Be Intent On Learning Search Intent
Search intent is the most common term used to describe the reason behind a certain search query being done on search engines. Every user who conducts a specific online search is looking for something, whether it is purely for information, an answer to a question they have, or even an item they are looking to purchase. This search intent is part of the consumer’s behaviour as well as a part of their overall user journey.
Why is knowing a customer’s search intent useful for us? Well, if you own a website and want to increase the amount of traffic you are receiving as well as a higher conversion rate then this is for you! Search engines like Google aim to provide their users with the most relevant result for the search they are doing. Over the years, the algorithm has been improved time and time again to more accurately determine a user’s search intent and to pair this search query with the best results. For businesses, this practice is known as ranking for SERP (search engine results pages). The more relevant your website is to the search query, the higher your website will rank in the SERP. Having a website with properly optimised UI/UX design also helps. This increases the chances of your website being shown to potential customers among the vast sea that is the internet.
In general, there are 4 primary types of search intent categorized below:
Informational
These searches are normally done to look for information. It could be a simple question like “What is fish oil” to more complex questions. These search queries will not always be structured as a question and could be just “fish oil”. Google determines that searches like these are usually looking for information like what is the health benefit of fish oil, what is fish oil, and etc.
Navigational
The user already has a specific site in mind where they want to navigate to. This is done by users because it is faster to Google it than to input the entire URL into the address bar. For example, people searching for “youtube” are usually on their way to the video streaming platform. If you own a production business that edits youtube videos on top of other services, ranking for the word “youtube” would not give your business any useful purpose or traffic.
Transactional
This search is done by users who are looking to make a purchase and already know what they want to buy but are looking for a place to buy it from. This is the purchase stage of a user’s journey where they contemplate all the options presented to them before making the purchase. An example of a transactional search would be “buy fish oil”.
Commercial Investigation
The searcher is actively looking for a specific product but has yet to make a decision on which product is best suited for them. Hence they are actively looking for more information about the product and making comparisons before moving to the purchase stage. Usually, product reviews, comparison blogs, videos of products are the most relevant. An example of a search query may be “fish oil vs salmon oil” or “best fish oil”.
Now that we know the primary types of search intent, how could our business benefit from this? It’s important to optimize your website content and SEO enhancements to fit the proper search intent. If you are selling fish oil for example, then one of your product pages with your best selling fish oil should be optimized for keywords like “buy fish oil”. You could even create a blog talking about the different types of fish oil and optimize for “fish oil vs salmon oil”, then lead users to your best selling fish oil product page in the blog with a link.
In conclusion, it’s important to ensure your website content and SEO enhancements correctly corresponds to the proper search intent of your potential customers. Keep in mind that search intent is one of the most important ranking factors that should not be overlooked by businesses. If you’re looking to increase relevant traffic to your website and rank for the right keywords, LOCUS-T is an experienced digital marketing agency that provides web development and SEO services to help your website rank among the top on Google’s search results! Contact us today to know more.
