What is Search Intent in SEO and in the World of Blogging?
Last Updated on 21st February 2023 by Ajmer Singh
When it comes to SEO, understanding search intent is critical.
What are people looking for when they type in a certain keyword or phrase? What information do they hope to find?
Understanding search intent can help you determine what content you need to create and how you need to optimize your website to rank higher in search engine results pages.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss what search intent is and why it’s important for SEO.
We’ll also provide some tips on how you can optimize your website based on searcher intent. Let’s get started!
When you go around the internet to search for things, what do you type into that Google box?
Of course, most people would type something like “buy cheap shoes” or “watch funny dog videos on YouTube.”
These keywords are called searchers intent. What is searcher’s intent and why is it so important for SEOs and marketers? Let’s see.
What is search intent in SEO?
Search intent refers to the purpose or goal behind a user’s search query. It helps to understand what the user is looking for and what kind of information or content they expect to find.
Understanding search intent is important in SEO because it can inform how you optimize your website and its content to better match the needs of the users who are searching for it.
Common types of search intent include informational, navigational, transactional, and commercial investigation.
There are three main types of searcher’s intents:
1. Informational Searches
The search terms of informational searches usually consist more of long-tail keywords because the user wants to find this information for future reference.
They usually include more specific details about the items that are being searched for,
like their price, where they can be purchased at, and what brands they may come under.
Because of these factors, informational searches carry less commercial intent than navigational ones.
The searcher doesn’t want to buy the item immediately; they just want to know more about it.
This type of search is conducted when the user already knows what website they want to go to or what product they want to buy.
The user usually has this specific site or product in mind and just wants an efficient way of finding it.
Since the user already knows where they want to go, navigational searches usually include keywords that are more focused on how users can find these websites or search for these products.
They often include specific names and prices because those who conduct such searches know exactly what they want and aren’t as willing to go through all the results as those conducting informational searches.
Because navigational searches are conducted with the specific purpose to find a product, they usually have high commercial intent and carry more weight than informational ones.
3. Transactional Searches
This type of search is the most direct and the most straightforward because it is designed for users that want to transact directly online.
They conduct searches containing keywords that help them find the website where they can buy a product, download a song, or watch a video.
These searches usually have keywords that include prices and sales terms because when users search for specific items online, their main goal is to complete the transaction as quickly as possible.
These types of queries are usually highly commercial which makes them more difficult to rank for since they’re so directly targeted.
Why search intent is important for SEO?
Searchers intent is important for SEO because it sheds light on what your target audience may be searching for.
If you want to rank for informational queries, you need to create content that answers specific questions.
You also need to make sure that people can find your website through navigational searches if you want them to buy something from your site or view a specific product.
Lastly, you need to make sure that your transactional searches bring you as many leads as possible even if they don’t buy from your website directly.
Remember that the three different types of searcher’s intents have all different commercial intents.
And carry different weight in SERPs which is why it’s crucial for SEOs and marketers to understand this concept.
Benefits of understanding search intent!
1. You know what your target audience is searching for and you can create content accordingly.
2. You can optimize your website and page so they rank higher for specific keywords and be found faster by searchers looking to complete a transaction.
3. You can outsource the optimization of certain pages to companies that understand all three types of search intents, thus making the optimization process easier.
4. You’ll be able to market your product or service more successfully because you know what specific keywords are relevant to each searcher’s intent.
5. You’ll have a better understanding of how SEO works, which will help you make wiser decisions in the future when it comes to optimizing your website for search engines.
6. You’ll be able to create content that attracts different types of visitors since you understand what they are searching for.
7. You can provide better customer service because you know exactly what your customers are looking for when they visit your website.
8. It will help you make smarter business decisions in the future, especially if you’re a freelancer or a solopreneur.
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How to optimize your blogs for searcher’s intent?
1. You need to know what type of searchers intent your target audience has.
Identify your primary target audience and conduct research on the search intent they have.
2. You need to understand the exact questions people are asking when they conduct navigational searches so you can make sure that your content answers them effectively.
3. When creating blog posts, don’t just approach them from the standpoint of what you want to write.
Approach them as if you’re your target audience and answer questions that they would ask which will make them more likely to purchase something or sign up for your service.
4. Make sure you use navigational keywords when writing blog posts so readers can find them through search engines like Google.
5. Since transactional searches are more likely to convert into sales, you should be more aggressive with your commercial keywords when writing blog posts or optimizing your website in general.
6. You should create information that’s useful for searchers who have informational intent.
So they’ll share the content on their social media profiles and give you more exposure.
7. If you’re not sure what your target audience’s type of search intent is, then conduct more research or send surveys to find out.
8. Optimize different pages for different types of searcher’s intents, especially if you need sales and leads.
Remember that transactional searches are most likely to turn into sales so place the most emphasis on optimizing them.
9. Make sure you have a mix of navigational, informational, and transactional keywords when writing blog posts or optimizing your pages for search engines.
