A keyword bringing 10,000 monthly visitors sounds better than one bringing 500. Until you check conversion data. The 500-visitor keyword converts at 12%. The 10,000-visitor keyword converts at 0.3%. The “smaller” keyword generates 20 times more revenue.
This isn’t an edge case. It’s the fundamental difference between informational and commercial keywords, and understanding that difference shapes every content investment decision you make.
Funnel-based keyword strategy means matching keyword intent to buyer journey stages, then building a portfolio that serves every stage without over-investing in traffic that doesn’t convert or under-investing in awareness that feeds your pipeline.
The Marketing Funnel and Keyword Intent
The marketing funnel describes how potential customers move from unaware to purchased. Different stages reflect different mental states, and those mental states produce different search behaviors.
Top of funnel (awareness): The searcher doesn’t know they have a problem, or they’ve just recognized something isn’t working. They seek understanding, education, and context. Keywords here are informational: “what is,” “how does,” “why do.”
Middle of funnel (consideration): The searcher understands their problem and evaluates solutions. They research options, compare alternatives, and gather decision-making information. Keywords here are commercial: “best,” “vs,” “reviews,” “top.”
Bottom of funnel (decision): The searcher has decided to act and seeks a specific transaction. They’re ready to buy, sign up, or commit. Keywords here are transactional: brand names, “buy,” “pricing,” “near me.”
This framework simplifies a messier reality. Real buyer journeys zigzag, loop back, and skip stages. But the framework provides useful categorization for strategic planning.
Informational Keywords: Characteristics and Strategy
Informational keywords target people seeking knowledge. These searchers want to learn something, understand a concept, or solve an immediate informational need.
Typical patterns include:
- Question formats: “how to,” “what is,” “why does,” “when should”
- Educational terms: “guide,” “tutorial,” “explained,” “basics”
- Problem descriptions: “won’t start,” “not working,” “keeps crashing”
- Definitional queries: concepts, terminology, processes
Traffic characteristics: Higher volume, lower competition relative to commercial terms, lower direct conversion rates, longer sessions when content is valuable.
Strategic value extends beyond direct conversions:
Audience building happens at the informational stage. Someone learning about a topic today becomes someone making a purchase decision later. Your informational content positions you as the trusted source when that transition happens.
Backlink attraction favors informational content. Other sites link to useful resources that educate their audiences. Commercial pages rarely earn organic links because they serve the publisher rather than linking sites’ audiences.
Topical authority signals accumulate through informational coverage. Google recognizes sites demonstrating expertise across topic areas. Informational content builds the foundation that makes commercial content more credible.
Content Approaches for Informational Intent
Informational keywords demand content that actually informs. That sounds obvious, but most informational content fails by optimizing for rankings rather than genuine education.
Comprehensive guides work when the topic warrants depth. A searcher asking “how does SEO work” expects substantial explanation, not a 300-word overview. Match content depth to question complexity.
Tutorials with practical steps serve skill-building queries. “How to” searches want actionable guidance, not theory. Include specific steps, examples, and outcomes the reader can replicate.
Conceptual explanations answer “what is” and “why” questions. These require clarity over comprehensiveness. Define the concept, explain its relevance, and connect it to what the reader already understands.
Problem-solving content addresses immediate needs. Error messages, troubleshooting queries, and “not working” searches need direct solutions without excessive preamble.
The temptation with informational content is aggressive internal linking to commercial pages. Resist over-doing it. A reader learning about a concept doesn’t want sales pitches embedded in educational material. Trust that genuinely helpful content builds relationship value that converts over time.
Commercial Keywords: Characteristics and Strategy
Commercial keywords indicate active research toward a decision. The searcher knows they need something and evaluates options for what specifically to choose.
Typical patterns include:
- Comparison queries: “vs,” “compared to,” “difference between”
- Best/top lists: “best,” “top 10,” “leading”
- Review searches: “reviews,” “review,” “is it good”
- Category research: “best [product] for [use case]”
- Feature-focused: “with [feature],” “that has”
Traffic characteristics: Moderate volume, higher competition, stronger purchase correlation, visitors more likely to engage with pricing, features, and comparison information.
Conversion positioning matters more at this stage. Commercial content should facilitate decisions, not just describe options. Helping the reader choose (even if they don’t choose you) builds trust that influences future decisions.
Content Approaches for Commercial Intent
Commercial intent demands content structured around decision-making, not just information delivery.
Comparison content directly addresses “vs” queries. Honest comparisons acknowledge competitor strengths while clearly explaining differentiation. One-sided comparisons read as marketing material and lose credibility.
| Your Product | Competitor A | Competitor B |
|---|---|---|
| Strength in X | Weaker in X | Moderate in X |
| Weaker in Y | Strength in Y | Moderate in Y |
| Pricing tier | Pricing tier | Pricing tier |
Tables facilitate scanning and comparison. Narrative sections explain nuances that tables can’t capture.
