What Is BOFU?
What Is BOFU?
BOFU is a marketing acronym for “bottom of the funnel.”
This term is derived from a marketing framework known as the sales or marketing funnel, which describes the different stages a potential customer passes through before making a purchasing decision.
The stages are categorized as follows:
- Top of the funnel
- Middle of the funnel
- Bottom of the funnel
The BOFU - the bottom of the funnel - is the final stage of the buyer’s journey and is where the marketer focuses on turning the already nurtured lead into a customer.
Decision-Making Stage Content
Prospects at the bottom of the funnel are at the decision-making stage of the buyer’s journey and only need an extra push from the marketer in the form of discounts, rebates, testimonials, etc., to make a buying decision.
Besides the incentives the marketer offers here, one of the major characteristics of BOFU is the type of content the marketer publishes.
Here, the marketer focuses on publishing materials that help the prospect make a decision.
These can include case studies, product demos, trials, customer stories and reviews, and even initial consultations to clarify any doubts or questions the prospects may have.
This is where the marketer provides a detailed description of the products or services and the benefits customers stand to gain.
Metrics
The metrics for measuring the success rate of BOFU strategies and content include:
- Conversion rate
- Customer lifetime value (CLV)
- Average Order Volume
- Return on advertising spend (ROAS) and
- Cost per acquisition (CPA).
- Customer retention rate
- Sales cycle length
- Case study views and downloads
For more on marketing funnel content, please see our article on TOFU: Top of Funnel.
What Is TOFU?
What Is TOFU?
TOFU is a marketing acronym for “top of the funnel.” It is the first stage in the marketing framework, known as the marketing or sales funnel, which represents the customer’s journey to making a purchase decision.
Prospects at the top of the funnel are at the beginning of their buyer’s journey.
At this stage, the prospect knows they have a problem and need a solution but is unaware of the solution they need or the brand that offers it.
Here, marketers try to create awareness and attract attention to their brands or products.
They position themselves as industry authorities, providing valuable information relevant to the needs of TOFU prospects to make them interested in knowing more about the solutions.
The information becomes their first contact with a marketer’s brand, and if they’re interested in learning more, they go further down the marketing funnel into the middle of the funnel.
Marketers don't attempt to sell to their prospects at the TOFU stage of the buyer’s journey. Instead, they nurture the prospects by providing educational and informational content that answers their most dominant questions and gives them insights to understand their problems better.
Content for TOFU Marketing
TOFU content includes blog posts, infographics, social media posts, videos, e-books, and whitepapers.
After the TOFU in the marketing framework is the middle of the funnel (MOFU) and bottom of the funnel (BOFU), which describes the points when the customers are aware of brands that offer the solutions they want and when they’re making comparisons to choose the most suitable option for their needs.
Metrics to Assess Top of Funnel Success
The metrics for measuring the success rate of TOFU strategies and content include:
- Bounce rate
- Time on page
- Clickthrough rate (CTR)
- Lead generation
- Social media followers, etc.
Creating high-quality, search engine optimized top of funnel content is an art. A good content marketing agency can help you quickly fill your TOFU content for optimal results.
What Is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO
Technical SEO (search engine optimization) involves optimizing a website’s technical elements to improve its rankings and visibility on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
It is one of the three main aspects of SEO: On-page, Off-page, and technical SEO.
Optimizing a website’s technical elements helps the search engines understand, crawl, and index it effectively.
Furthermore, it helps provide a positive user experience to the website’s visitors.
Technical SEO includes these components:
Website Speed
This involves optimizing a website to load faster so a visitor doesn’t leave the website out of frustration. A fast-loading website increases user experience and ranks high on search engines.
Mobile Friendliness
Search engines use mobile-friendliness as an important ranking factor because most internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Optimizing for mobile responsiveness is a crucial aspect of technical SEO.
Crawling and Indexing
This involves preparing a website for crawling and indexing by search engines. Technical SEO specialists use robots.txt files to choose which pages should be accessible to search engine crawlers and XML Sitemaps to help search engines understand their website’s structure for proper indexing. They also ensure that pages are linked (internal linking) so that crawlers have an easier time finding and indexing pages.
URL Structure
Creating a clear and organized URL structure helps search engines and users understand a website’s content hierarchy and index it appropriately.
Structured Data Markup
SEOs use schema markups to categorize and label website elements, enabling search bots to understand, index, and rank a website’s page.
SSL and HTTPS
These are security elements that ensure a website’s content is encrypted. It enhances user experience and helps search engines rank a page faster.
XML Sitemaps
XML Sitemaps enable search engines to understand website structure and the relationship between different pages on the site.
Site Architecture
Website architecture is a vital technical SEO element, as it helps search engines and users easily navigate a website.
Technical Errors
Monitoring and fixing technical issues like broken links, server errors, and crawl issues is also an important aspect of technical SEO.
Canonicalization
Canonical tags help you identify and fix duplicate content issues on your page.
Other aspects of fall in between these vital components. With good technical, off-page, and on-page SEO, companies will excel on search engines, generate qualified traffic, and drive conversions.