Search Intent – What Is It & Why Does It Matter For SEO

Whenever a user types something into the Google search bar, it’s highly likely that they have a reason for doing so. It could be that they want more information or are searching for a shop to buy whatever they are looking for from. Whatever a user’s reason is, getting the right results is based on how Google interprets their search intent.

One of the reasons why Google has become the top search engine in all of the cyberspace is that it has the most intelligent algorithm that’s exceptionally good at understanding users’ intent in every search. While you may not have Google’s algorithm, you need to prioritize search intent as it is a critical part of your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

What is search intent?

To simply put it, search intent is a user’s purpose for conducting a search on Google. It can be that the user is looking for information on a specific brand, product, or service. It can also be that they are looking for a shop to purchase a particular item from. Or they can be looking for answers or solutions.

The keywords or phrases that people type in the search bar usually reveal their intent. For example, a user searching for the phrase “pizza near me” means that they are looking for a restaurant or café that sells pizza near them because they want to eat pizza.

By understanding the user intent – why someone is searching for something – SEO strategists and digital marketing experts will be able to better create a content strategy that will drive relevant users to their website.

In other words, the key to improving your ranking is to focus your SEO strategy on search intent.

Search intent is categorized into four different types:

Informational intent

Generally, users with an informational intent search with a question and would exit the search engine results page once they find the answer they are looking for.

While this type of user doesn’t usually complete any conversion on your site, they are still worth targeting. By catering to users with informational intent, you improve your relevance and prove to Google that your site has EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), which can significantly improve your ranking.

Navigational intent

A user has a navigational intent when looking for a particular brand or product and is trying to navigate to its site. Usually, they will type in the name of the brand on the search bar since they find it easier to search for a company rather than a URL, which is kind of hard to memorize.

However, experts are somewhat unsure whether or not to include navigational intent in SEO strategy. What usually happens is that when a user searches for one of your competitors, they may not be interested in your company, which means that it could be a wasted effort to include keywords with navigational intent. However, if users search for your company, you want to make sure that they find you easily.

Transactional intent

Transactional intent is when a user searches for a keyword with the intention of buying something. This means that the buyer has already decided that they want to make a purchase but are still in the process of finding the best deal. The user will most likely have a good idea of what they want. This makes transactional intent incredibly valuable for your SEO strategy. So, to make your website rank high on search engine results pages, you need to focus your strategy on such intent.

Some of the transactional intent examples include search terms with words like “buy,” “purchase,” “cheap,” “coupon,” “sale,” etc.

Commercial intent

A user with commercial intent may type in words like “best vacuum cleaner” or “cheapest platform shoes” in the search bar. This indicates that they are searching for a specific product or service but are still searching for the best option. This also means that they are usually interested in reading reviews or comparisons to help them make a decision. Plus, their searches may be location-specific, which means that they are likely to add a location or destination in the keywords they use.

“Top restaurants near me,” “best hotels Singapore,” “Apple vs. Samsung” are some excellent examples of keywords with commercial intent.

How does Google see search intent?

According to Google, consumers don’t always follow the typical customer journey. A lot of buyers jump back and forth through various phases. This means that marketers can’t rely on buyers being in a particular phase in the funnel just because their last interaction was in the previous stage.

What Google does when deciding on the type of results to return to a user is base it on specific behaviors during a search, which include keywords and modifiers. These include the following:

Informational	Navigational	Transactional	Commercial
Examples Tutorials Guides Tips How to Why When	Service name Brand name Product name Company name	Buy Purchase Coupon Order Price	Specific location Best Top Compare review

Optimizing your content for search intent

Users that land on your site will have different intents. This is why you need to optimize your site to ensure that your content fits the type of intent that brings a user to your site.

1. Determine the intent you’re targeting

You must first figure out your buyer personas. What is your target audience looking for? Once you have that information, you need to align the keywords you’re targeting with the intent. Do keyword research to make a list of the best keywords for your site. You can focus on longtail keywords with the right signals for search intent.

2. Analyze SERPs

Analyze your search results to determine the exact intent of the keywords searched. To do this, you need to look at top-performing results. How are the keywords used on their site? What do they have in common? Are their websites structured in a specific manner? What about the tone?

Once you successfully optimize your content for search intent, not only will your website rank higher in SERPs but so will your conversion rates. Aside from that, your site will have a wider audience reach, increased page views, and lower bounce rates.

Additionally, you need to consider how Google will view your site and what kinds of search intents will bring more qualified leads. For one, you should check whether keywords yield zero-click results, indicating that the search terms used have informational intent. Aside from that, you need to check who your organic competitors are for your targeted keywords. This will give you significant insights into what will actually work for you.

3. Create content that will respond to user intent

Use the right keywords and modifiers that signal intent on your page. You want to make sure you use them in the page titles and headlines, but be careful not to overdo it.

To optimize your page for transactional intent, you should include specific product descriptions to emphasize value and clear calls to action. Be sure to also add the keywords in your page’s meta data such as the title and meta description to make them prevalent enough for Google to see your page as an authority.

Bottom line

To sum it all up, the most important thing you need to do is to ensure that your content and SEO strategies focus on providing your target audience the best experience while searching for relevant information. After all, search intent is all about providing users with the right content in the right way.