The Keyword Type Everyone Undervalues
"That keyword is just informational. It won't drive sales."
Heard that before?
It's technically true. And strategically idiotic.
Informational keywords are the top of your funnel. They're how strangers discover you exist. They're how you build trust before asking for a dime.
What Informational Keywords Look Like
They usually start with:
The searcher wants to learn. Not buy. Not compare. Just learn.
Why They Matter More Than You Think
Here's the math nobody does.
1,000 people search "how to do keyword research."
100 land on your guide.
30 bookmark your site.
10 sign up for your newsletter.
3 become customers next month.
That's 3 customers from a keyword that "doesn't convert."
Do that across 50 informational keywords and you've got a pipeline. This is how a proper content strategy from scratch works.
The Real Value: Authority
Google watches user behaviour. If people consistently find your informational content helpful, Google starts trusting your site more.
That trust spills over to your commercial and transactional pages.
You can't rank your product page if Google doesn't trust your domain. And informational content is how you earn that trust.
We've seen this across 500+ campaigns. The sites that dominate commercial keywords almost always have strong informational content backing them up. Ahrefs explains long-tail keywords — many of which are informational — brilliantly.
How to Do Informational Keywords Right
Be genuinely helpful. Not "helpful enough to tease them into buying." Actually helpful.
Cover the topic completely. Don't write 300 words when the topic deserves 2,000.
Include internal links. Guide readers toward your commercial content naturally.
Add a soft CTA. Not "BUY NOW." More like "if you found this helpful, check out our free tool."
Speaking of which...
SEO Checkup is free, takes 30 seconds to set up, and gives you 113 tasks to improve your SEO. Including how to build an informational keyword strategy that actually feeds your funnel.
No credit card needed. Just results.