How to Find and Use Transactional Keywords to Increase Conversions

Written by Melissa Rae Brown, edited by Chima Mmeje

September 2024

Transactional keywords, sometimes called buyer keywords, are queries that indicate a user’s intent to take action on a website, such as buying, signing up, or engaging in some sort of transaction. They can be highly valuable for businesses as they indicate a high level of purchase intent and are the most likely to lead to conversions.

Transactional keywords often contain words such as "buy," "order," "discount," “request a quote,” and "free shipping,” just to name a few. These terms indicate that the user is at the final stage of their buyer journey, ready to convert.

Here are some examples of keywords with transactional search intent:

electronic toothbrush sale

• This keyword indicates that the user is interested in purchasing an electronic toothbrush. They’ve likely done their research, are ready to make a purchase, and want to save money.

order gluten-free meal delivery

• This keyword suggests that the user is looking to place an order for meal delivery services that offer gluten-free options. They’ve already decided on their dietary preference and are ready to find a provider.

get same-day flower delivery

• The user is searching for a florist that can deliver flowers on the same day. The urgency suggests they are ready to make a quick purchase, possibly for a special occasion.

download premium stock photos

• The user is looking to obtain high-quality stock photos, and the word “download” suggests they are ready to complete a transaction (likely a purchase) to obtain them.

sign up for Netflix

• This keyword shows the user’s intent to subscribe to Netflix. They’re ready to commit and are likely looking for the official sign-up page.

Now that you know what transactional keywords are and why they’re important, let’s talk about how to find them.

1. Start with your product or service

Begin with a list of keywords directly related to the products or services your brand offers. Think about the words people use when they’re specifically looking for what you sell.

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes—what would you type into a search engine if you were looking for high-quality gardening supplies? For example, if you offer organic compost, you might start with keywords like “organic compost,” or “natural garden fertilizer.”

Also, don’t forget to include word variations. If you sell a range of gardening tools, think about different words people might use to search for them at this stage of the buyer journey. For example, instead of just “garden shovel,” consider long-tail keywords like “buy stainless steel garden shovel,” “purchase ergonomic garden tools,” or “order durable garden spade.”

2. Do keyword research and filter for transactional intent

Manual keyword research is time-consuming, and using guesswork to determine search intent puts your content strategy at risk. Moz's Keyword Explorer includes robust features for identifying keywords by transactional search intent. Simply sign up or log in to Moz, and head to Keyword Suggestions.

Enter a search term related to your products, services, industry, or topic, and you’ll receive a list of related keywords. Next to the Search Intent column, click on the menu (3 dots), click Filter, and from the dropdown menu, select Transactional.

Pay close attention to the Monthly Volume and Difficulty scores. High Difficulty can make it tough to rank, while low search Volume might not bring enough traffic. Ideally, you’ll find keywords that are specific enough to capture high-intent users but broad enough to reach a decent audience.

3. Use keyword modifiers to find transactional keywords

Modifiers are words that can turn a regular keyword into a transactional one. Words like “buy,” “order,” “discount,” “coupon,” “deal,” and “free shipping” are strong indicators that a user is ready to convert, and you can find these keywords in Keyword Suggestions.

After you filter by Search Intent, click Filters. From the drop-down menu, click Keywords, and under Value, add a modifier like “sale” to find these keywords.

In this example, we can see that the keyword “telescopes for sale” has a high Monthly Volume and a medium Difficulty score. These modifiers are small changes that can make a big difference in capturing the right audience.

4. Do competitor research to understand what's driving revenue for your competitors

Why reinvent the wheel when you can learn from your competitors? Use tools like Moz’s Keyword Gap Analysis to find keywords your competitors are ranking for that you’re not.

First, you’ll just need a free Moz Community account or Moz Pro subscription to get started. Sign up or log in to Moz, and head to Keyword Gap Analysis. Enter your domain and up to four competitor websites.

Scroll down to Top Competing Content. Here, you’ll find your competitors' most visible content and the keywords they rank on the search engine results pages for, which can help you identify opportunities you might have missed.

