How to Find Keywords & Content Topics That Convert Into Sales

One of the most common obstacles that cause stagnation with content, SEO, affiliate earnings, and PPC teams is that there are “no more keywords, modifiers or topics to go after”.  A lesser known, but common issue, is that SEOs and Affiliate Managers get blocked from having access to PPC accounts.  That is why I’m writing this step-by-step guide on locating new keywords for SEO that drive sales.

Below you’ll find a new way to discover keywords phrases that can convert into revenue, because they are based on data, not assumptions, and you’ll have a solid reason why you need PPC account access to give to your boss or clients.

After I show you how to locate these keywords and phrases, you’ll learn when, why and how to incorporate them into:

• Product and category pages
• Location pages
• Blog posts

Let’s start by figuring out how to find the keywords that have volume and also drive sales.  This is important for ecommerce stores, lead gen companies, service providers, and affiliates.

1. Log into your adwords account – if you don’t have one, create one and launch campaigns with conversion tracking on.
2. Set the date range to at least 3 or 4 months, the shopping season you’re building content for (Valentine’s, Back to School, Engagement, etc…), or the year to date if you have a solid amount of data.
3. Click on Campaigns > Select an Ad Group > Click the “Search Terms” tab on the keywords page
4. Modify the columns so you have these five showing:
   1. Search term
   2. Match type
   3. Impressions
   4. Clicks
   5. Conversions
5. Now export to a spreadsheet or sort by match type.
6. Delete or exclude all rows that have zero conversions from your spreadsheet or ignore them within the interface.

This is your gold mine. As long as you do not have “broad match” for everything, double check this as this could be a sign your PPC person could use further training, then you’ll see “(close variant)” under phrase and exact match.  This is what you want.

The first column “search term” is the actual keyword phrase that drove the click.  Not the phrase you’re bidding on.  It has the modifiers people actually use.  The conversions column shows you how many conversions happened from this specific phrase, in combination with your ads.  Impressions will show you that there is a search volume, and clicks lets you know that your ad copy was at least somewhat engaging.  It doesn’t mean it is the best, but you have something that at least makes the end user click on the ad. (PS, I forgot to mark the impressions and clicks with the red box above, sorry about that.)

Bonus tip: You can also add a column which says if you’re currently bidding on the phrase or not, so as a bonus it can grow your PPC account too.

Now take that modified version and plug it into a search engine monitoring tool to see if you rank in the top 100 positions in Google, Bing and Yahoo.  If you do not rank for it, this is your next opportunity.

If you do rank for the phrase, then awesome, you can work on bringing that page up higher or to the number 1 spot.  This can be done through link building, page speed, site structure, tech SEO, etc… Each situation is different and needs evaluated individually.  Just make sure the page that shows up is the right experience to show to a potential customer or lead, based on their current intent or where they are in the decision making process. That goes to the next section.  How to use these keywords by page type.

Bonus Tip – Look at your highest converting PPC ads for text and keywords.  You can apply this to the language on the page, title tag, and meta description and potentially increase your click through rates from SEO.  If done correctly, it can make the listing and page more interesting for the website visitor and help to increase conversion rates.  

Product and Category Pages

If the modifier is a shopping one, i.e. price, colors, style choices, sizes, reviews, etc… then add it to the product page.  If it is about options, compatibility, replacements or questions that cover a mix of product options, but within the same specific niche, add it to the category page.  If the intent is to buy, not find out more information, then you want to get them into your sales funnel and these are normally the best landing pages SEO wise.

If it is product specific, get them to that product.  If it could apply to multiple products but is shopping specific, then the category page might be the best experience for them.

Locations Pages

One thing you may find, aside from “near me”, is that people could be searching differently for locations and using words that are not currently on your page.  You may list your “NYC” or “Manhattan office location” because the CEO wants the company to look larger or fancier, but people could be looking for the XY company they saw on 5th avenue, or in the AB building.  When you see these phrases starting to show up and converting into sales or leads, you can incorporate them into your text including:

• Within the directions to find the office location
• H tags
• Title tags
• Copy about the location

All of these are natural ways to help your potential customers, both foot traffic and online leads, locate your business or services.  It also uses the language and terminology that your potential users and customers use.  Not what you prefer or your company’s preferred choices.  There is a big difference.  And by using this you may get more engagement.

Blog Posts

When you discover modifiers or variations that convert, but are more information and research based, this can become a blog post topic.  You can write about solving an XY problem, and incorporating the product or service as a solution.  It could also be a table or comparison post that outlines which option is better and for what situation.  Then build an internal link or use product links to the product or category page.  This helps the person first gain the knowledge needed, and then lets them acquire the needed products or services to solve their problem.

Another option is to do a list where the modified phrase is one of the items.  You could even use it to do a compare and contrast post which includes bullet lists, tables or charts, and helps them to know that you provide information they can trust.  Once that trust is built, even if they aren’t ready to shop right now, they may come back to you again once they’re ready.  As a bonus, you can set a remarketing pixel and try to get their email address and remarket to them again in the future.  But this type of info is valuable for affiliates too.

By providing this type of content on your website, or if you’re an Affiliate Manager you can provide it to your partners, you are now establishing yourself as an authority and knowledge base for consumers.  This can lead to backlinks and new traffic.  As an affiliate, you can now link people to products or service providers in a lead gen campaign.

Much like the ecommerce site or service provider, you can also set a remarketing pixel and build your email list for repeat and recurring revenue.  The best part is that this is a topic which converts for your merchant, so you not only get new traffic and build the authority and trust of your website, but if you can rank, you both may make money because the Affiliate Manager was able to share their data with you.

There are almost always new topics, keywords and ways to build content that drives sales.  You just have to know where to look.  Having an open line of communication between SEO or Affiliate, and PPC, or by having the head of marketing provide full access to the PPC account is one of the best ways because all of the topics and keywords are based on real data.  This includes both actual traffic numbers and conversion or revenue data.  Much like I mentioned above, if you found this post helpful, opt in to my newsletter using the signup box below and you’ll get an email whenever I add a new post.