HOW TO CREATE A WEBSITE BY THE BUYER'S JOURNEY

The conversion funnel can be seen as the sales funnel, and a website can be created by that funnel. This funnel consists of what's needed in today's world – knowing, engaging and taking an audience on a journey. Even though this isn't a new concept, most websites are still sales-focused and very promotional. The best way to take a person down the conversion funnel is by conducting these steps:

#1 – REVIEW THE TYPES OF PAGES ON YOUR WEBSITE

The modern-day sales and marketing funnel consists of stages – awareness, interest, consideration, intent, evaluation and purchase. Every web page has a purpose and targets a different stage in the funnel.

AWARENESS

The awareness stage is the uppermost stage of the funnel. The people in this stage are using keywords to do research and answer questions. Your blog and e-learning center would be beneficial to the people in this stage. E-learning consists of webinars and research that would answer questions. Your blog posts would be using long-tail keywords to get that low-hanging fruit.

Not a lot of companies go after these keywords in their organic efforts; so if used properly, these keywords can create more web traffic by targeting small groups of searchers. While these keywords tend to have lower search volume, they can be great for establishing trust and authority with a new audience.

INTEREST

This is where you can start engaging with the audience and positioning yourself as a leader in the market by providing targeted content through your e-learning center. These web pages are where you can automate emails by what your audience is doing on the website. For example, if someone downloaded a white paper, send them an email series further expanding that topic while trying to get them to that next stage in the funnel.

CONSIDERATION

The product category pages on your website would be ideal for the people in this stage. They are looking for product information and reviews. While these may be prospective customers, remember that the person could have entered the stage without knowing your brand. Therefore, trust symbols will be important to establish credibility – affiliations, certifications, awards and testimonials.

INTENT

Your product pages are for the people in the intent stage. They are looking for product demos and want to speak to a sales person. The people in this stage are demonstrating an interest in your product, so this is where you need to make a strong case for why they need to buy your product by listing competitive advantages. The sales and marketing team really need to work together to be successful in the evaluation stage, and the sales team takes over in the purchase stage.

#2 – GROUP KEYWORDS BY SEARCH INTENT

Search intent is for people, and keyword placement is for robots. Everyone has a purpose behind why they are searching and that's why you need to create intent keyword groups. This will require you to really know your audience. Two people can use different keywords but have the same intent, which is why you need to take those similar keywords and group them. Where you'll place those keywords on your website will depend on the stage. For example, someone searching a question should be sent to a blog post answering that question.

#3 – START CREATING CONTENT

Content is key to providing what your audience is searching for on the web. Different types of content on your website will generate a different number of leads. Content is needed to create white papers, e-books, blog posts and more.

Today's digital marketing requires a deep understanding of your audience, and there are tools available to help you find out what is important to them. Other than reading publications and research reports, you should open up Google Analytics to see the most viewed pages on your website. This will tell you what your current audience cares about while you're looking to build a new audience.

A comprehensive content strategy will use several forms of content to target people by their associated stage. Quality over quantity is very important here, especially in your blog. Many think that the more they blog the better. However, this is where you are establishing credibility with a new audience. Therefore, it's imperative to have high-quality content and not fluff.

People can enter at any stage of the funnel on your website because of search engine optimization. Therefore, the search intent and purpose for the web page on your site should be carefully evaluated before creating that content.