Satisfying user intent is the primary goal of anyone putting the content out on the internet as a part of the business strategy. If any user has typed a query into Google, he should get satisfying results.
What is Search Intent?
Search intent has become a buzzword in the world of SEO and has been described as a secret ranking factor. However, it is not very complex. Following are the different types of search intent-
1. Informational
Specific searches such as ‘how many calories are in a mango’ are typed with the main aim of learning the answer to that question, implying that the user is looking to learn about a specific topic.
2. Transactional
The users who are typing ‘buy iPhone X’ or ‘buy coffee maker’ on their search engines are trying to do just that, i.e. buying a product. There are many reasons a user will choose one retailer over another: the brand’s familiarity, the quality of the customer service, or the price. However, the intent behind the keyword is the same.
3. Navigational
All the searches, such as ‘Facebook’ or the ‘BBC News’ signal that your users are trying to get to a website they know. Thus, the users are trying to go from A to B, and Google is a quick step.
How to Implement User Intent in Practice?
You should make search intent a part of your strategy, and the following is the primary step that you can quickly put into action-
Choose Your Search Intent Framework
Many different models cover search intent and choosing the right intent for your website, and your business is the crucial first step into making this whole process a huge success. Using a marketing funnel as a search intent framework, you should put your business and marketing classes to work. Once you have chosen your framework, it is key that you communicate it to your team.
The Importance of Understanding Search Intent for SEO
It is essential to understand the search intent of a user to ensure that you are creating the best content for your audience. It is also necessary for your content to fit in with the user’s search intent for higher rankings and help you with the overall SEO strategy. If your content does not match each type of intent search your users make, then your web pages won’t be shown in the SERPs for those particular searches, and your audience will also not find your web pages.
Displaying quality content is essential but reaching the right audience is equally important. You should present the right content to the users at the right time.
Many individuals avail of the services of SEO Melbourne, which is a digital marketing agency that provides different types of SEO services to clients.
How to Define the Search Intent?
Following are the ways to understand the audience search intent-
1. Keyword Modifiers and In-Depth Research
Keyword modifiers are the words used in all the searches, adjectives, qualifiers etc. They make the search more specific, and so they deliver better quality results. All the relevant modifiers for the keywords to be optimized can be found through the in-depth keyword research. You should understand the variations of a keyword and also further investigate these and they will help you to uncover the different search intents around a keyword set.
What are the SEO Rewards for Optimizing for the Search Intent?
It is very essential to understand all the SEO benefits and rewards for acknowledging the search intent in your ongoing SEO strategy. You should optimize for search intent as it will deliver higher rankings in the SERPs as the content is designed to be better aligned to all the relevant searches. Optimizing content blogs and landing pages for search intent can improve SEO by-
- Reducing the bounce rate.
- Increasing the page views.
- Giving content the opportunity to appear in the answer boxes of the SERPs.
- Delivering wider visibility.
2. Identify the Inferred Intent
You should review what is currently ranking in the top 10 for the target queries and you will find out what is currently satisfying the user intent according to the search engines. You should also take a keen look at the disposition of the SERPs. There is an inclusion of different features such as the universal results, knowledge graph and the rich snippets which will show you what Google thinks all the users want.
If there is a map on the SERPs, the user is also likely to go look somewhere if there is mainly video or images and their query is better resolved with visual content. You will be able to do this manually by using different keyword research tools.
If you are looking to do this on a larger scale, you should analyze search intent in bulk with tools and manually validate this for your keywords.
3. Incorporate Intent in Your Content
You should communicate the importance of search intent to your content team and ensure they know why it matters and they should also understand the framework you have chosen for your company.
You should also incorporate search intent in your content briefs. User intent is at the heart of the content creation. You should also add a section for the search intent in all your content briefs template or forms and make sure the content team and anyone else who is creating these briefs is completely aware of the change. You should also include a definition of the selected intent for the content piece to keep the team aligned to you.
4. Measure the Value of Your Content
Different types of intent have different KPIs behind them and it is something that matters a lot. If you have specific goals for your content such as lead captures or sign ups, it is your duty to incorporate the right ones in your reporting model.
You should see to it that-
- You understand what your users are trying to do.
- You bring intent into your content.
- You communicate the value of your content.
You should take all the things into consideration when it comes to user intent.
