Lowering Search Conversion Rates as You Increase Visibility

Generally longer search queries indicate more implied demand and a higher qualified visitor than short queries. Thus they tend to convert better, but sites that lack strong visibility for terms outside of their core brand may convert visitors exceptionally well, because often their sites are so hard to find that visitors have already they wanted to buy from them before they got to the site. As your site gets more exposure your conversion rate may drop since you start getting industry focused leads, and not just leads for your official branded name.

As you build out a PPC account you can find cheaper terms if you think peripherally and laterally. Odds are that some of these terms may not convert as well as the core brand or industry standard terms, but the discount offered by a lack of competition typically more than offsets this, especially in hyper competitive markets.

Similar could be said for organic search. Lower competition means lower cost to get to the top of the results, although related terms may not convert as well as the core term set.

If you start an aggressive SEO campaign your overall conversion rates may drop because an increase authority score will make your site relevant for some terms where your site is not one of the most relevant resources. Due to less qualified visitors finding your site your overall conversion rates may go down, but eventually if you make your sales process more efficient you can help offset that and raise your conversion rate on your core terms.

If you rank well enough to be seen over and over again and do heavy contextual advertising you can also help boost your brand visibility, which can lead to more search volume your strong converting core branded search terms.