There are lots of ways to use the Web Conversion Cycle in your business, but we can start by examining how these visitor behaviors affect the search queries they enter and how you can design your pages to capture those searchers for your site. Let's look at four of the most important steps in the Web Conversion Cycle and see where search fits in.

The Learn Stage

Many visitors start out needing to Learn more about what you sell before they consider a purchase, and they frequently use informational search queries to do so. To ensure visitors find your site when they enter the informational queries, write articles with objective information comparing multiple solutions to the problem. The articles should lead visitors to conclude that your product is the best solution in most cases. Make sure that you help them understand the product category and show them a few choices (retailer) or show them why yours is best (manufacturer).

The Shop Stage

Not all visitors start at the Learn step. Some know what kind of product they want to buy, but need to Shop for the particular brand or model. They are still entering informational queries, but they are more specific now than in the Learn step. Learners search for "computer," whereas shoppers look for "laptop computer."

As you design your site, you must ensure that you have product category pages, not just model pages. For example, create a page that lists of all of your DVD players with an explanation of how they work. That way, you capture search traffic for shoppers entering the "dvd players" query, not just buyers using queries that name particular brands or models. Use the three-second rule from direct marketing: Can the customer tell what you are selling in three seconds? If not, simplify your copy.

The Buy Stage

The most valuable searchers to capture for your site are the ones who are ready to Buy. Even if they did not visit your site to Learn or Shop, if you can capture them here, you can make the sale.

When searchers want to buy your product, they enter specific transactional queries, such as "sony dvd player" or "dell inspiron 1150." Your pages are probably already using the right words for these pages to ensure being found, but you must also add content that answers any lingering questions to encourage the visitor to put the product in a cart and check out.

The Use Stage

For some products, especially technology products, the majority of Web site visitors need help while trying to Use the product. A few years ago, customers needing help were more likely to come directly to your site to solve their problem, but more and more they now head to Yahoo! or Google to search for their answer.

If your search engines optimization services can solve their problems, they will value your company more highly, which might lead to future business. It might seem illogical, but studies show that customers report higher satisfaction with companies that promptly correct problems than they report for companies that do not cause any problems in the first place!