Look at their landing pages to understand how they’re converting visitors into customers. Analyze the keywords they’re targeting, as well as the content on the page, such as images, photos, videos, descriptions, specifications, and FAQs. The information provides guidance on how to optimize your content for transactional purposes.

Now that you have your list of transactional keywords, it’s time to put them to work. Here are some powerful ways to use these keywords to increase your conversions:

Targeting paid ads

Paid ads are a great way to get in front of potential customers who are ready to buy. Use your transactional queries to target these ads. Whether it’s Google Ads, Bing Ads, or social media ads, these keywords can help ensure your ads are seen by people with high buying intent.

Craft compelling ad copy that highlights the benefits of your products or services and includes a clear call to action. In the example above, you can see that they include “Free Shipping,” “2 to 5 Business Day Delivery,” and “Easy Returns” in the title tag and meta description.

Additionally, once a user clicks on your ad, be sure they arrive on an optimized landing page that provides a seamless user experience to complete the transaction.

Identifying competitors

Transactional keywords can also help you identify your competitors. By researching who is ranking for your target keywords, you can get a better understanding of the competitive landscape. Moz offers a free tool called Competitive Research, which has robust features for identifying your competitors and their successful content.

Enter your domain, and click Find Competitors. You’ll get a list of your Top 25 Competitors.

Select up to 3 competitors using the checkboxes on the left and then click Compare Competitors.

This will take you to Keyword Gap Analysis. Scroll down to Keywords to Improve, which are your competitors’ most prominent ranking keywords.

This list can help you refine your strategy and identify the gaps. What are they doing well? Where are they falling short? Use this information to improve your own content strategy and gain a competitive edge.

Optimizing service and product pages

To help Google understand the value of your product and service pages, it’s essential to optimize your title tags, header tags, meta descriptions, and body content with transactional keywords. After all, more than 70% of clicks occur on organic search results rather than paid ads in SERPs. It emphasizes the significance of optimizing content for transactional queries. Further, over 92% of users don’t click beyond the first page of search results.

You can use the free MozBar extension to compare elements of your website against those of your competitors and improve your page based on what’s working for them.

This not only helps with SEO but also ensures that visitors immediately see that you have what they’re looking for.

Targeting buyer intent

Transactional queries are perfect for targeting buyer intent. Create content that speaks directly to high-intent users. Include detailed photos from various angles, how-to videos, customer reviews, specifications, and detailed descriptions, to build trust and nudge them towards making a purchase.

For example, if we search the keyword “plastic plant saucers,” this URL from Gardener’s Edge ranks highly. As you scroll down the page, the user can view:

• Multiple saucer size options

• Several photos of the saucer in use

• Information about how to use the product

• Product features and specifications

• Customer reviews

This provides the user with all the information they need to make a purchase decision.

Consider creating dedicated landing pages for specific transactional keywords. The goal is to answer their questions, address their concerns, and make the buying process as smooth as possible.

This is a frequently asked question, and the answer is a bit nuanced. Transactional keywords and commercial keywords are closely related but serve slightly different purposes:

• Transactional keywords specifically indicate a readiness to purchase. They’re like a direct signal saying, “I’m ready to buy right now” The SERPs for transactional keywords usually feature many ads, including shopping ads with product images and prices. You’ll also see pages from e-commerce sites, including category and product pages.

• Commercial keywords, on the other hand, are more about researching and comparing options. They include terms like “best,” “top,” “review,” and “comparison.” These users are still in the decision-making process but are not quite ready to convert (purchase, sign up, register) just yet. The search engine results pages for these keywords often display product comparison sites, reviews, and listicles, like “The 9 Best Soft Coolers.” There might be fewer direct ads, and more organic results that guide users through their decision-making process.

When you understand the difference, you can tailor your content and marketing strategies to effectively target users at different stages of the buying journey.

Transactional keywords are highly coveted and very valuable. They connect you with users who are ready to take action, making them crucial for boosting conversions. By understanding transactional queries, and using them effectively, you can turn more visitors into customers and generate revenue your business needs to grow.