What is Search Intent? Why is it Important for SEO?

What is search intent?

Search intent definition is described as a user’s main purpose or goal when typing a statement or question into a search engine. This involves understanding the reason behind any searched phrase, question or statement that is imputed. It provides important context to the rationale behind the relevant search. Questions that are typed into a search engine manually or via voice commands is the purpose of using search engines. 

How to determine keyword search intent?

SERP

SERP refers to the Search Engine Results Page and is the first page that pops up when placing information into a search engine. Analysing what results come up will determine what a user’s intent is when researching that specific keyword. Search intent keywords are extremely important features of a website and can impact on how a search engine ranks information, so understanding search intent is key. 

What are the types of search intents?

There are four types of search intents that directly relate to the question asked on a search engine falls. The following are the different types of intent and what they mean:

Informational intent

Searching with informational intent is probably the type of search intent that is most commonly used. Many users are simply navigating a search engine to access information about a specific topic. This shows that they are wanting to learn about a particular subject online. These types of searchers are requesting web pages that will give them useful information and content. 

Navigational intent

URLs are often long, confusing and hard to type out every time you need to get to a specific website or page. This is why users often simply use navigational search intent and type the website name into a search engine, like Google, to quickly reach the site required by clicking on the link that the search engine then supplies. For example, typing the word ‘Markethinkers` in Google is much simpler than typing  https://markethinkers.com/en/home/ into the URL bar. 

Transactional intent

The third type of search intent is when users have already decided to purchase an item online and are looking to compare the pricing of the items as well as the best way to finalise their transaction. Typically, words that are associated with transactional search intent are terms such as; ‘buy’ and ‘shop’ combined with the goods or service the user is wanting to acquire.

Commercial investigation

Before a person purchases a product or the use of a service, they may want to complete their own research in order to find out which of the products/services that they have found would work best for them. This process is referred to as commercial search intent . These users have moved beyond the point of gathering information and have decided to research the options that are of interest to them as well as compare them to one another. An example of this could be asking for reviews which help in the decision making process. 

Why is search intent important for SEO?

Search intent targeting is one of the building blocks to deliver a successful SEO strategy. A good search intent SEO tactic involves providing users with access to the best possible information that can answer a user’s questions. Simply put, all content and landing pages need to be structured according to a user’s search intent. This is valuable for brands and companies that are attempting to boost their online presence. Having keywords that are geared towards the information provided on your page and the search intent of users will impact greatly on how a search engine ranks your content. 

How to create or optimise content for search intent?

Examine your competitors 

Before you begin optimising your data to match search intent, it may be a good idea to annalyse what is currently working best. This is done by simply examining the top pages that come up when typing a search intent into a search engine. Things like structure, format and keywords are all features that could be included into your pages ensuring that your content is optimised for the correct search intent. 

Look at your current content

By analysing your current content, you can identify if the keywords on your page match up with a user’s intent. Having information that is not aimed towards a specific search could mean that your content is not focused and structured or that you are not using the correct keywords and format. By optimising your existing content and focusing on search intent, you can create a page that answers the user’s questions and  effectively.

How do you analyse search intent?

Consider your keywords 

When you are developing pages for your website, it is vital to remember that the content that you are creating will be read by your users and analysed by the search engine. Websites that do not have keywords aligned with user search intent will not be picked up by the relevant search engines. Your information becomes much more relevant when you ensure that your keywords match a user’s search intent. 

SERPs

A good way to analyse search intent is to review the search engines results page (SERP). This page displays what users are generally looking for when they type a word or a phrase into a search bar. The pages that generate first are the ones that have used the search topic optimally. By analysing these SERPs, you have better insights into which words are more effective in your content and which ones are not. 

Is there any tool or sheet script to determine keywords search intent?

There are many different tools that can be used to establish which specific keywords are necessary as well as the user’s intent. There are two main ways in which this can be done, either manually or through automation.

Automated 

Using apps that are specifically designed to determine keyword search intent, allow you to easily input words and receive the generated results of their effectiveness, quickly. These apps have been developed to analyse the intent of a page or word. 

Manual

Targeting search manually works by determining what certain keywords are ideal for a user’s intent. This can be done by typing keywords into a search engine and analysing the pages that come up first  to identify what needs to be adjusted on your website.