Key Takeaways
- Google’s AI overview may reduce the visibility and effectiveness of top-of-funnel (TOFU) content.
- Mid-funnel (MOFU) content targets customers who are farther along in the customer journey and more likely to convert.
- Google’s “helpful content” updates give more weight to engagement metrics to amplify the most valuable content on the web
- MOFU content plays a crucial role in nurturing leads and guiding them towards conversion by addressing specific needs and concerns.
- With less competition from ads and informational content, MOFU content provides better opportunities for organic visibility and high rankings.
Introduction
Many content strategists focus on top-of-funnel (TOFU) content (e.g. blog articles) to generate traffic and bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) content (e.g. product or service pages) to generate conversions.
However, Google’s expected expansion of its AI Overviews will likely lead to more zero-click searches, reducing TOFU traffic for informational searches. Thus, mid-funnel (MOFU) SEO content will increasingly offer the best trade-off between traffic and conversion.
Focusing on MOFU SEO content will help marketing leaders reach more customers who are ready to buy.
In this article, we explain why TOFU SEO content is in decline and why marketers should produce more MOFU SEO content for conversion-focused SEO campaigns.
Targeting High-intent Searches
The marketing funnel represents your customers’ journey from initial awareness to the final purchase decision. Your customers search for information at every stage of the funnel. TOFU “informational” searches generate the most traffic and BOFU “purchase-intent” searches are most likely to convert.
Examples of searches at each stage of the marketing funnel
The TOFU SEO Content Traps
TOFU content has always excelled at generating organic traffic for one simple reason: The vast majority of searches are informational in nature.
Furthermore, compared to content that lives lower down the funnel, TOFU content has always been poor at generating direct conversions.
Here are some reasons why TOFU content often fails to convert:
1. Low purchase intent
TOFU searches consist of informational keywords, where the searcher intends to gain information rather than make a purchase. Examples include “how to change a watch band” and “growing sunflower seeds indoors”. These searches drive significant organic traffic but usually don’t result in direct sales. They are broad and general, attracting a large audience but with low purchase intent.
2. Returning customers
Additionally, many top-of-funnel keywords are searched by users who have already purchased a product. Take “how to change a watch band”, for instance. The user is searching for this keyword because they already have a watch and a replacement watch band. They are not looking for purchase advice or recommendations but for guidance on how to use or modify an existing product they own.
3. Stiff Competition
The challenge with TOFU content is not just the low conversion rates but also the difficulty in achieving visibility. Search engine results pages (SERPs) for these keywords are often crowded with ads, video results, and “People Also Ask” boxes, making it tough for organic content to stand out. The rise of AI Overviews in search results is making visibility for TOFU searches even lower. AI Overviews provide users with quick, concise answers directly on the SERP, reducing the need to click through to actual websites.
4. AI Overviews
In May 2024, Google launched AI overviews on the search results pages in the United States. AI overviews are one of many generative AI search results that Google will roll out as it continues to refine its generative AI technology. Generative AI search results will change how consumers find information about products and services online. AI overviews mostly appear for TOFU searches and directly answer searchers’ queries with a summarized response. Researchers at Gartner predict that traditional search engine traffic will drop 25% by 2026, seriously impacting the performance of TOFU SEO content.
BOFU Content Traps
At the bottom of the funnel, searches are highly specific and product-related, such as “16oz soy wax cotton wick candle”. These keywords have the highest purchase intent, as searchers are ready to buy. However, BOFU SERPs are often crowded with ads, reducing the visibility and CTR for organic listings. Competitors with strong SEO programs and extensive advertising budgets dominate this space, making it challenging to gain traction.
The Decline of TOFU SEO Content
In 2024, several trends have signaled the decline of top-of-funnel SEO content, challenging traditional SEO and content marketing strategies. Marketing leaders must understand these shifts to maintain the ROI of their SEO campaigns.
Trend #1: AI and Search Engines
Recent changes in Google’s search results, specifically the introduction of AI Overviews, have significantly impacted TOFU content. These overviews provide users with concise answers directly on the search engine results page (SERP), reducing the need to click through to websites.
Additionally, many users are turning to AI platforms, such as Perplexity.ai, as their primary search tool. A 2023 study found that 13 million adults in the United States use generative AI as their primary tool for search.
Both generative AI search engines and AI-driven search features capture informational search traffic. This takes away from the traffic brands can generate from TOFU content.
Trend #2: Forums and Community-Driven Content
There has been a noticeable increase in searches for information in forums like Reddit. Keywords that include “reddit” have seen a significant rise in Google search volume over the past year. For example, the keyword “best credit cards reddit” had an average of 574 monthly searches four years ago. Today, this keyword is searched 1,600 times per month on average, a 300% increase (this data was retrieved from the Ahrefs keyword research tool).
In contrast, the search volume for the keyword “best credit cards” has only increased by 17% during the same period. This trend highlights a growing preference for community-driven insights and discussions on Reddit.
This suggests a change in consumer behavior towards seeking real experiences and unbiased opinions. Users are bypassing traditional TOFU content to engage with community-driven platforms known for their authenticity. On Reddit, for instance, users trust the firsthand experiences shared by the community over polished, affiliate, or promotional content found on traditional websites.
