What To Do After You've Exhausted Your High-Intent Keyword List
The author's views are entirely their own (excluding the unlikely event of hypnosis) and may not always reflect the views of Moz.
Struggling to find more bottom-of-the-funnel keywords? You’re not alone.
Keywords like “best social media tools” or “top email verifiers” are crucial for attracting hot leads. But these opportunities are quickly exhausted for most industries.
In this article, I’ll share my tips on what to do when you run out of high-intent BOFU keywords. We’ll also explore how to maintain high visibility on SERPs and stay connected with your audience.
Here is what to do after you’ve exhausted your high-intent keyword list
Before we get into the meat of this article, I wanted to share this important information:
When you've tapped out your high-intent keyword list, the first step is a mindset shift from purely conversion-centric to relationship-centric. Understand that not every content needs to lead directly to a conversion. Instead, focus on engaging and educating your audience, even if they're not ready to buy.
So, what should you do after you’ve exhausted high-intent keywords?
1. Audit the BOFU pages on your website
Begin with an audit of your existing BOFU pages by identifying BOFU keywords where you can improve SERP rankings.
Use a keyword tracker like Rank Checker in Moz Pro, tagging your keywords by funnel stage or intent, and focus on those not in the #1 position.
Your goal is to rank number one for your target keywords, but that's difficult for competitive keywords. Instead, start with 'low-hanging fruit' strategies:
Look for positions you've recently lost and find ways to reclaim them.
Identify pages that could benefit from a few strategic backlinks.
Update and refresh outdated content.
Then, tackle the more challenging SERPs by optimizing your BOFU pages to maximize their potential.
2. Search for long-tail MOFU and TOFU keywords
After optimizing your BOFU pages, broaden your focus to include long-tail middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) and top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) keywords. Keywords that are specific and less competitive, with a clearly defined intent, help you educate potential customers and boost brand awareness.
For example, this Moz article on using SEO for brand recognition is an excellent TOFU keyword. It doesn’t directly sell but educates, positioning Moz as an authority, crucial in starting relationships and building trust.
To discover these keywords using Moz, follow these steps:
Open Moz Pro and go to the Keyword Explorer.
Enter a broad topic related to your industry, like 'phone systems' for the telecommunications industry.
Moz will suggest a list of keywords. Focus on long-tail ones, especially questions or specific topics, as they often represent MOFU and TOFU keywords.
When selecting the best keywords from this list, consider:
Lower competition with reasonable search volume.
Potential traffic and click-through rates because even lower volume keywords can be valuable with high click-through rates.
Keywords with informational intent.
By targeting long-tail MOFU and TOFU keywords, you fill gaps in your content strategy and build a foundation for enduring brand visibility and loyalty.
3. Use related keywords to connect educational and sales content
Expanding your content strategy involves leveraging related keywords that align with your existing BOFU articles. These keywords act as bridges, guiding readers from informative content to your sales-focused pages.
For instance, Moz's article on finding competitor backlinks is educational for SEO specialists. Within this article, Moz cleverly integrates a promotion to Link Explorer, which has sales intent. They even use an inline CTA by the end of the article, encouraging readers to “Start a free trial” and look for new link building opportunities with Moz.
This approach is effective because readers engaged with helpful educational content could visit your sales pages.
Here's how you can replicate this strategy:
Identify related topics: Review your BOFU content and consider related, informational topics that might interest your audience. Example: For an email lookup tool, target keywords like “how to find someone’s email address” and link it to a listicle of the “best email lookup tools.”
- Research high-volume, low-competition keywords: Use Moz Keyword Explorer to find high-volume keywords with moderate competition related to these topics. Enter your BOFU keyword into the search box and review the Keyword Suggestions:
Create valuable content: Write articles addressing these related keywords, focusing on providing genuine value and building trust, not just selling. Example: Aura’s in-depth guide on protecting against identity theft is an educational piece that subtly promotes our identity theft product.
Integrate BOFU content: Mention your BOFU content in relevant sections, using in-text links or inline banners to create a seamless transition from educational to sales content.
4. Listen to your customers (and talk to them)
One of the most effective ways to discover new content ideas is by listening to your customers' conversations. Their questions, feedback, and concerns are rich sources for the content they seek.
Here's how to listen effectively:
Use conversation intelligence tools: At Aura, we used Gong to analyze customer conversations. It helps us identify common problems and topics, offering insights into customers' interests.
Conduct customer interviews: Our teams regularly engage with customers through interviews and product research. These interactions are crucial for understanding their needs and challenges.
Explore online communities: Check platforms where potential customers hang out, such as Reddit, Quora, and niche forums. These are excellent for spotting trending topics among your target audience.
After gathering potential topics from these sources, verify the search volume with Moz Keyword Explorer. Topics with substantial search volume indicate relevance and demand, making them ideal for your content strategy. Get started with a 30-day free trial of Moz Pro.
5. Explore emerging topics
Staying ahead of the curve in your content strategy means exploring emerging topics.
Here's how you can uncover these hidden gems:
Use Google Trends
Google Trends is an invaluable tool for spotting trending keyword opportunities and identifying patterns and seasonal trends. For example, we used Google Trends at Aura to confirm the need for yearly updates to our article on 'Christmas scams' based on its growing popularity.
Target zero-volume keywords
Don’t overlook keywords with low or zero search volume, as they can lead to untapped niches.
Benefits include:
Less competition: SEOs often ignore these keywords because they assume no one is searching for them, making ranking easier.
Potential traffic: About 15% of Google queries are new, representing a significant traffic opportunity.
High relevance: Such keywords are usually very specific, making them highly relevant to your audience.
You can easily find zero and low-volume keywords with Moz Keyword Explorer. When searching for your keyword, filter what comes up by monthly search volume and scroll down the list to see the low-volume keywords.
6. Get better visibility on top industry listicles
You can dominate the SERP by partnering with affiliate websites ranking for your target keywords.
Here’s how to implement an affiliate strategy:
Offer incentives: Propose exclusive deals, affiliate partnerships, or commissions to make your product more appealing so they're motivated to give you better visibility on their listicles. For instance, Riverside managed to rank for “best podcast recording software, with their content and by partnering with an affiliate. The result was increased visibility on page one of the search results.
Riverside wrote one article, and their affiliate partner created the second article.
The key takeaway: Don’t limit yourself to creating content on your blog. Instead, leverage affiliates for higher visibility and conversion.
7. Build “Crash the Party” SEO pages
Sometimes, you’ve got to shake things up and make a splash where it’s least expected. That's the essence of the "Crash the Party" SEO strategy.
The formula is:
Before you exhaust BOFU keywords: “Your Brand vs. Competitor X.”
After you have exhausted your list: “Competitor X vs. Competitor Y vs. Your Brand.”
Take PandaDoc, for example. They rank for the keyword “Hellosign vs Docusign.”
The article is mostly objective when comparing features and plans between both e-signature providers. However, PandaDoc inserts its value proposition in product features where they have a better user offering.
This goes on throughout the article to reinforce PandaDoc as the better option. They also use the conclusion to highlight both solutions' problems and remove buyer hesitation with a free 14-day trial.
Think outside the box with your high-intent keyword list
Exhausting your high-intent keywords isn’t the end but a call to diversify. Shift from selling to relationship-building in your content strategy. Continuously enhance your BOFU pages for higher rankings, and use customer feedback to find new keywords.
By being flexible and creative with your SEO, you’ll uncover untapped markets, engage broader audiences, and position your brand as an industry authority.
