Your Guide to the Online Buying Cycle

Potential Customers need to have an Awareness of your Business

This can be the most tricky part of the online buying cycle as you must guess the words, terms and phrases that people may search for online to lead them to your website thus making them aware that you offer this product/service. For example, people who are in the market for a personalised cake may search Google for ‘custom birthday cakes’.

Their Further Research should include your Business Website

To narrow down the multitude of choices that now populate the search results page after somebody has searched for ‘custom birthday cakes’; they research what they are presented with. This will reveal to them exactly what they are looking for – novelty birthday cake design. With this, you need to make sure that the products/services page of your website includes the refined research terms (and if relevant, includes the sections). So in this instance you may SEO your website to register for original search term of ‘custom birthday cakes’ but also be optimised to register for the more refined and researched term of ‘novelty birthday cake design.’

Product/Service Comparison occurs best on one Website (make sure that it is your website)

Now that their search criteria is refined, the potential customer will begin to compare and contrast the options presented to them. You have the opportunity to be the best website to do this for the potential customer here by having quality content that fulfils this need. Explain the features of a custom novelty birthday cake, the pros and cons, prices, timeframes and personalisation options. With this, your website will be the only resource they need to see their need justifiably resolved.

Proceed to Purchase with nothing to Ponder

At this stage of the online buying cycle, you should have effectively drawn a potential customer to your website, retained them with your quality information and guided them to the checkout/cart due to your implemented user journey. Therefore at this stage, they have proceeded to make a purchase on your website. All things considered, your website has proved to be the ideal destination that they have chosen to remain on and see their purchase through.