Search intent in SEO, how to use it?
A simple and effective approach.
It’s no secret that search intent in SEO is a very important factor in website ranking. In fact, it has been found to be the most important factor in website ranking.
Search intent is, by far, what best tells you how much of your content should be focused on providing information and how much should be used to entertain people and get them to read more about your site’s offerings.
None of this speaks to you too much! So, let me explain :
First, what is search intent ?
The search intent is simply the reason why an Internet user uses keywords in search engines (Google, Bing, etc.). Indeed, it is on this keyword that the search engine algorithms perform their analysis to understand the queries, study the possible answers, refine and sort the results in order to display them in order of relevance. Thus, SERPs can return the results that best match the search intent.
Before diving head first into optimizing or writing your content for a specific keyword, you need to ask yourself some basic questions. Like:
- Why do people search specifically for this keyword?
- Are they looking for a particular site?
- Are they looking for a product or service, or just information and answers to their questions?
Very important
And most importantly, remember that there are four (4) categories of search intent that you absolutely must know. These are important because they will allow you to know in which of the four categories the user best fits. That said, to better guide you in writing your content. We find the query:
- Informative : the Internet user asks a question to which he wants an answer (or information on a subject that interests him). They want precise and concrete data, possibly specialized pages/sites. These requests often begin with : “how”, “why” or “what” ;
- Commercial or decisional : is generally used by those who wish to carry out a transaction. Here, he will be looking for detailed information or advice (or customer reviews or offer comparisons) on the product/service he wants to buy;
- Navigation : it is often very specific in this case. They will want to go directly to a specific website, product, brand or service;
- Transactional : At this level, the Internet user has all the information he needs and is already ready to act. Therefore, all his requests will be directed to the sales pages of an e-commerce site or others.
I understand better now, but…
Why is search intent so important to your SEO strategy?
I’ll explain it more clearly!
As you can see, when the user makes a query on a search engine, he expects to find everything he is looking for, possibly on a single page. So, if you offer the user everything he wants to find, he will have no reason to return to the SERPs. As you can imagine, it is in your best interest to adapt your content to the user’s real needs.
It is not only in your interest, but also in Google’s interest, to look at the users. That’s why they (Google) use certain performance indicators such as: click-through rate, average session time, to evaluate your pages and know if they perfectly answer what the user is looking for. And if it is the case, it will not hesitate to position yours in first position on the SERPs.
Integrating them in the heart of your SEO strategy is therefore necessary and fundamental to improve the positioning of your site on the SERPs. Your SEO strategy must allow you to answer specific questions and needs of Internet users, in order to increase your traffic and your conversion rate.
Quick tips
Publish regular content that is perfectly suited to your site’s visitors. This will allow you to put your brand in the minds of consumers and, at the same time, make you more visible. This way, you will generate more targeted traffic and especially engagement from your visitors.
How to identify search intent in SEO?
In order to use search intent, you must first be able to identify it and understand its purpose. Indeed, several tools are proposed (or at least exist) to help you identify a multitude of search intentions identified by search engines. They even offer you the possibility of filtering — and sometimes even advanced filters — in order to exploit, in a more advanced way, all the options of your keyword research. For example, you can filter your keyword by country, by time period, by volume, etc.
Quick tips
The best would be, of course, to be accompanied by a natural referencing agency — SEO. The agency has all the necessary expertise to ensure your SEO at all levels of the process. But if you don’t have the budget for an agency, you can always hire an expert.
Let’s start again!
Let’s illustrate, for example, a term like: “buy food for cats”. In this example, the user’s intent is very clear. They are specifically looking to buy cat food. In this case, your site must absolutely have a page dedicated specifically to this keyword, if you want to be present in the SERPs of search engines.
Another example, from the same term:
Now, if we remove the word that implies purchase intent (“purchase”), we have: “cat food”. Here, the query is more subtle, which means we don’t know exactly what the user is looking for. The intent may be “purchase intent” or “information search”, or perhaps both.
One request, several intentions? Then…
How can you tell the difference between a real search intent and the one deduced by Google?
The ambiguity of this type of query is this :
If you don’t know why the search query is coming to you, you can’t submit targeted, relevant content and you can’t optimize your website to meet the needs of the users. So it will be difficult to establish a personalized relationship with your customers if you don’t know what they really want. So how do you identify the true search intent behind their queries?
The first thing to do, of course, is to put yourself in the user’s shoes. Put yourself in their shoes and tell yourself, with such a request, what would be the most likely response you would like to get.
It should be noted that this method is not so different from Google’s. Indeed, Google’s robots are programmed to do the same work, and much faster than humans. The improvements made to its algorithm are constantly increasing in order to interpret the intentions of the requests more finely.
In the SERPs, Google provides an interpretation derived from its analysis of user queries. To do this, it constantly adjusts the order and nature of the results it provides based on the actions and keywords searched. Surprisingly, sometimes Google has doubts. In this case, it may offer several interpretations of the search intent. It will then be up to you to use your analytical skills to determine the real needs of Internet users.
What should I do now?
Three steps to properly address the search intent.
Step 1: Find and define the angle of your content from the queries made
Brainstorm potential topics by thinking about what interests you or your target audience. Because when it comes to creating content, there is no one answer. The best way to determine what type of content will work best for your business is to research (and find) the needs and wants of your target audience. Once you know what they are looking for, you can create content that speaks directly to their pain points and interests.
One of the easiest ways to determine the type of content your audience wants is to look at the most popular search engine queries. So you can try different Google searches and see what comes up in the “People also ask” section.
Read popular articles on similar topics to get an idea of how they approached their subject.
Step 2: Develop your plan to meet the expectations of Internet users
The activities on the internet are increasing day by day and people are using the internet for different purposes. People have many expectations from the internet and many requirements to use it. They use it for work, study, entertainment, shopping and many other things. As an entrepreneur, you need to develop a plan to meet the expectations of Internet users. There are some strategies that can help you develop your plan. Like :
Take advantage of the opportunity
Search intent is an opportunity that businesses typically miss. It’s an opportunity related to the intent behind users’ search queries, and it can be leveraged to personalize your content and increase your organic traffic.
Research the competition
Identify the intent behind your target audience’s search queries. Evaluate your market position against the competition. Find out how people search for your product or service and formulate an appropriate SEO strategy around those terms.
Assess your strengths and weaknesses
As a contractor, it is important to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your clients’ current research. With this information in hand, you can define both a strategy for your client and how you will measure success.
Designate a team member to lead the project
The role of the project manager will be to coordinate the activities of the project development team. This team is extremely important to the success of your website. A team member should be chosen to lead the project and coordinate the work of all team members: SEO technicians, content writers, etc.
Etape 3 : Faites valoir votre expertise sur un sujet et démarquez-vous
It’s no surprise that the most successful brands are those that are experts in their niche. Indeed, by becoming the go-to resource for a topic, you can monopolize the conversation, which means greater potential for more customers to engage with you.
When writing an article on a particular content topic, it’s important to assert your expertise on that topic and stand out from other articles in your niche. To do this, you need to take the time to research and write about your topic as objectively, thoroughly, and helpfully as possible.
I hope you enjoyed this article.
So, see you soon.
