Search Intent
If you’re looking to improve your SEO strategy, understanding search intent is key. It’s not just about finding the right keywords; it’s about understanding what the user really wants when they perform a search.
What Is Search Intent?
Search intent is essentially the reason behind a query on Google (or any other search engine). Every time someone types something into the search bar, they have a specific purpose in mind.
They might be looking to buy a product, learn about a topic, or compare options before making a decision.
Here’s the interesting part: when you understand the user’s intent, you can create content that truly addresses what they’re looking for, which improves your chances of appearing in the top results and, more importantly, capturing the attention of the right user.
Types of Search Intent
While there are many variations, we can generally classify searches into three main categories:
- Informational Searches: The user wants to learn something. Examples include: “What is search intent?” or “How to do Keyword Research.” They’re not looking to buy anything at this moment; they just want information.
- Transactional Searches: Here, the user has the intention to buy or take a specific action. Queries like “buy mattress online” or “best iPhone deal” indicate that the person is ready to make a transaction.
- Comparative or Investigative Searches: The user is comparing options before making a decision. You might see terms like “best mattress vs memory foam pillow” or “iPhone vs Samsung.” Here, the goal is to evaluate products or services before purchasing.
Understanding these types of searches is crucial because if you know what the user wants, you can adjust your content to meet that need.
What is the Purpose of Search Intent in Keyword Research?
When conducting Keyword Research, one of the most common mistakes is to focus only on search volume or ranking difficulty and to forget about search intent. But if you understand the intent, you can filter and qualify your keywords much more effectively.
Qualifying Keywords
For example, imagine you’re working with an eCommerce site that sells athletic shoes. During your Keyword Research, you identify the following keywords:
- “buy athletic shoes”
- “most comfortable athletic shoes”
- “Nike vs Adidas athletic shoes”
Each of these keywords has completely different search intents. The first is clearly transactional: the user is ready to make a purchase. The second is more informational, and the third is investigative, comparing two brands.
This is where search intent helps you prioritize. If you are creating a landing page to capture customers ready to buy, it’s beneficial to focus on transactional keywords. But if you are building blog content, informational keywords will be more relevant.
Content Creation Strategy
Understanding the intent behind each search allows you to tailor your content to exactly what the user needs at that moment.
For an informational keyword, you might create a detailed guide or an explanatory article.
For a transactional keyword, the approach should be more direct, like an optimized sales page or a landing page with a clear call-to-action.
Tools to Identify Search Intent
Nowadays, there are several tools that help you break down search intent and understand what type of content you should create for each query. Here are some of the most useful ones:
1. DinoRANK
One of the tools I use in my Keyword Research is DinoRANK. Although DinoRANK doesn’t directly tell you the search intent of a keyword, it shows you the main search results for that keyword in the right sidebar.
By quickly analyzing the type of results that appear, you can identify the main intent.
This tool allows you to analyze which pages are already ranking for each keyword and, from there, deduce the search intent based on the type of content those pages are offering.
For example, if most of the results are blog articles, you’re likely dealing with an informational keyword. If they are product pages or landing pages, it’s almost certainly a transactional intent.
2. Google Sheets and Custom Formulas
In addition to tools like DinoRANK, you can do a manual classification in Google Sheets using formulas. Here’s a simple technique:
Create a formula that searches for certain keywords within queries and categorizes the keywords based on their intent. For example:
- Transactional: Look for terms like “buy,” “price,” “deal,” “discount,” “rent.” These words are usually associated with users who are ready to take action, whether it’s making a purchase, a reservation, or subscribing.
- Informational: Here you can focus on words like “how,” “what,” “why,” “when.” This type of keywords indicates that the user is looking for an answer to a question or wants to learn something new.
A basic formula in Google Sheets might look like this:
=IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("buy", A2)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH("price", A2))), "Transactional", "Informational")This formula searches within column A for words like “buy” or “price,” and if it finds them, marks the cell as “Transactional.” If not, it classifies the search as “Informational.” You can add more terms to refine the search according to your needs.
How to Apply Search Intent to Your SEO Strategy
Once you have a good understanding of search intent, you can use that information to optimize both your existing content and your future posts.
Optimizing Existing Content
If you have an article that is getting traffic but isn’t converting as you’d like, the search intent might be misaligned. Perhaps an informational article is receiving transactional searches, or a product page is answering more informational questions. Adjusting the content to match the user’s intent can significantly increase conversions.
Creating New Pages
When planning your content calendar, search intent should be considered at every stage. Each keyword you choose should be accompanied by a deep analysis of the intent, ensuring that the type of content you create aligns with what the user is looking for.
With these techniques and tools, you’ll have a competitive edge in conducting your keyword research and be able to create more relevant and effective content that satisfies both users and search engines.