Buyer’s guides serve “best for” queries. Segment recommendations by use case, budget, experience level, or specific needs. Acknowledge that the “best” option depends on individual circumstances.
Review roundups compile evaluation information. These require genuine assessment, not just feature lists. Include what works, what doesn’t, and who each option suits.
Alternative pages target searches like “[competitor] alternatives.” These searchers actively consider switching, making them high-value despite potentially lower volume.
Commercial content can include stronger calls to action than informational content. The reader is closer to decision, making offers more relevant than intrusive.
Transactional Keywords: Characteristics and Strategy
Transactional keywords signal immediate intent to act. The decision is made; the searcher seeks to complete a specific transaction.
Typical patterns include:
- Brand + product: specific product names
- Purchase terms: “buy,” “order,” “pricing,” “cost”
- Local intent: “near me,” location-specific
- Signup terms: “login,” “free trial,” “demo”
Traffic characteristics: Often lower volume than commercial terms, highest conversion rates, highest competition from advertisers, strongest immediate revenue correlation.
Strategic value concentrates in direct conversion. Transactional traffic either converts or doesn’t, with minimal relationship-building middle ground.
Content Approaches for Transactional Intent
Transactional pages need to close, not educate. Every element serves conversion.
Product pages answer transactional product queries. Pricing, specifications, availability, and purchase mechanism should be immediately accessible. Reduce friction between landing and converting.
Pricing pages serve cost-focused queries. Transparent pricing outperforms “contact for quote” for most businesses. If pricing genuinely requires conversation, explain why rather than hiding information.
Local landing pages capture geographic intent. Include location-specific information: address, hours, local phone, service area details. Generic pages with only city names swapped fail to satisfy local intent.
Signup and trial pages convert software-related transactional queries. Minimize form fields, clarify what happens post-signup, and reduce anxiety about commitment.
Building a Balanced Keyword Portfolio
Over-concentration at any funnel stage creates strategic vulnerability.
Too much informational focus builds traffic that doesn’t convert. Vanity metrics improve while revenue stagnates. Teams celebrate pageview growth while finance questions ROI.
Too much commercial focus loses the awareness stage to competitors. When your audience reaches decision mode, they’ve already built relationships with competitors who educated them during research.
Too much transactional focus assumes unlimited bottom-funnel demand. Transactional volume is finite. Capturing every transactional search still leaves growth constrained without funnel feeding.
Portfolio Allocation Principles
No universal ratio works for all businesses. Allocation depends on:
Sales cycle length: Longer cycles warrant more informational investment. Enterprise software with 18-month sales cycles needs extensive education content. Impulse purchases need less.
Market maturity: Emerging markets require more education about problem and solution categories. Mature markets can lean more heavily on commercial and transactional content.
Competitive position: Market leaders can emphasize transactional content (they’re the default choice). Challengers need more informational and commercial content to earn consideration.
Attribution capability: Without tracking that connects informational touchpoints to eventual conversions, informational investment appears wasteful even when effective.
A starting framework for most B2B companies:
| Funnel Stage | Content Allocation | Expected Traffic Share | Expected Conversion Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informational | 40-50% | 60-70% | 10-15% |
| Commercial | 30-40% | 20-30% | 30-40% |
| Transactional | 15-25% | 5-10% | 45-55% |
These ranges shift substantially based on business specifics. A brand-new startup might invest 70% in informational content to build any audience. An established brand might invest 50% in transactional optimization because awareness already exists.
Internal Linking Across Funnel Stages
Content at each stage should connect to adjacent stages, creating paths for users as their needs evolve.
Informational to commercial: Educational content includes contextual links to comparison guides, buyer’s guides, or product category pages. “If you’re evaluating options, see our comparison of [solutions].”
Commercial to transactional: Comparison and review content links to product pages, pricing, and trial signups. “Ready to try [product]? Start a free trial.”
Transactional to informational: Post-purchase, link to implementation guides, best practices, and advanced usage content. Support conversion into retention.
These links should feel helpful, not pushy. A reader in informational mode ignores hard sells. A reader in transactional mode doesn’t need educational detours.
Measuring Value Across Funnel Stages
Different stages require different success metrics. Applying conversion rate universally makes informational content look useless and obscures its actual contribution.
Informational Content Metrics
Traffic and engagement: Pageviews, time on page, scroll depth, pages per session. High engagement suggests content satisfies informational needs.
Assisted conversions: Google Analytics tracks conversion paths showing touchpoints before final conversion. Informational content frequently appears early in these paths.