10. Use the Answer The Public tool to generate lists of keywords that pertain to all types of search intents.
11. Post content that resonates with people and is likely to go viral so you can rank for keywords with high commercial intent.
12. Make sure your page has a clear CTA in order for searchers to know what you want them to do when they visit it.
13. Use your competitors as references by looking at their backlinks and Google Analytics data in order to find out which search terms convert into sales or leads.
14. You should experiment with different types of articles (i.e., list articles, how-to articles) to see what your target audience prefers to read.
So you can rank for informational keywords and be found by people looking for more in-depth information about topics related to your niche.
15. Post content that’s useful to your target audience so they’ll read it and share it on their social media profiles.
And giving you free organic exposure which will also help increase your search rankings over time.
16. You should be consistent when it comes to updating your blog because Google has a crawling rule where new pages are crawled more often than older pages.
17. Place an emphasis on creating content that can help people with informational and navigational searches.
Because those types of searches are the easiest to be converted into sales or leads.
18. Try using a list post to increase the likelihood that your target audience will read it by breaking up a long article into smaller chunks that they’ll want to read.
19. If you’re not sure what to write in your blog post, then ask yourself questions that your target audience would ask when conducting navigational searches.
20. Make sure you use relevant keywords in the title of your blog posts so people can easily find them when they conduct navigational searches.
FAQS on Searcher’s intent!
Q: Are informational keywords easier to rank for than transactional keywords?
A: It depends.
If your blog posts are related to how-to topics, then transactional searches might be easier because they’re looking for specific information,
whereas informational searches are browsing for general information which is harder to rank for.
Even so, you should try to optimize your pages for both types of keywords because they’re easier to rank for compared to transactional searches.
Q: Why should informational articles have a CTA?
A: Because your target audience might not know what to do when they finish reading them,
which is why you should create a specific call-to-action in order to tell them how they can use your information.
Q: When should you prioritize transactional keywords in blog posts?
A: You should place more emphasis on optimizing pages that are optimized for transactional searches because they’re most likely to turn into sales.
Even if they don’t immediately convert, you’ll still get free exposure from people sharing them with their social media networks.
Q: How is the Answer The Public tool useful for generating keyword lists?
A: It shows you a variety of related keywords that can help you optimize your page, giving it more chances to rank in Google search results.
If one of these related keywords is searched more often than another, then there’s a good chance that you’ll see it in Google’s search results which will improve organic visits to your site.
Q: What are the benefits of writing informational articles?
A: Informational articles help provide value to your target audience, giving them useful information that they wouldn’t find on other sites.
This builds trust between you and your readers because they know that you’re not trying to sell them anything.
Plus, you get free exposure from being shared on social media profiles, giving you more opportunities to get ranked in Google’s search results which helps increase organic visits to your site.
Q: How often should marketers be creating new blog posts?
A: You should try to write one blog post per week at the very minimum, but ideally you want to create content on a daily basis.
Google has a crawling rule where they don’t index older pages more than once every couple of weeks.
If your pages are indexed, then you’ll be ranked in search results. If they aren’t, then your rankings will drop or remain nonexistent.
Q: Which types of keywords are easy to rank for?
A: Both informational and navigational keywords are easier to rank for because people use them when conducting navigational searches.
They want specific information that Google can provide them with immediate,
whereas transactional keywords are used when people want to do something, whether it’s buying a product or clicking through to another webpage.
Q: What types of searches lead to sales conversions?
A: Transactional searches are the most likely to convert because they’re explicit about what they’d like you to do.
Someone who is searching for “buy blue widgets” is more likely to make a purchase than someone who is searching for “blue widgets.”
They might not be sales, but free social media exposure can lead to direct sales.
Q: What types of searches are difficult to optimize pages for?
A: Navigational searches are used when people conduct research and informational searches don’t require a lot of effort.
People who are searching for “snorkelling spots in Hawaii” or “best laptops under $1000” are trying to get more information on a subject,
but they’re not doing any sort of research that would require you to optimize your page for each keyword phrase they search for.
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Q: What are the most common CTA mistakes that marketers make?
A: They’re not specific enough, they don’t give any incentive for clicking them, and there’s no call-to-action.
You need to let your audience know exactly what you want them to do in order to turn them into customers.
If you write “click here” or “read more,” then they won’t know anything about what you’re offering.
You need to include a call-to-action that gives them an incentive for performing the action,
which could be something like an exclusive discount code, early-bird access to your service, etc.
Conclusion
With a little bit of effort, you can help your customers find what they’re looking for and increase conversions.
It’s not always easy to know how people are searching or what their intent is at that moment when they type into Google,
but with some practice and knowledge about searchers’ mindsets and the power of keywords, we think you’ll be able to optimize your blog posts to get better results from SEO.
In what ways have you seen success optimizing blogs? Let us know by commenting below!