How to Use Search Intent (or Keyword Intent) Right When Planning Your SEO Strategy
For the past ten years, Google has refined its capability to deliver authoritative and helpful content, which its users look for. This is good news for people crafting and posting high-quality content weekly.
But with search engines favoring websites, which help them deliver a great user experience, it has become more imperative than before to use search intent.
What Search/Keyword Intent Is
Search intent is basically the purpose of a user's search. It can also be regarded as a keyword, user, or audience intent.
With Google RankBrain, Google Hummingbird, as well, as other adjustments, Google interprets keyword intent and presents results that align with it automatically. Google usually uses rich snippet results, such as Knowledge Panel and Answer Box.
Since individual queries dictate where they are in conversion funnels, knowing more about search/keyword intent will help create powerful content targeting potential clients.
Types of Keyword Intent
Knowing what most people search for will enable you to create the right content, offering you more opportunities to achieve your goals.
Since many people search millions of queries with a lot of goals in their mind, it is simple to categorize searches into different keyword intents.
In order to have an idea of what many people search for, you may organize keywords into four major types, including:
- Transactional: These refer to keywords with transactional intent of completing purchases or taking action on a site.
- Commercial: They focus on searches, which are comparing or investing services, products, and brands.
- Navigational: These are searches that look for specific websites, geographical locations, or pages on the website.
- Informational: They are searches that answer specific questions or may contain helpful information about a particular topic.
Importance of Search Intent for SEO
Search/keyword intent is vital since Google focuses on providing users with relevant content to queries. Their value proposition depends on this, and many individuals use Google since it offers relevant and high-quality content to every user.
As with, satisfying the user’s intent is imperative to Google, making it also helpful for SEO. If individuals search for content and don’t click on anything, it shows Google that they got irrelevant content. That is how algorithm knows what to show searchers and, thus, which website to rank higher.
User satisfaction, authority, and this relevance are major drivers of Ranking on Google. So search intent is helpful for search engine optimization since it has an impact on those factors.
Using Search/Keyword Intent Properly
If you want your website to rank higher than that of your competitors, search intent shouldn’t be just on your radar. You will also need to learn how to use keyword/search intent through the following ways:
Leverage Google Business Profile (GBP) Reviews
Nearly almost all businesses nowadays have a sort of online presence. Among the digital marketing strategies usually neglected is GBP, formerly called GMB (Google My Business). According to experts, GBP refers to a free service that Google provides to allow businesses to create a listing with website information, location, and hours.
Experts also report that more than 89% of clients go through online reviews before they make any purchase. That is because reviews can validate what your business offers. So opting to leverage your Google business reviews means you will make it simple for customers to the products you offer.
Use Research Intent Keywords to Widen the Marketing Funnel
Targeting buying-intent search terms is somehow straightforward since you can optimize relevant service or product pages on your site.
In order to target every research-intent keyword, you may need to create a new page. In most cases, it would be a great idea to create new sections on your site, which include informative and relevant articles or content optimized for research-intent keywords within your industry. This can either be a traditional blog or a standalone section.
Use Search Intent in all Your Content
You may plan your content after you figure out the keywords most individuals use when searching for services or products. This simply means that it would be a good idea to create content around the search intent behind every keyword.
For example, if a certain phrase or keyword brings traffic to your website, try creating content that helps to achieve your goals.
If the audience you’re targeting looks for tutorials on a service or a product, ensure to provide it in your content or post.
You need to consider connecting with your target audience by offering the right information they need. A perfect example is if a person searches ‘how to prepare homemade pizza,’ the content needs to help the searcher follow the right steps for making pizza at home. This will help a lot address the user’s intent and even consider taking the next step.
To Wrap-Up!
Understanding the search intent of your users is a prerequisite when it comes to responding to all their questions. But it doesn’t just help searchers satisfy their intent. It will also benefit your site with higher traffic, brand authority, and SERP ranking.