Have you ever tried to gain better visibility on search engines like Google?
When developing your basic SEO strategy, you've likely come across the term, 'search intent' or 'user intent'.
When someone searches online, they usually have a specific goal in mind. This could be anything from researching different car models before purchasing to finding a new restaurant. Regardless of the goal, the purpose of the search is to find information that will help them make a decision or take action.
They might be searching for a local service such as a car repair or hairdresser, or simply craving traditional food like a Turkish kebap.
Due to Google's changing algorithms, many SEO experts prioritize search intent since content relevance is now more important than ever to rank pages that best answer the searcher's query.
When you search online, you can often see queries that reveal the searcher's intent. A good example would be a search for 'Turkish kebap in Istanbul, Turkey.' Such a search will yield a list of local restaurants. If you narrow your search further by specifying a particular neighborhood in the city, you will get an even more specific list of restaurants.
When you are in the mood to buy Turkish kebap, the search engine understands your search intent and offers you alternative terms to meet your needs.
When creating content, it's important to understand the searcher's intent through keywords and develop offerings that match their demands.
Why Is Search Intent Important for SEO?
Online visibility mainly relies on using keywords but not on keyword stuffing where marketing pros or site owners manipulate the search engines, which often yields low-quality and non-valuable content dominating SERPs.
With the development of intelligent search engines, understanding search intent has become a crucial aspect of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It is important to understand what users are looking for when they type a query into a search engine. Once you have identified their needs, you can optimize your content and website to better match their search queries.
Integrating search intent into your content is crucial to meeting customers' needs while still considering the importance of keywords.
The Fundamentals of User Search Intent
Understanding the intent of the searcher offers numerous advantages beyond focusing solely on keywords.
Search intent can boost website traffic, increase conversions and create loyal customers. There are some other benefits like:
Improving your website’s search engine ranking is possible with the right strategy. Search engines, like Google, use complex algorithms to rank websites based on how well they meet the searcher's intent. By creating content that better matches people's wants and needs, you can increase the likelihood of your website ranking higher in the search results.
You can effectively target your audience with relevant content, potential conversions, and improved marketing strategies.
Creating content that satisfies search intent improves user experience and establishes authority.
Types of Search Intent
Search intents are categorized as navigational, informational, transactional and commercial.
In summary:
Navigational search intent involves brand-centered queries such as "Kebabi Contact"
Informational search intent involves question-based queries such as "how to clean roofs".
Transactional search intent involves product or service-specific queries and contains intent-to-buy words such as "buy a Bayraktar TB-2 mockup toy"
Commercial search intent tends to include comparative or definitive words such as "best, compare or review"
Navigational Intent
This is navigational intent when a user searches for something specific and knows the brand or website name.
To find what they need, users usually enter relevant keywords into a search engine, such as 'Wix login,' 'Wix tutorial,' or 'Wix subscription.'
Using relevant keywords ensures the user gets the most accurate and useful results.
Informational Intent
This is an intent that attracts visitors who are looking for information on your website.
Mainly, informational intent refers to a certain topic about something visitors are looking for. People are guided by the search complete feature of the search engine even if they have no idea about what they are looking for. For example, they may ask "How to create a multi-step form in Wix?"At the early steps of the buying journey, people search with this intent.
You can increase your website ranking and traffic when you target the search intent. Here is what can help:
Make your website easy to navigate. People do not tend to spend time on site so they want to find whatever they are looking for quickly.
Make sure your site gets ranked higher with keywords relevant to the topic for better visibility.
Make sure your content is the answer to the questions commonly asked. "People also ask" is a good starting point.
Provide valuable, accurate and reliable content that informational searchers are looking for.
Transactional Intent
People who are looking to buy a product or a service online are the main group for transactional intent.
These people often have a specific item in mind and search for the best deal possible before making a decision. For example, they could consider getting a brand-new dashboard for the car or signing up for a software subscription.
These types of searchers are looking for further information from product or service reviews and it is more likely for them to read "top-ten, the best, the one vs. another" style articles.
Commercial Intent
These types of searchers are more likely to use "buy, purchase, deal, discount" in their searches.
How to Learn the Search Intent of Your Audience?
Determining your audience's search intent can be a challenging task, but it's essential if you want to create content that can attract and engage them effectively. There are several ways to learn your audience's search intent, and here are some tips to help you achieve that goal:
Research popular keywords and phrases using Semrush, Ubersuggest, Google Keyword Planner, and Google Trends.
Pay attention to the questions your audience asks on social media and forums. This can give clues about what they want to know.
Examine the top results in Google for your targeted keywords and phrases. Analyze the keywords used in search engines.
Use Google’s "People Also Ask" feature. You can see related searches for the terms you are searching for.
Google's Autosuggest feature provides search suggestions. For example, when typing "new car," suggestions like "New car deals," "New cars 2022," and "New car low price" appear.
6. One way to analyze search intent is by using the related searches feature on Google. This feature appears at the bottom of the search results page and displays a list of other search terms that people are using.
7. Adding a site search bar and functionality to your website can help track user search intent via Google Analytics.
How to Optimize Your Content with Search Intent?
Now, it is time to put your search intent performance on the stage. Here are the tips to start optimizing your content for search intent.
To optimize your content for search engines, you should conduct keyword research to identify the words and phrases your audience is using to search for information relevant to your topic. Once you have a list of targeted keywords, you should strategically incorporate them into your content, such as in the title, body, and keywords section of your website. This will help your content appear higher in search results, making it easier for your target audience to find and engage with your content.
Create website content around your ideal customer’s search intent, such as 'How to create a website with Wix?'.
It's essential to make sure that your call-to-actions (CTAs) align with your target audience's search intent and their stage in the customer journey. For instance, if you're trying to attract people who are searching for information on a low-carb diet, you should create a series of articles on the topic and offer them a cheat sheet or an eBook to sign up for. Once they sign up, you can begin nurturing them with informative emails related to the low-carb products you sell.
Conclusion
It is essential to comprehend the intention behind a user's search to deliver the best possible user experience. The reason behind this is that search is continuously advancing and becoming more sophisticated. At the same time, consumers' expectations shift over time. They now want content that provides answers to their queries and simplifies the purchasing process by addressing their pain points.
By tailoring your content to match what the user is looking for, you can create a page that provides the answer they seek.
If you create content that satisfies the needs of searchers, you have a better chance of ranking higher on Google and gaining the trust of potential customers. Over time, this can lead to increased engagement with your leads and a higher likelihood of converting them into paying customers.