SEO is the way to get more traffic to your website, and by ranking high on Google, you tend to attract more people to your website, leading to more sales and returning visitors. To get people to visit your site, you should optimize your content for the right words. For increasing your chances of ranking, search intent is an essential factor.
What Do You Mean By Search Intent?
It is the term used for describing the primary purpose of an online search, and it is the reason why someone conducts a specific search. It is a fact that anyone who does an online search hopes to find something. Google has worked very hard over the years to improve its algorithm to determine people’s search intent. Google also wants to rank pages which best fit the search term someone is using. It also tries to find the search intent behind the search query. Hence, you need to ensure that your post or page fits your audience’s search intent.
Four Types of Search Intent
1. Informational Intent
It is a fact that many searches on the internet are done by the people looking for information, which could be information about the weather, SEO or other things. People with an informational intent also have specific questions or want to know more about a particular topic.
You must be aware that Google’s understanding of intent goes much further than merely showing results that give information about a specific term.
2. Navigational Intent
It is the second type of search intent, and the people with this intent want to visit a specific website. For example, the people who search for Facebook online are on their way to the Facebook website. Hence, you should ensure that your website can be found when someone searches for your company name online. It is also essential to remember that ranking high for a navigational term is beneficial if your site is the kind of site people want.
3. Transactional Intent
It is the third type of intent, and many people buy stuff online and browse the web to find the best purchase. People search with transactional intent when they want to buy something. It means they already know precisely what they want to buy and want to get that product page right away.
4. Commercial Investigation
Some people also intend to buy shortly and use the web to research. For example, which SEO plugin is the most helpful? These individuals also have transactional intent but need more time. These types of search intents are called commercial investigation intents.
Many individuals avail of the services of SEO Melbourne, which helps people make aware of the search intentions and how they can use it to boost their SEO.
5. Keyword Intent
The words people use in their search engines give us an insight into the user intent, which also works the other way around. By formulating the keywords with intent-specific words, you can also increase your chances of being seen by the people with the matching search intent.
How Can You Optimize Your Content for Search Intent?
You should ensure that a landing page fits your audience’s search intent. If people are looking for any type of information online, you don’t want to show them a typical product page; if not immediately, you will probably scare them away. However, if someone wants to buy your product and he happens to land on one of your lengthier product blog posts, you can lose them.
Thus, optimizing your product pages for commercially driven keywords is an excellent idea. If you happen to sell dog vitamins, you could optimize a product page for the search term. You can also have an article about administering vitamins. You can also optimize that article for the search term and aim it at the people with information intent.
Research Your Audience’s Search Intent
It can sometimes be tough to determine the search intent of a query. Users using the same search term can have slightly different user intent. Search result pages are the source to look at if one wants to know which intent fits the keywords the best the best.
If you wish to know more about your audience’s search intent, you can also ask them. You also have the option of making a short survey containing the questions about what people are searching for and also make that survey pop up when these people visit your website. This will give you an insight into your audience and their intent.
Closer Matches the User’s Needs
When you optimize for the user intent or the search intent, you are creating pieces of content for a precise purpose. It means that people looking for that information are apt to click the link to visit your website. According to a survey, 83% of the customers go to a company’s website for information. It is often in the form of blogs, tutorials or contacting the business for customer service. The materials on your site should also reflect the answer someone is seeking.
Helps Search Engines Classify the Content
It is a fact that keywords do not matter as much as they did in the past. Search engines analyze the words of an entire article to categorize its purpose. However, the keywords are still viable. However, it is the overall content which makes a difference.
Creates More Engaging Content
People are interested in more focused content as opposed to the general topics and by answering someone’s exact question, you are inspiring him or her to further explore your site for other information.
Attracts High-Quality Visitors
By optimizing the user intent, you are focusing content on answering specific search criteria. It also means the ones finding your content from the search engines are already interested in the topic before even visiting your site.
Better Adapted for Mobile Search
Around 52% of all the web pages across the planet are displayed on mobile devices, and you need to optimize for voice search. You should also understand how people are speaking on their phones.
