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Shopping online definitely has its perks. But you don’t get to feel or see the object you’re buying IRL. You have to depend on the information available online to make sure you get the product right for your needs and budget. That’s where SEO buyer’s guides can come in handy. Don’t leave customers to figure things out for themselves. An SEO buyer’s guide gives them all the details they need so that they can make informed decisions.

What Is an SEO Buyer’s Guide?

A buyer’s guide provides a customer with the information as they need to make the right decision about a purchase. An SEO buyer’s guide recognizes online shoppers start their hunt for an item with a search engine.

An SEO buyer’s guide is designed to rank well on search engine results pages. This increases the number of people who find it organically during a search.

It’s imperative you keep the needs of the reader in mind when creating an SEO buyer’s guide. The best ones are easy to read, provide usable, actionable information, and help a person come to a final decision.

Types of SEO Buyer’s Guides

Because no two customers are alike, it’s often a good idea to have different types of buyer’s guides available. This way, you can meet them at different points along their customer journeys. Here are a few examples of the types of buyer’s guides you might consider making:

Guide for the first-timer

This type of guide is meant for a person who has no previous experience buying the type of product you’re selling. They need a full introduction to the item, as well as a detailed description of the varieties available, how to use the item, what makes it different from other products on the market, and so on.

Comparison guide

A comparison buyer’s guide can be used by a first-timer, but is also likely to be referenced by someone who’s trying to decide between two products in the same category. The guide details the pros and cons of each item and what makes them different. It can subtly guide a person towards one product over the other, but shouldn’t have a salesy, pushy tone.

How-to-use guide

A how-to-use buyer’s guide typically serves a person after they’ve made a purchase, although it can also help a person figure out if a certain product is right for them. The guide goes into detail about how to use a certain product, including step-by-step instructions.

Accessories guide

An accessories guide can also help a person both after they’ve made a purchase and before purchasing. It details and explains what a person can use with the product, and the benefits/drawbacks of choosing certain types of accessories. For example, a person buying a smartphone might also want a Bluetooth speaker, headset, and portable battery charger.

Examples of SEO Buyer’s Guides

Want to see a few examples of SEO buyer’s guides in action before you set out to create your own? Here are a few guides created by well-known brands.

Sephora SEO Buyer's Guide

Sephora

Best Foundations: If you’ve ever tried to buy foundation, either in person or online, you know what a nightmare it can be. Some brands make a very limited range of colors, meaning people are left to blend a bunch of different shades together to get one that matches their individual skin tones. Different foundations also have different coverage types, ingredients, and textures.
To help simplify the process of buying foundation, Sephora put together a guide comparing the range of products available, highlighting the pros/cons of each and directing you to purchase the foundation that seems like it will work for you.

The guide is search engine optimized because it’s full of keywords a person would use when in the market for new foundation. It’s also got plenty of links to the right foundations.

Samsung SEO Buyer's Guide

Samsung

10 Things to Look for When Buying a TV: Here’s a buying guide from Samsung that’s designed to help people choose the right TVs for their homes/needs. The guide seeks to answer questions people usually have when in the market for a new TV.
Even better, it uses the questions a person might type into a search engine as subheadings throughout the piece, which helps to increase the chance of the buying guide showing up on the first page of the search engine results.

Mattress Firm SEO Buyer's Guide

Mattress Firm

Mattress Buying Guide: A mattress isn’t a purchase you make often, and it’s usually not something you buy online (although that is changing). But many people do start their hunts for new mattresses online. Mattress Firm has those customers covered with its SEO-friendly mattress buying guide.

The guide includes a checklist of what to look for when buying a new mattress, a bulleted list of signs that it’s time to buy a new mattress, and (for customers who might have specific needs) some details about specialized, high-tech mattresses.

How to Create Your Own SEO Buyer’s Guide

Ready to get to work on an SEO buyer’s guide for your brand? This step-by-step guide will walk you through the process:

Do some research

Keyword research is a must when you’re putting together an SEO buyer’s guide. You need to know what keywords are trending and relevant, and what keywords will help your guide rank well.

Choose a format

Think about the type of guide you want to create. Are you going to make a general overview of a product, ideal for newbies or first-time buyers? Do you want to help people choose between two similar product types? Or, do you want to help someone make the most of an item they’ve recently purchased or are about to buy?

Use headings and short sections

Make the guide as easy to read or skim as possible. Headings help people jump around and find the info they need. Headings also give you a chance to naturally include a long-tail keyword. Bullet points and lists are also perfect for improving the skimability of a buyer’s guide.

Add ALT text to images

Images can make a buyer’s guide more enjoyable to view or read, but images aren’t SEO-friendly in and of themselves. Remember to add ALT text to your images so that that a search engine can “read” them. To maximize your SEO, include keywords in your ALT text.

Don’t forget links

While you don’t want a buyer’s guide to be super salesy or pushy, you do want to help guide people towards a purchase. For that reason, it’s important to include links to the relevant products throughout the guide.

Remember, you don’t have to set about writing SEO buyer’s guides on your own. If you want help putting together a guide for your brand’s products, you can always use a content marketplace to find creators and editors who have the experience and knowledge of SEO needed to help you create the best buyer’s guides possible.