What are transactional queries?
Transactional queries are search terms that indicate the user wants to take a specific action like making a purchase, booking something, or downloading a product.
These types of searches include words like:
Buy
Purchase
Order
Book
Download
For example, someone searching "buy running shoes online" is clearly looking to purchase running shoes over the internet.
Or if someone searches "book hotel in Las Vegas", they want to reserve and book a hotel room in Las Vegas.
The key thing about transactional queries is the person searching has already made up their mind on what they want.
They've done their research and are now ready and motivated to complete that specific transaction or action.
So transactional queries represent someone who is towards the final stage of the buying cycle.
They're not just browsing broadly anymore - they're ready to pull the trigger on a purchase, reservation, download, or whatever it is they're looking for.
Importance of transactional queries
Transactional search queries are extremely valuable because they signal that the person searching is at the final stage before making an actual purchase.
While they may not have decided on the exact product yet, these searchers are actively looking at options and are highly likely to buy something very soon.
For businesses, ranking well in search results for transactional queries is a huge opportunity. It allows them to get in front of these potential customers right when they have their wallets out and are ready to make a transaction.
Transactional searches represent high purchase intent. Whoever ranks highly is in position to capture that hot demand and buying motivation from the searcher.
This is especially crucial for ecommerce businesses that rely on search traffic converting into sales. Appearing for transactional queries puts them in the right place at the ideal time to win that revenue.
The higher businesses can rank for these transactional, high-intent searches in their industry, the more conversion opportunities and sales they'll likely generate from that motivated organic search traffic.
How to identify transactional queries?
Look for these signs that a search is transactional and indicating purchase intent:
Queries with words like "buy", "order", "purchase", "download", "subscribe" etc. These imply the user wants to complete a transaction.
Searches mentioning a specific product or service name. This likely means they're interested in buying that particular thing.
Terms like "price", "discount", "deal", "sale", or "coupon" used. Shows they're looking for offers to make a purchase.
Words related to payments like "credit card", "PayPal", "shipping" etc. Suggests working out transactional logistics.
Comparisons or reviews like "best", "top", "compare product X vs Y". May still be researching but closing in on a purchase decision.
The overall context clues of words indicating buying intent, specific products mentioned, pricing considerations, and transactional details are good signs a search query is transactional in nature.
While not every transactional query will hit all those points, as some might be navigational, looking for combinations of such terms can help identify the highest purchase-intent searches to target.
You can also use different keyword research tools to identify transactional queries like Ahrefs:
Ahrefs
Log into your Ahrefs account and go to the Keyword Explorer tool. Enter a keyword or broad topic related to your niche/business and click Search.
Ahrefs will show you lots of related keyword ideas. Look for keywords containing words like "buy", "order", "download" etc. - these indicate transactional intent.
Click the Filters button. You can add filters for other transactional words like "price", "discount", "review", or specific brands.
Check the search volumes for the keywords. Higher volumes mean more potential traffic, but also more competition. Try to target a mix of high and low volumes.
Once you've found good transactional keyword opportunities, click Export to save the list to analyze further or use for your SEO/marketing.
The key is identifying those keywords that have clear transactional language and intent from people looking to make a purchase or take an action. Ahrefs' filters and data make it easy to find these valuable high-intent keywords.
Optimizing for transactional queries
You can optimise your content for transactional queries in the following ways:
Use Long-Tail Keywords
Transactional searches tend to be more specific than broad queries.
By optimizing your website content for the long-tail keyword phrases that include transactional language like "buy" or "order", you increase your chances of showing up in search results.
Include Action-Oriented Language
When writing content or designing your website pages, use phrases that actively encourage people to take the next step and make a transaction.
Include call-to-action words and statements like: "Buy Now" "Add to Cart" "Book Your Appointment" "Download Today" "Subscribe and Save"
This type of actionable, transactional language directly speaks to users who are ready and motivated to purchase, sign up, or complete whatever it is you're offering.
Optimize for Local Search
If your business offers services to a specific local area or city, make sure to optimize your website and listings for those location-based search queries.
People looking for local businesses to purchase from or use services will often include their city or "near me" in their transactional searches.
It's also critical to claim and fully optimize your Google My Business listing with your precise coordinates, hours, services, and other details.
Use Product Structured Data
If you sell products on your website, using structured data or markup can really boost your visibility in transactional search results.
Structured data allows you to provide detailed information about each product in a format that Google understands. This includes:
Product title
Price
Availability (in stock or not)
Ratings/reviews
Images
etc.
When you have this structured product data on your pages, Google can prominently display those details directly in the search results for relevant queries.
This enhanced product listing makes your stuff much more clickable when people are searching for items to purchase online.
If you're also signed up for Google's Merchant Center, implementing this structured data is required to get your product listings to show up in the dedicated "Shopping" section of search results.
Provide Clear Calls to Action
When someone lands on your website from a transactional search, ready to make a purchase or booking, make sure your pages have extremely clear and visible calls-to-action.
These are buttons, links, or forms that outright tell the visitor what to do next to complete that transaction, like a big "Buy Now" or "Add to Cart" button.
Optimize for Mobile
More and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to search and make purchases online.
To ensure your website shows up well and provides a good experience for these mobile users doing transactional searches, it's crucial to have a mobile-friendly website. This includes having a mobile-responsive design and fast loading times.
Improve User Experience
When someone searches with transactional intent, you want to give them an extremely smooth, hassle-free experience on your website to seal the deal.
This means optimizing a few key areas:
Website Speed - Make sure your pages load blazing fast, especially for mobile users. Slow speeds kill transactional motivation.
Clear Navigation - Allow effortless browsing and exploration of your products/services. Confusion leads to abandoned transactions.
Detailed Information - Provide thorough descriptions, images, specs and any details they need to make a confident purchase decision.
Simple Checkout - Once they're ready to buy, make the actual checkout process as simple and straightforward as possible with minimal clicks and typing required.
Optimize for Search Engines
To show up in those high-value transactional searches, make sure your website itself is properly optimized for search engines like Google.
This starts with thorough keyword research to identify the specific transactional keyword phrases people use when they want to make a purchase in your industry.
Once you know the transactional keywords to target, optimize your website's content, titles, headings, and body copy according to them.
Conclusion
To boost your online sales and reach more buyers ready to make a purchase, it's crucial to optimize for transactional search queries.
This means ensuring your website provides an extremely smooth, frictionless experience from start to checkout - fast loading, clear product info, simple transactions.
Leverage tactics like using transactional keywords, implementing product structured data, doing local SEO, and prioritizing mobile usability.
By catering your online presence to those valuable transactional queries, you'll be well-positioned to capture customers right when they're motivated to click the "Buy" button.