Firms need to be aware of the different stages of a search purchase when selecting keywords for search engine optimisation (SEO), one expert has claimed.

Writing on his Utah SEO Pro blog, Jordan Kasteler explains that there are three parts to an online purchase: interest, research and finally buying.

SEO keyword selection needs to be sensitive to the varying complexity of user's search phrases at each stage.

For example, Mr Kasteler notes that "At the interest phase, people are using very broad terms to start collecting data on a product or service".

"At the purchase phase, people are looking to buy a product or service and will be refining their queries to do so. An example may be 'cheap xbox 360' or 'buy xbox 360 in [city]'," he adds.

Meanwhile, a post by blogger Drama 2.0 on E-consultancy suggested that internet marketing that uses behavioural targeting is never going to be as effective as firms hope.

Drama 2.0 observed that users will often ignore even well-targeted advertisements because "at the time they are displayed to me, I am not receptive to them".

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