Do "How To" Keyword Phrases Have Buyer Intent?

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  • SEO
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I am currently trying to make my first website promoting a product online. I am trying to research keyword phrases to build my site around but I had a question about "how to" keyword phrases...

This is based around the education niche and some of the phrases I was thinking of targeting was "how to study for..." and "how to pass...".

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with these keyword phrases and knows if they are good ones to target.

Just in case, based on the Google Keyword Planner (don't know how accurate this is), each phrase gets about 800 to 1,000 searches a month... Maybe that is too low a number to target but that is what I have so far. When I type the phrases into Google in quotes (I guess this shows the exact searches for the phrase, but I may be wrong) I get about 14,000 for one and 6,000 for the other.

Any help or suggestions would be awesome! Also, I tried searching other threads but did not find one talking about this subject. If there is one, feel free to direct me towards it. Thanks again!
#buyer #how to #intent #keyword #keyword phrases #keyword research #phrases #seo
  • Profile picture of the author Tiiberiuss
    How-to keywords can be tricky. Just because the phrase starts with "how to..." doesn't mean there is a buyer intent.

    Best converters from the family of how-to phrases are problem solvers with high urgency. Things that are urgent and/or constantly on mind of the affected person. How to phrases related to medical conditions are very high converting. For example:

    how to lose weight in 15 days

    Above phrase might be searched by people "getting ready" for some sort of social activity. If you put some miraculous weight loss pill in front of their eyes via your wbsite there is a high chance of conversion.

    Access to information, complexity of the problem and how you position yourself plays the part as well.

    Six pack abs for example require a lot of effort from the person so if you offer some supplement to "do it for them" your conversion will be high. (how to get six pack abs fast)

    Phrases you mentioned may be in this family as well as studying is usually a last minute thing so urgency might be present. Availability of the free information on the topic will play a role as well.

    An informational book/e-book might be a good product to promote here. (or some anti-sleeping pills)
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    • Profile picture of the author DABK
      Not my site, it has a long list of buying words/phrases:
      Buyer Keywords List: 220 Red Hot Keywords With Buyer Intent.
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    • Profile picture of the author JSKentopp
      Originally Posted by Tiiberiuss View Post

      How-to keywords can be tricky. Just because the phrase starts with "how to..." doesn't mean there is a buyer intent.

      Best converters from the family of how-to phrases are problem solvers with high urgency. Things that are urgent and/or constantly on mind of the affected person. How to phrases related to medical conditions are very high converting. For example:

      how to lose weight in 15 days

      Above phrase might be searched by people "getting ready" for some sort of social activity. If you put some miraculous weight loss pill in front of their eyes via your wbsite there is a high chance of conversion.

      Access to information, complexity of the problem and how you position yourself plays the part as well.

      Six pack abs for example require a lot of effort from the person so if you offer some supplement to "do it for them" your conversion will be high. (how to get six pack abs fast)

      Phrases you mentioned may be in this family as well as studying is usually a last minute thing so urgency might be present. Availability of the free information on the topic will play a role as well.

      An informational book/e-book might be a good product to promote here. (or some anti-sleeping pills)
      Great information here! You have a point regarding the urgency as I would want to know how to pass this test within a specific time frame or now. I definitely plan on creating content with free information and little aim in promoting the product. I really like the point of the anti-sleeping pill. This shows how I could eventually branch out into other smaller niches possibly. Thanks for your input.
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      • Profile picture of the author JSKentopp
        Originally Posted by AndresNWD View Post

        Generally speaking I would say "how to" doesn't bring buyer intent. It depends on the niche, but most of the times I think is somebody searching to solve an immediate problem. It doesn't mean that you can't write those kind of solutions to bring quality traffic to your website.
        Awesome! I think I will continue searching for some other keyword phrases. I am seeing that the "how to" phrases are much better when it comes to providing quality information but not necessarily to promote a product. Thanks for you reply

        Originally Posted by DABK View Post

        Not my site, it has a long list of buying words/phrases:
        Buyer Keywords List: 220 Red Hot Keywords With Buyer Intent.
        Sweet list! I went through the list a few times and I'm thinking the "best" may be one to add with a keyword phrase. Shows that the person may be looking to compare with other products. Also, "fast" is a good one for urgency. I saw "guide" was in there and I do have a keyword phrase including that. Maybe I will add the year (2015) to it... Thanks again!
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  • Profile picture of the author AndresNWD
    Generally speaking I would say "how to" doesn't bring buyer intent. It depends on the niche, but most of the times I think is somebody searching to solve an immediate problem. It doesn't mean that you can't write those kind of solutions to bring quality traffic to your website.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    True story...

    My freezer went out on my side-by-side fridge. I got online (Google SERPs) & searched for a How To... repair video.

    I found a freezer repair video on YT. The guy doing the repair in the video was awesome at giving detailed instructions, he obviously knew what he was doing.

    The YT video was branded with an appliance supply business in Florida (US). I follow a link in his YT video description, bought the part he suggested to replace in the video, the part arrived 2 days later at my house. It took me about 20 min. or so to replace the old part with the new part.

    My freezer has been working perfectly for at least 6 months, since I replaced the part suggested in the YT video.

    My point is, If you know what your talking about or at the very least act professional in your niche, it's pretty damn easy to make a sale. I bought without hesitating after watching a How To... video.

    BTW, the local appliance guy wanted to charge me around $120 for 20 min worth of work. I think the part might have cost around $20 online (Florida parts supplier).

    Anytime I have future appliance problems I will return to that same parts supplier I found on YT because I trust them since I had a positive experience. Trust goes a long ways when making future sales.

    Every bit of that purchase started out by me searching Google for a How To... keyword.
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    • Profile picture of the author JSKentopp
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      True story...

      My freezer went out on my side-by-side fridge. I got online (Google SERPs) & searched for a How To... repair video.

      I found a freezer repair video on YT. The guy doing the repair in the video was awesome at giving detailed instructions, he obviously knew what he was doing.

      The YT video was branded with an appliance supply business in Florida (US). I follow a link in his YT video description, bought the part he suggested to replace in the video, the part arrived 2 days later at my house. It took me about 20 min. or so to replace the old part with the new part.

      My freezer has been working perfectly for at least 6 months, since I replaced the part suggested in the YT video.

      My point is, If you know what your talking about or at the very least act professional in your niche, it's pretty damn easy to make a sale. I bought without hesitating after watching a How To... video.

      BTW, the local appliance guy wanted to charge me around $120 for 20 min worth of work. I think the part might have cost around $20 online (Florida parts supplier).

      Anytime I have future appliance problems I will return to that same parts supplier I found on YT because I trust them since I had a positive experience. Trust goes a long ways when making future sales.

      Every bit of that purchase started out by me searching Google for a How To... keyword.
      Thanks for sharing your story! I really appreciate it. Based on this story and what I've seen online, it is more important to worry about providing great value to readers and customers than just worrying about sales. The sales and money will come if you've provided value or have been of service to the consumer.
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