Markets, Audiences, and the Buyer’s Journey:
Converting interest relies on recognising it. Optimise for visitors and what they’re trying to do, not search engines. The rest will follow.
The key to conversion
If a website isn’t converting, it is probably down to a mismatch between the intent of visitors and the way the website is organised. Matching their intent is the best way to generate action from the interest you get.
Converting keywords are entirely predictable.
The best conversions don’t come from the home page. It might be that a website has all the right content, but if the visitor is in the wrong place it doesn’t matter what you say.
Understanding intent is the way to start fixing things. It comes from the market, audiences and the buyers journey words that visitors give us ‘within’ the keywords. But not single keywords, it is their collective intelligence we need.
We can’t see the people behind the screen, but we can see the audiences.
Conversion matters
The most important skill in web marketing is conversion, it makes marketing affordable. If we convert enough clicks we can afford more of them.
Two visitors interested in the same thing, one of them is ready to buy and one isn’t. They need different content. How do we tell the difference?
Decrypting commercial intent is the way to figure out what people want, who they are and what they want to hear right now.
The impact of conversion
Doubling conversion rates can quadruple profitability. High bounce rates and low conversion rates kill ROI and probably rankings, too.
If we don’t talk to the right people at the right time, it won’t work.
The Broken Internet Experience
The internet feels broken for visitors because websites don’t match how they search and decide. Wrong place, wrong time.
Traditional websites are built inside-out:
they focus on what companies want to say, not what visitors want to learn. This creates a fundamental disconnect that limits conversion.
- Building websites around keywords and blog posts is like building a house on grains of sand instead of lying on the beach.
- Keywords are encrypted audiences – mixed-up Lego bricks waiting to be sorted.
How Keywords Really Work
When we break keywords down to their fundamental elements, we see what visitors are actually trying to do.
Like a periodic table for search, there are only three base elements:
Three types of word constitute every keyword phrase
- Market words – what they need help with
- Journey words – where they are in their decision
- Audience words – who they are
Understanding these elements lets you:
- Predict which keywords will convert before investing in them
- Attract the right people at the right stage of their journey
- Say precisely what each visitor needs to hear to convert
You don’t need A/B testing when you understand what people want.
Predicting Conversion Before Investing
The Market Audiences framework solves this by identifying which clicks will convert before you waste time and budget pursuing them.
Market Words: The Foundation of Value
Market words show what people need help with. They reveal the mission visitors are on. Of the 3 types, only market words enable commercial intent. The other word types enhance this value when layered on top.
Repeat, no market word, no value.
These words create a natural progression along the buyer’s journey – they’re the foundation that those timeline words build upon.
Haven’t heard of these before? I wouldn’t be surprised, they often go unrecognised.
Each market topic has its own unique decision journey, meaning there isn’t one generic funnel for your whole business. There are multiple funnels, one for each topic your visitors care about.
Huge opportunities are missed on this seemingly obscure point.
Buyer Journey Words: Specific to Market Topics
The critical insight: buyer journey words reveal their full potential only when grouped around each specific market topic.
- Writing for keywords means completely missing the point about multiple funnels.
All traditional websites have gaps in the visitor pathways. The fact that sites can still work anyway conceals the opportunity for greater gains.
Building Conversion-Focused Content Hubs
Content hubs organised around market topics serve visitors through their entire decision journey.
Different stages require different content:
- Early stage: Educational content (selling ideas)
- Middle stage: Comparative content (selling solutions)
- Late stage: Implementation content (selling products)
Organising websites around market topics with stage-appropriate content naturally increases conversion rates because it serves the entire visitor journey. It becomes a self-service sales conversation without distractions.
Strategic Audience Targeting
Audience words reveal who the person is – their role, industry, or situation. They transform generic searches into specific opportunities.
Practically, this means targeting audiences throughout your website structure – in URLs, internal links, navigation, and content tailored specifically to what each audience cares about most.
When you fully serve a specific audience, you signal that you’re part of their community. Google sends specific clicks, and those people buy from those they identify with.
Audiences are the future of website marketing
The impact is significant: audience words typically double the conversion value. It might even start you getting leads where you never had them before.
It brings all your other marketing channels into the same play.
The future of marketing belongs to those who understand the true nature of markets and audiences. While others chase rankings, you can build websites that naturally convert.
Get our free guide: “Why your website doesn’t convert” and learn more about how to work with intent and the buyers journey.