Trend #3: Helpful Content Updates
First introduced in 2022, Google has been rolling out “helpful content” algorithm updates periodically for the last 2 years. These updates focus on filtering between content created to benefit people and content created to gain search rankings.
Most informational content prioritizes keywords over user value. As a result, the helpful content updates have resulted in significant traffic loss for hundreds of websites, with some claiming that up to 90% of their traffic was lost.
Unless brands are prioritizing valuable, non-biased TOFU content, it is likely that helpful content updates will also lead to a decrease in visibility for TOFU searches.
Ahrefs Data for Site Impacted by September 2023 Helpful Content Update
Why Mid-Funnel Content is the Solution
As TOFU content faces a decline due to Google’s AI overviews and shifts in consumer behavior, focusing on MOFU content offers a strategic solution. Mid-funnel content plays a unique role in the buyer’s journey, bridging the gap between awareness and conversion.
Mid-funnel content offers several advantages that top-of-funnel content cannot, especially in the age of AI overviews:
1. Engagement and Nurturing
Unlike TOFU content, which often gets overshadowed by search features like AI Overviews and Featured Snippets, MOFU content engages users by addressing their specific needs and concerns. This type of content provides personal perspectives, relevant comparisons, and expertise, helping users make informed decisions.
2. Targeting Niche Audiences
Mid-funnel content allows you to target niche audiences that are more closely aligned with your target market than top-funnel keywords. For example, consider the keywords “team building” (TOFU) and “team building in San Diego” (MOFU). “Team building” is a general keyword that can be searched by employees, managers, or CEOs from anywhere in the world, making it difficult to determine the specific search intent.
In contrast, the keyword “team building in San Diego” targets a more specific audience. Searchers using this keyword are likely located in the San Diego area and are often HR personnel or managers responsible for organizing a team-building event for their company. This specificity allows you to create content that directly addresses the needs of a more defined group, increasing engagement and conversion.
3. Improving Conversions
Targeting users whose searches are more closely aligned with your products or services increases the conversion power of MOFU content. Unlike TOFU content, which targets generic keywords with informational intent and often fails to drive meaningful conversions, MOFU content focuses on more specific, solution-oriented searches. This allows you to engage users further along in their buying journey and more likely to convert, increasing the ROI of your content.
Three Mid-Funnel Content Examples
There are many types of mid-funnel content to utilize in your content strategy. Collection pages, location pages, niche calculators, comparison pages, and more are all effective ways to target mid-funnel audiences. Below are three mid-funnel content examples that have worked well for us and our clients in the past:
1. Comparison Content
Comparison articles are an effective type of mid-funnel content that help users make informed purchasing decisions by comparing products, brands, prices, attributes, and performance data. They are popular because they offer clear, expert advice, empowering users to choose the best option.
The strength of comparison content is in addressing customers’ questions and concerns. For instance, a tech company selling detachable laptop monitors used comparison content to outrank competitors on search engines. By creating detailed comparison pages targeting competitor keywords, they positioned their products as superior and guided users to conversion-focused links.
2. Niche Buying Guides
Niche buying guides are crucial for helping users make informed purchase decisions about specific products. They answer common questions like “how to choose a style of curtain?”, “how to measure for curtains?”, or “how to choose a curtain color?”. By focusing on customers’ unique needs, these guides provide personalized recommendations beyond generic product info.
Their effectiveness comes from prioritizing customer engagement over keyword rankings, aligning with the future of SEO, which emphasizes engagement signals. By addressing customers’ needs and pain points, niche buying guides enhance user experience and increase conversion potential.
3. Listing Directories
A listing directory is a web page that features a list of links to websites that are often organized by categories and subcategories. The taxonomy can be by location (country → state → city → neighborhood), furniture (type of furniture → size → color), and more.
Unlike TOFU informational blog content, directory-style content can often be templatized, making it easier and less expensive to create. Additionally, this type of content hones in on MOFU keywords with strong conversion intent, such as “team building activities in boston”.
Conclusion
The decline of top-of-funnel content due to AI-driven search features and a shift toward platforms like Reddit necessitates a focus on mid-funnel content. MOFU content engages users further along in their buying journey and addresses specific needs. CMOs and marketing leaders must adapt by prioritizing valuable, niche content to drive visibility and conversions.
Let Fire&Spark help you adapt your top-of-funnel content…
- Schedule an SEO strategy session: Talk to a strategist at Fire&Spark about your organic customer acquisition campaigns and how to reposition your existing content for the changing SEO landscape. Schedule a strategy session.
- Dive deeper into SEO for Revenue: Fire&Spark’s SEO for Revenue Guide explains how to update your SEO strategies to optimize for sales and conversions, not just rankings and traffic. This mindset shift is crucial for adapting to changes in search. Get the guide.
- Request a generative AI search audit: Our team would be happy to take a look at your site and help you forecast the effect of generative AI search and Google’s AI overviews on your top-of-funnel organic traffic. Request an audit.
