As the digital world evolves, so does the
way consumers search for and find information. They are becoming savvier, and
expect to find exactly what they are looking for quickly and easily.
This has made search intent a hot topic
for marketers, as they strive to create content that will satisfy the needs of
their target audience.
Google's top priority is to create a
great user experience, and part of that is understanding and satisfying search
intent.
These days search intent is one of the
most important parts of content marketing. Why?
Let’s have a look:
What Is Search Intent?
Search intent is the motivating factor
behind why customers use search engines. People use search engines for a
specific purpose, whether it’s to find information on a product they want to
buy or to get an answer to a question.
With the advent of mobile search, we now
always have a search engine available to us, making it even easier to find the
information we need.
As a result, as entrepreneurs and search
engine marketing professionals, we must understand where our prospects are in
the customer journey after typing in a specific phrase.
This will help us determine which piece
of content or landing page we should target this phrase.
Search intent is the backbone of a
well-optimized landing page and should be our primary focus when creating
content for our website.
By understanding search intent, we can
create content that meets the needs of our target audience, resulting in a
higher conversion rate.
What Are the Different Types of Search Intent?
Search intent can broadly be classified
into three main categories: navigational, informational, and transactional.
1. Informational
When
someone searches for information on a topic, they have what is known as
informational intent.This means that they are looking for
information about a particular subject, such as how to make a cake or what the
capital of France is.
In
order to satisfy this intent, the results of the search must provide the
searcher with the information they are looking for. This can be in the form of
articles, videos, or even just simple definitions.
All three types of search intent are
important to consider when planning and creating content for your website or
blog.
2. Comparative (Also
Known As Navigational)
At this stage in the content, the client
is attempting to compare your services or products to others in order to assist
them in deciding what to do.
Users in the middle of the comparative
stage are attempting to determine whether they actually require the services or
products they've been researching, or if there are better alternatives than the
ones they've previously discovered.
To better understand this stage, think
about all of the times you've compared two completely different restaurants or
two related products.
3. Transactional
When someone has transactional intent,
they are looking to buy something. This could be a physical product, like an
iPad, or a service, like booking a hotel room.
Transactions usually involve some sort of
exchange of money, goods, or services.
In
order to complete a transaction, both parties usually need to be in agreement
on the terms.
It is critical that when we create
content, we ensure that the phrases we target match the intent of what the user
is searching for.
We can ensure that we are targeting the
right keywords on the best page that Google wants to show by creating content
and landing pages that match all stages of a user's journey.
We can also ensure that we own our own
digital presence and that we are increasing visibility and conversions.
While half the battle is ensuring that
our content is properly optimized, the other half is ensuring that Google wants
to show our content based on the phrase - which is why search intent is so
important.
If you’re ignoring search intent when
creating your content then you’re doing one of the worst content marketing mistakes.
What Makes Search Intent So Important?
Search intent is the most important
factor to consider when conducting keyword research. This is because it
reflects the reason why a user is searching for a particular keyword.
For example, if someone is searching for
the keyword "buy shoes", their intent is clearly to purchase shoes.
On the other hand, if someone is searching for the keyword "shoe
store", their intent may be to find a store that sells shoes or to simply
learn more about shoes.
There are thousands of variables to
consider when conducting keyword research, but search intent is the most
important.
This is because it reflects the reason
why a user is searching for a particular keyword, and this can help you to
better target your marketing efforts.
Understanding the searcher's intent is
critical to ensuring that relevance is prioritized in our content and keywords.
The more phrases a user types into Google
or another search engine, the further along in the buyer's journey they are and
the more likely they are to convert.
By understanding the searcher's intent,
we can ensure that our content and keywords are aligned with the user's needs,
making it more likely that they will find what they're looking for and be more
likely to convert.
Also,
If you want your content to appear in
Google's search results, you need to follow their guidelines. Google is constantly
changing its algorithms, and if you don't keep up, your content will be left
behind.
There are also many cases where people
are too focused on search volume, rather than quality.
Pursuing high-volume keywords can be a
recipe for disaster, as you'll often miss the mark and end up with little to
show for your efforts.
How Can We Make Sure Our Content Aligns with the Search Intent?
When you're having trouble grasping the
concept of search intent, step outside of your company and imagine yourself as
a person. Consider what you might look for in order to land on your blog
article or product website.
Enter that phrase into Google (ideally in
Incognito or private browsing mode, so it isn't tailored to your search
history) and see what comes up.
A SERP (search engine result web page)
evaluation is one of the simplest ways to validate what Google believes the
person needs to see.
When you conduct a SERP evaluation,
you're essentially seeing what Google would show someone who doesn't have any
prior knowledge of your company or product.
This can be a helpful way to determine
whether or not your website is optimized for the right keywords, and whether or
not your content is relevant to what people are actually searching for.
Is it possible to find content aggregators? Are transactional websites available?
Is there a combined search engine result
page that includes both content and transactional content?
There are times when even Google is
unsure what the person is looking for, so it displays a mixed SERP with various
types of content.
We can see what Google is rewarding in
high positions and what it believes is the intent of the person's question by
discovering this information live on the SERPs.
SERP analysis is a critical part of any
content marketing strategy. By understanding what your competitors are ranking
for, you can create content that is more targeted and relevant to your
audience.
Additionally, you can use SERP analysis
to identify opportunities to rank for high-value keywords that your competitors
are not targeting. This will give you a competitive advantage in the search
engine results pages.
Content Strategy for Search Intent: How Can We Create?
The user has complete control over what
content they see on the internet. We may think we have the best content in the
world, but if the keywords we're targeting don't match the user's intent,
they'll never see it.
It's important to conduct keyword and
competitive research before creating any content so that we're not wasting our
time and energy on something that won't bring in qualified traffic.
Competitive research also enables us to
identify semantically related keywords for use in content. These are keywords
that aren't necessarily synonyms but are related in some way.
Semantically related keywords help search
engines understand what our content is about, and they also help users who are
looking for similar things (but with different keywords) find our content.
The hub and spoke content marketing model
is one of the best ways to develop a content strategy with search intent in
mind.
With this content marketing model, we can
target transactional keywords on hub pages and more informational keywords on
spoke pages.
By doing so, we can ensure that we have
content that corresponds to where our users are in their journey.
Keyword research is the backbone of any
content strategy, and it's critical for understanding search intent.
The point is that SEO professionals must
constantly monitor what is already appearing on Google and search from the
perspective of the user or customer.
This visual aids in our understanding of
the content strategy we might pursue if we sell reading glasses.
In Conclusion
Putting our customers first and
determining the search intent of their query is the best way to ensure that our
content meets their needs.
We've also only covered half of the
story: the research side.
The exciting part of enterprise SEO is
being able to track keyword rankings and report back to executives on the
changes you made - and how they resulted in a significant increase in traffic
or conversions.
With the right platform, you can see how
your efforts are paying off and make data-driven decisions about where to focus
your energies for maximum impact. That's the kind of information that can help
you get buy-in for your SEO program - and make a real difference in your
company's bottom line.
When it comes to keyword research and
optimizing our content, search intent will always be the most important factor.
Google's recent algorithm updates have
been heavily focused on user experience, but the company is continuing to place
a greater emphasis on user intent and making its search engine more
conversational in order to provide users with the most accurate search results.
