Search Intent: What is it and Why is it Important?

You probably already know that there are a number of SEO ranking factors. You should use on-page and off-page SEO to optimize your site and get higher rankings on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Well, now I am about to tell you one thing that you should never disregard if you aim to optimize your site. That is search intent.

What is search intent?

Search intent is simply the user’s goal in searching for keywords. User manifests their intention on the search query. While it seems like the user’s natural to use appropriate search queries that match his intention, some bloggers or business owners sometimes forget this in the process of optimizing their site.

Let’s start with the types of search intent. At least there are 3 types of that.

Informational

This is the type of search intent in which users want to get some insight into certain topics. For example, look at what we found for the “how many ethnic groups in Indonesia” query.

Yes, the feature snippets and other pages show information about that query. One thing that indicates informational searches is when queries contain question words, such as how, what, when, who, and so forth.

Transactional

Every time a user thinks of buying something, he is most likely to use this type of search intent. The search query used in this type usually leads to a bunch of e-commerce lists. However, it is actually more than that. If you want people to sign up or download something from your site, those are also examples of transactional.

As you can notice, the SERPs on the picture above provide the results of transactional pages.

Navigational

This is the type of search intent in which the user wants to reach a particular site/brand. For an instance, look at this.

In short, we sum up below:
Informational – know (something)
Transactional – do (something)
Navigational – go (to a particular site/brand)

How to optimize for user search intent?

First of all, congrats!

By understanding the precedented information, you have passed half of the journey of optimizing your site. Now, let’s focus on using this knowledge. Remember, your article should provide “the answer” for users. Yet how do users know so?

Collect data from SERPs

SERPs are the best place to match search intent. You can start by observing the characteristics of pages that are already on SERPs. Put some attention on what keywords and headlines they used. For instance, you want to provide an article in order to answer the “how to make a lasagna” query. Furthermore, you might want to understand user experience. This is the part you start to analyze.

Analyze data from SERPs

Analyzing means the process of finding out why some pages rank higher than others. Back to the previous example, people tend to look for a comprehensive recipe as well as fast to apply. It is perhaps because they are likely to search for the recipe when hungry and want to eat immediately. Thus, you better create a quick tip. If your recipe is 1 hour long while other sites provide recipes that can be ready in just 15 minutes, the users are likely to leave your site. Of course, that is going to make your site rank lower. Thus, it is really important to do an analysis. Good luck!