Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [69]
By developing conversion points, key phrases, and content based on buying cycle, you’ll help your website become a powerful tool in reaching prospects and customers in multiple points in their searching.
Thursday: Find Searcher Behavior Types
Another interesting facet of keyword research is to evaluate what kind of searchers will be most likely to use your website. Is your website an “impulse” website, where you can get a quick sale? Is your website a content-based website where searchers can research and learn more, which will help them make a decision? Is your website focused on answering or presenting a single purpose to the world, such as a hobby or passion that you want to share? Each of these sites has a purpose to a specific searcher, and understanding what types of searchers you attract can be very important in both keyword selection and evaluation.
In the book Information Architecture (O’Reilly, 3rd Edition 2006), Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld explain the information needs of searchers and how specific patterns emerge based on the types of information that are searched. I highly recommend the book to anyone who manages a website or is involved in website design.
I’ve adapted the fishing metaphor originally used in Information Architecture into a marksmanship metaphor based on three types of search types: sharpshooter searches, shotgun searches, and artillery searches. Essentially, the answer to a question is the shooter’s target. The type of search is the weapon used to hit the target, based on how precisely the searcher seeks the answer to their question.
In this keywords exercise, you can see that searchers using certain types of keywords will inherently display different types of behaviors. Knowing which types of searchers will need your information is critical, because it will enable you to better understand how to match your information to the searcher’s needs. Of course, what follows are very general descriptions of user behaviors, observed in different situations. There are always exceptions when describing types of user behavior interacting with information. These are mainly starting points to begin your analysis of your own website and the types of users requesting information.
Sharpshooter Searching
Searchers who use this method have a specific question and have little time for anything else. I observe this behavior almost daily in personal interactions. For example:
“Who is that actor? What other shows has he been in?”
“What ’80s new-wave bands had a song title that was the same as the band name?”
“What’s the address of that restaurant?”
“What is the number of smartphone users in the United States compared to Japan? What is the percentage compared to population?”
These are targeted questions for a specific knowledge need. Whether it is for trivial, investigative, or research purposes, the searcher for this type of information exhibits very little patience. This is when the relevance and appearance of the answer within the content are critical. Searchers who are sharpshooters want to focus on a tiny bit of information, and everything else is unnecessary information.
These users exhibit a kind of tunnel vision, because there is not much to distract them from their task. Usually, there is either a time restriction or immediacy to the question, and spending more than a few minutes is too long. In addition, the commitment level of these users is typically as low as their attention span. They need an answer, and when they get it, they are done.
Shotgun Searching
The next level of searching involves the shotgun searcher. They have an idea of the type of information they need but not a specific target. Like with a shotgun, the “shooter” simply has to aim in the general direction to hit the target, but the shot will be scattered, and the likelihood of hitting targets other than the