Brand search lift: After consuming informational content, do users search for your brand? Search Console data reveals correlation between informational content publication and branded query growth.
Link acquisition: Informational content should earn backlinks over time. Track referring domains to informational pages as authority-building metric.
Commercial Content Metrics
Commercial engagement: Clicks to pricing, demo requests, feature page visits. Users interacting with commercial content show purchase consideration signals.
Comparison conversion: For vs pages and alternatives pages, track movement to signup, trial, or purchase. These pages should convert better than informational.
Email/newsletter signup: Commercial stage users often aren’t ready to buy but want ongoing relationship. Newsletter signup indicates commercial interest without immediate commitment.
Transactional Content Metrics
Direct conversion rate: The primary metric. What percentage of transactional page visitors complete the desired action?
Revenue per session: Beyond conversion rate, what value does each visit generate? Higher cart values or plan selections matter as much as conversion count.
Abandonment analysis: Where do transactional visitors drop off? Form abandonment, pricing page exits, and checkout friction reveal optimization opportunities.
Attribution and the Full-Funnel Reality
Single-touch attribution (giving all credit to first or last touch) misrepresents funnel contribution. Most conversions involve multiple touchpoints across stages.
A realistic conversion path might include:
- Google search for informational query → Educational blog post
- Return visit via social share → Different educational content
- Newsletter signup from site
- Email click to commercial comparison guide
- Direct visit to pricing page
- Brand name search → Transactional homepage → Conversion
A Nashville-based HR software company tracked this exact pattern. Their blog post “what is employee onboarding” (informational) showed 0.3% direct conversion rate. But attribution analysis revealed that 34% of eventual customers had touched that post earlier in their journey. The informational content appeared worthless in isolation but was feeding the entire funnel.
Last-touch attribution credits only step 6. The informational content in steps 1-2 appears valueless despite starting the relationship.
Position-based attribution (40% first touch, 40% last touch, 20% middle) provides better picture. Data-driven attribution (machine learning across conversion paths) works best when volume supports it.
Without proper attribution, teams under-invest in top-funnel content because it doesn’t show immediate ROI. The pipeline eventually starves.
Keyword Intent Isn’t Always Obvious
Some keywords blend intent categories or shift based on context.
“Best CRM” could indicate:
- Commercial: Actively researching CRM options
- Informational: Learning what makes CRMs good
- Transactional: Ready to choose, seeking final validation
SERP analysis reveals Google’s interpretation. If results show product pages and pricing, Google reads transactional intent. If results show educational guides, Google reads informational. Mixed results suggest blended intent requiring comprehensive content.
Seasonal and event shifts change intent. “Accounting software” might be primarily informational most of the year, then spike in commercial intent during tax season.
Branded terms complicate the funnel model. “[Your brand] reviews” is commercial intent about your product. “[Your brand] login” is transactional. Both involve your brand but require different content.
Match content to SERP signals rather than assuming intent from keyword patterns alone.
Practical Implementation
Audit Existing Content by Funnel Stage
Categorize current content into informational, commercial, and transactional. Identify gaps:
- Lots of informational content but sparse commercial guides? Build comparison and best-of content.
- Strong transactional pages but no educational foundation? Develop informational resources to feed the funnel.
- Missing entire topic clusters at specific stages? Prioritize comprehensive coverage.
Map Keywords to Stages Before Creating Content
During keyword research, tag each target keyword with funnel stage. This prevents accidental portfolio imbalance and ensures you’re building content that serves strategic needs, not just chasing volume.
Create Internal Linking Pathways
After categorizing content, map links between stages. Identify informational pages without paths to commercial content. Find commercial pages not connecting to transactional conversion points. Build the bridges.
Set Stage-Appropriate KPIs
Don’t measure informational content on conversion rate alone. Don’t measure transactional content primarily on traffic volume. Match metrics to realistic expectations for each funnel stage.
Track both stage-specific metrics and full-funnel attribution to understand true content contribution.
The keyword with 500 visitors converting at 12% matters more than 10,000 visitors at 0.3%. But the informational keywords bringing those 10,000 visitors might be the reason anyone knows to search for you at all. Both have value. Strategy means investing appropriately in each.
Sources
- Google Analytics Help, “About Attribution Models,” https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1662518
- Think with Google, “The Messy Middle: A New Way to Think About the Customer Journey,” https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-journey/navigating-purchase-behavior-and-decision-making/
- Ahrefs Blog, “Keyword Research: The Beginner’s Guide by Ahrefs,” https://ahrefs.com/blog/keyword-research/
- HubSpot, “The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Funnels,” https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-funnel
Traffic and conversion rate examples represent common patterns observed across industries. Actual performance varies by vertical, offer type, and market conditions.