“Your job is to start from the BOFU keywords first and work your way up.”
Why BOFU first
BOFU keywords win on both of the axes that matter (see 1.1). They have much higher relevance, because they “describe your product exactly” and someone searching a BOFU term is already trying to buy the thing you sell. They’re also much easier to rank, because they’re specific and long-tail, so the SERP is softer. So BOFU is where intent and winnability are both highest. You capture people who are already in buying mode, on terms you can actually win, before spending effort on broad TOFU terms that are harder to rank and convert worse. Awareness content isn’t wrong, it’s just later. You earn the right to climb the funnel by winning the bottom of it first.What “BOFU first” looks like in practice
When we onboarded Wonderchat, the steer was simple: “focus on BOFU landing pages only.” Their existing page, “wonderchat whitelabel ai chatbot for agency,” was already generating leads, so the account got steered toward more of that exact BOFU pattern rather than toward awareness content. BOFU also maps cleanly onto the landing-page-first content mix in 1.6./uses, /feature, alternatives, “vs”, and integration
pages are all BOFU by construction, so when you build those pillars you’re building the bottom of
the funnel at scale.
Notice how this reinforces the citation data from 1.2: landing
pages are what AI engines cite most, and landing pages are inherently BOFU. So BOFU-first is the
landing-page-first bet again, seen from the funnel’s angle.
Operationalize it
- Find and shape BOFU keywords: 2.2.1 — Keyword exploration.
- Turn them into BOFU landing pages: 2.3.1 — Design a landing-page pillar.
- Order a cycle BOFU-first: 3.4 — Organise keywords for a cycle.