, weight, dimensions and other important parameters). Preferably in a table;
    • To realize the product micromarking;
    • Place information about shipping and payment methods;
    • Display warranty information;
    • Display information about the brand and put a link to a page with a detailed description of the brand with a list of products of this brand;
    • Check the availability of information on the status of the product (in stock, on order, out of stock);
    • Implement linking to other products;

Promotion of commercial requests on service sites

To promote the site services are relevant to all items from the first to the seventh, described above. But there are a number of peculiarities.

To optimize the page service is necessary:

  • Display information about the service:
    • Main image;
    • Text description. Compared with the sites of online stores, the pages of services almost always need high-quality sales texts. They should include key and LSI words, the TSR, a detailed description of the service and its features, the advantages over competitors. The volume of text can be seen from competitors in the top;
    • A video about the service, if available;
    • Payment methods;
    • Table with prices or cost of the service.
  • Implement the "Frequently Asked Questions" block. Mark up the block with special micro-labeling.
  • Introduce a feedback unit:
    • For B2C:
      • Text reviews:
        • Ability to leave a review and rate the service;
        • Separate fields for advantages and disadvantages;
        • Output of user reviews and their ratings;
        • Output of the average evaluation of the service (rating);
        • Sorting of reviews (by date, by evaluation).
      • Video reviews;
      • Audio reviews;
      • Reviews from third-party aggregator sites.
    • For B2B:
      • Photos of thank-you letters;
      • Copies of thank you letters with text;
      • Video testimonials;
      • Testimonials from third-party aggregator sites.
    • Introduce the "Our Advantages" block. Preferably in the form of icons.
    • Display the "About the company in numbers" block. Specify the number of orders, number of employees, how many years the company has been operating, etc., for example:
  • Implement a contact block:
    • Address;
    • Phones;
    • Email;
    • Messengers;
    • Links to social media accounts;
    • Work schedule;
    • Map.
  • Implement the following blocks:
    • Share with friends (social network sharing);
    • Our work (e.g., photo gallery or "before-after");
    • Stages of work;
    • Our customers (for B2B);
    • Our employees;
    • Information about guarantees, certificates, licenses;
    • Information about the equipment used with photos and descriptions.
  • Implement the following forms:
    • Application form;
    • Form for ordering a free option (consultation, measurement, etc.).
  • Introduce a linking block:
    • With subsections;
    • With related services (service);
    • With articles on the subject;
    • With pages by city district.
  • Implement a block of anchor links to quickly move around the page;
  • Develop a service cost calculator;
  • Introduce micro-parsing of information:
    • Video and images;
    • URL, title and description;
    • Organization contacts;
    • Payment methods and prices;
    • Reviews and ratings;
    • Company employees.

Conclusion

Promoting commercial keywords in search engines is a complex task that requires long and painstaking work. Not all recommendations can be implemented on the site. However, the result of this work is worth the effort - improving site visibility, increasing search traffic and conversion, which is the ultimate goal of search engine promotion.

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