You’ve probably never stopped to wonder exactly how you search the internet. You just type in a few words into the search bar and voila! Your answer comes up on the first page of Google.
But Google has spent a lot of time studying your searches, and the 3.8 million searches per minute around the world. They found that people use specific sets of words to accomplish different goals on the internet.
They call this “Search Intent”. It’s the “why” someone searches for something, and they have broken it down into four categories. Interestingly, these categories also track nicely with the stages of the sales funnel. Tapping into these intents can dramatically increase your business.
What is Search Intent in SEO?
Simply put, search intent is what you want to accomplish in your search. Do you want to find a recipe? Buy a new pair of shoes? Google has spent years figuring out the “intent” behind peoples’ search queries. And they found that there are four different types of search intent.
- Informational — This type of search is when people just want quick information or to learn how to do something. These queries make up the bulk of searches, around 80%.
- Navigational — People are trying to find a specific website. They type in “Facebook” or “Wells Fargo login”.
- Transactional — This is when people are looking to buy something. They have usually already made up their mind and are looking for pricing. They may type in the product’s name to get to a product page.
- Commercial Investigation — People generally know what product they want but are looking for the best one. They want to do more research.
How to Use Search Intent to Increase your Traffic or Sales
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Learn How →Depending on the goals of your website, tapping into search intent is a must if you want to grow your business. Creating content which hones into the desired search intent involves optimizing your SEO and learning which keywords correspond to each type of intent. For example, “Who is JFK” or “What is Incognito Mode” would denote an informational intent.
Someone searching for “PlayStation coupon codes” would suggest a transactional intent and someone ready to buy. Those looking for “camping tent reviews” or “Best smart TV” would be searching by commercial investigation intent.
If you are an e-commerce site and targeting the bottom of the funnel, you may want to create more product review and comparison posts. Informational websites may want to optimize for how-to articles.
Local businesses can benefit from a combination of intents including navigational (store location), transactional (pricing) and commercial investigation (best restaurants in Chicago).
How Neur Can Help
Our SEO experts at Neur have years of experience optimizing websites for search intent so our clients reap the benefits of targeted content. Our webmasters will work with you to identify your goals and create a blueprint for search engine optimization to encourage the customer behavior you are looking for.
