It’s no secret that the eCommerce market has exponentially grown over the past year as nearly the entire global population sheltered in place for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Where we once took a trip down to the market or retail brick and mortar location to fulfill our needs, now we look on the internet whether it be Amazon or Google to shop for the products we want or need.
So what does this mean for all of the small business owners who’ve turned to the internet to sell their products via social media or eCommerce platforms as a means of survival during the shutdown?
Just because there are major players in the eCommerce space doesn’t mean that small businesses and online sellers can’t claim their slice of the pie, they just need to be more strategic with their marketing and make the most of every opportunity to convert a person surfing the web to a paying customer.
In today’s blog, we’re going to examine transactional intent, and how you can leverage it to better serve the customers looking to do business online.
To long? Don’t want to read? Watch the accompanying Small Business Saturday video from the Lion’s Den where we break down everything transactional search intent:
Unlike the two previous forms of search user intent covered in our previous blog posts (informational queries and navigational intent), transactional search intent is a user query which indicates that they’re ready to make a purchase or complete a transaction online.
Before we continue, there’s a key distinction that’s needed. Transactional intent means the user is actively ready to move forward with taking a desired action such as buying a specific product or service online. As opposed to informational search intent which simply means they’re looking for a trusted source of information on a particular product or service, with transactional searches, online shoppers are ready to take action and get something they want, rather than just gather intel.
Another important thing to note is that transactional intent isn’t limited to online purchases, nor is it exclusive to eCommerce businesses. Rather, shift your mindset to focus on the “action” within the word transactional. That action can certainly be buying a product, but also calling your business, filling out a contact form, or even scheduling a consultation.
For eCommerce businesses and online sellers, searches that fall under the transactional category are going to be directly related to the categories or products listed on your website and often contain some variation of the following queries:
Unlike informational intent, these search queries imply that there is a specific product a user is actively looking for. Perhaps they’ve already done the research about a product and know which sites to navigate to in order to find out more about it; now they’ve decided they’d like to make a purchase from the most trusted source online. This is where you capitalize on the opportunity by speaking directly to the problem and providing the best solution.
Understanding how potential customers are searching for your products is half the battle. This means you need to have a comprehensive understanding of the keywords and phrases they’re punching into Google’s search box and how your rankings measure up to your competitors. If you’re unsure where you stand from this perspective. Click here to get your instant digital marketing report.
Once you conduct proper keyword research, start ranking for the right terms and driving traffic to your eCommerce site, the focus shifts to how to get more conversions from search engines via conversion rate optimization (CRO).
To put it as simply as possible, your website’s conversion rate is the number of goal completions, divided by the number of visitors to your site. Through conversion rate optimization, you’ll be able to increase conversions and the number of goal completions by improving site visitors’ experience.
On average, eCommerce websites and online stores have a 2% conversion rate, with an estimated 8-10% CRO on branded terms. So, what can you do as an eCommerce seller to better serve the needs of customers with transactional intent and optimize your site’s conversion rate in the process?
A common misconception when it comes to eCommerce is that conversions = purchases. While the obvious goal of any online seller is to move more products, conversions can be whatever your business sets as a goal. That could mean website chats, phone calls, contact form submissions, and of course, product purchases.
The fact of the matter is, each conversion goal your company has requires a different optimization strategy. Let’s look at a few different conversion goals for eCommerce businesses.
As you can see, these are a wide range of conversion goals and require different strategies yet collectively contribute to the overall success of your company’s digital marketing.
Regardless of which eCommerce products your business sells, you ultimately need to satisfy one question for your target customer – What’s in it for them?
It’s up to you to prove your company’s value, authority, and trustworthiness within seconds of site visitors landing on your page. Whether users land on your site’s homepage or a product page, your on-page content and call to actions should answer the following questions to move customers through the conversion funnel:
Ultimately, the purpose of any business is to generate qualified leads and revenue, especially when you’re selling goods and services online. While there are many different tools and marketing tactics to help you achieve this, the core focus remains on setting yourself apart from competitors, building trust with prospective buyers, and offering superior customer service at every step of the consumer journey.
If you’d like to find out more information about integrating user intent into your digital marketing strategy, or you’re ready to get started winning online, reach out to our experts for a free marketing assessment and instant audit today
Author: Casey Quinn
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