What does Buying Cycle mean in SEO?

Understanding the buying cycle is crucial for search engine optimization because it will tell you which keywords you need to rank for and although it is called a 'buying' cycle it refers to all webmaster objectives.

Let's start with a product example:

1. I want to buy a camcorder so I start by searching 'camcorders for sale'
2. I visit the various websites I find and start to narrow down what I want.
3. I might use forums or social media groups to ask about certain models to help me rule out some options.
4. When I finally know what I want I will search for that model to compare sellers and prices.

The mistake many webmaster make is in thinking they should rank for 'camcorders for sale'. Yes, any keyword research tool will tell you that gets searched a lot but what they don't tell you is that Internet users rarely buy at that point so high rankings are expensive to achieve and bring little or no benefit.

Let's look at a service example:

1. I need SEO help so I search 'SEO consultant' or 'SEO services'
2. Its clear straight away that this is overwhelming and I'm not going to find what I want there.
3. I might try and narrow it down by searching something like 'Wordpress SEO consultant' or I might try asking around for recommendations on forums or social groups that I'm part of.
4. Eventually I'll have a short list which I can interview but it never came from my search for 'SEO consultant' or 'SEO services'.

If you understand the buying cycle of your potential customers or clients you can then focus on what to rank for that will bring you the most benefit rather than generic terms that will be difficult to rank for and deliver few or no results.