What is Search Intent?

Search intent is the reason a user is conducting a search.

There are various types of search intent, such as navigational, informational, commercial, and Transactional (the latter being the most important for businesses).

It’s important to understand what type of search intent your customers have when they’re looking for your product or service so that you can create content and advertising that appeals to them.  

Types of Internet Searches

Navigational Search Intent

Navigational search intent is when someone types in the name of a website or company into a search engine in order to find that website or company. For example, if someone wanted to find Google’s website, they would type “Google” into a search engine.

How to Optimize for Navigational Search Intent

By understanding how people use search engines to navigate the web, you can better optimize your website and content for navigational intent.

People use search engines to navigate the web in a variety of ways. Some people use search engines to find specific information, while others use them to explore new websites and content. Still, others use search engines as a way to compare prices or products before making a purchase.

Whatever the reason, it’s important to understand how people use search engines so that you can optimize your website and content for navigational intent. This means making sure your website is easy to navigate, your content is relevant and informative, and your site design is user-friendly.

Informational Search Intent

Informational Intent is a search query where the user is looking for information. This type of query is often used to learn about a particular topic, find details about a product or service, or get advice from experts.

Informational Intent queries are typically longer and more specific than transactional queries. They usually include detailed questions about a product or service, as well as specific keywords that reflect the user’s intent.

For example, a person searching for “best laptops for students” is likely looking for information about which laptops are best for them to buy, while someone searching for “Canon EOS Rebel T6 prices” is likely interested in finding out how much the camera costs.

How to Optimize for Informational Search Intent

When optimizing for informational search intent, you’ll want to ensure that your content is comprehensive and provides the most accurate information possible. You’ll also want to make sure that your content is updated regularly and features clear concise writing.

In order to capture users who are looking for information, it’s important to include accurate and up-to-date data in your content. Additionally, good formatting and easy-to-read text will help keep readers engaged with your content. As always, promoting your content through social media and other channels can help you reach a wider audience who may be interested in what you have to say.

Commercial Search Intent

Commercial search intent is when a consumer is looking to buy a product or service. This type of search is typically marked by longer keyword queries that include specific purchase-related terms, like “buy,””price,””reviews,” and so on.

Commercial search intent is one of the three main types of search intent (the others are informational and navigational). Each type can be marked by different types of keyword queries, so businesses need to understand the differences and tailor their content and advertising strategies accordingly.

How to Optimize for Commercial Search Intent

When optimizing your content for commercial search intent, you’ll want to consider creating a data-centric page that gives all the important information about the product or service. This means offering clear and concise information about what you’re selling, as well as including rich media such as images and videos.

You should also make sure your page is mobile-friendly, as more and more people are using their phones to conduct online searches. And finally, be sure to use keywords and phrases that people are likely to use when searching for what you’re selling. By following these tips, you can create a page that’s not only optimized for commercial searches but that’s also likely to convert browsers into buyers.

Transactional Search Intent

Transactional search intent is the desire to buy a product or service. When a person has transactional search intent, they are looking for a specific solution to their problem, and they’re usually close to making a purchase. Examples of transactional search queries include “buy blue shoes”, “best laptop deals”, and “car rental coupons”.

When creating content for people with transactional search intent, it’s important to focus on offering solutions that solve the problem at hand. This might mean providing product recommendations, showcasing how your product or service can solve the problem, or listing the benefits of using your product or service. Whatever you do, make sure you’re providing value and not just trying to sell them something.

How to Optimize for Transactional Search Intent

There are a few things you can do to optimize your content for transactional search intent. First, use structured data to help Google better understand what’s on the page. This will help your site rank higher for related queries. You can also include a call-to-action (CTA) in your content to encourage visitors to take action. And lastly, make sure your site is mobile-friendly so that users can easily complete their transactions from anywhere.

Advantages of Search Intent Targeting

A search engine’s understanding of a searcher’s intent is one of the most important factors in achieving high rankings.

Algorithms are designed to return the best results for a particular search query. However, if the algorithms do not understand the searcher’s intent, it is difficult for them to deliver good results. This is where semantic SEO comes in. 

Semantic SEO

Semantic SEO helps make it easier for search engines to understand the meaning behind a search query. By doing so, they are able to return better results that are more relevant to the searcher’s intent. As such, using semantic SEO techniques can help your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Reduced Bounce rate: A bounce rate is a measure of how many people leave your website after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate means that people are not finding what they are looking for on your website, and they are leaving without exploring any further.

There are many reasons why your website’s bounce rate might be high, but one reason could be that your website is not targeting the right search intent. If you can identify the correct search intent for your target audience, you can create content that is more relevant and useful to them, which will help reduce your bounce rate.

Drives more pageviews: search intent plays a big role in driving page views. For example, if someone types in “SEO tips” into Google, they’re obviously interested in learning more about SEO, so they’re likely to click on any results that show up on the first page.

More Engaged users: To a certain extent, search intent plays a role in engagement. When someone types a question into Google, they’re looking for an answer; when they find a resource that answers well all their queries, they tend to stay longer on the page to digest the information.

More rich snippets: When you search for something on Google, the results that show up are based not just on the keywords you typed in but also on what Google thinks people who type those same words into the search bar are really looking for. 

One of the ways that Google figures out intent is by monitoring which websites people click on after they do a search. If lots of people click on a certain website after doing a particular search, then Google assumes that those searchers were looking for information about that website, and it’ll start to show more information from that website in its search results. 

This is called “search intent” or “query intent”. And it’s one of the reasons why feature snippets often show up in the top few results for a particular search query.

Wider audience reaches: When you target your search engine advertising to specific keywords, you can attract a wider audience reach. But it’s also important to consider your audience’s intent when selecting those keywords.

For example, if you’re a car dealership, you might want to target the keyword “car dealerships” in your advertising. But if you’re targeting people who are actually looking to buy a car, you’ll want to use more targeted keywords like “used cars for sale.”

Search Intent & Google Ads

Search intent is the purpose behind a searcher’s query, and it’s also important to consider when creating Google Ads. That’s because understanding search intent can help you create ads that are more relevant to what users are actually looking for, which can improve your click-through rate and conversion rate. Understanding which type of search intent a user has can help you create an ad that is more likely to be relevant to them, which can improve your click-through rate and conversion rate.

The bottom line is that understanding your audience’s intent is essential for attracting the right people to your website or business. And using the right keywords is one of the best ways to do that.

As a business, understanding search intent is key to providing the best user experience and driving conversions. By catering to searchers’ needs, you can improve your website ranking and click-through rates.  Let Felicity Jane Digital provide you with detailed insights into how your competitors are taking advantage of different SERP features.

Use this data to inform your own SEO strategy and stay ahead of the competition. Get in touch with our team of experts to see how we can help your business get ahead in search rankings!

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Jane Cluff

Senior digital strategist

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