e-Why, What & How · 2021-08-31

What Is Search Intent & Why Does It Matter? – e-Why, What & How

What is search Intent

Online Search Intent refers to a user’s goal for a search, which can be a single word, a phrase, a task, a product, a specific Site or a type of video. With this knowledge, a digital marketer can better understand how to design relevant Content & offers.

Search Intent is a term used to describe the goals that motivate an individual to start a search on the Internet.

One of the most crucial things in the digital marketing world is understanding the intent behind a search. When one enters a keyword or an inquiry, they are looking for a product or service. For this reason, marketers must be aware of the intent behind the keywords used in order to make an informed decision about what they advertise.

Knowing your customer’s search intent means understanding the purpose behind their search query. The meaning of a word or phrase based on the intentions of the searcher.

In SEO, one of the reasons for using Search Intent is that it helps to understand & quantify what exactly a user is searching for, this way one can better deliver relevant results to a user that are more related to the Search Intent rather than the general keywords.

Why Does Search Intent Matter?

Search Intent is a straightforward concept, but it’s important to understand what each of the keywords do for a searcher when they’re out there in the world searching.

By quantifying the intent behind each keyword, you can get an idea of how your Site should be optimized for each type of search, & where you need to create more value (or encourage searchers to take action) to make them find what they’re looking for.

Search Intent matters because it is the expressed intention of the person who is searching for information on the Web. Some people may not know exactly what they are looking for, but they know how to express what they need. For example, someone who types “beef chorizo” may not know what recipe to use, but they know they want Mexican food.

By asking “How do people get information on Mexican food?,” you can make an educated guess about the person’s intent & gather the information you need to support their search.

When you get Search Intent for a keyword, it might make more sense to use a phrase instead of the single keyword because of the way searchers are searching.

How To Use Search Intent For Your Business

By now, it must have become clear to you that Search Intent is the measure of the intention or desire of an individual to find information on a specific topic. It can be measured by gauging the quality of the keywords chosen to search, the volume of keywords chosen to search, & the Content of the links chosen. It can also be measured by analyzing user behavior.

Now, how does one use it to better one’s business? Search Intent is the purpose that a user has when searching for something. “What is Search Intent?” “How to understand Search Intent? ” These are very good questions to ask yourself as a business owner in order to build a successful SEO strategy. The answer, of course, depends on the type of business that you have & the kind of Content that you produce, but I can tell you that there are several categories of Search Intent.

Content Marketing Strategy

Search Intent is the most important factor that you should pay attention to in all of your marketing efforts. Focus on increasing your blog traffic & search engine ranking with highly relevant Content.

Many businesses are starting to invest in understanding what users are searching for when they visit their Website, how they are engaging with that Content, & ultimately what this means for their business. This is no mean feat, however.

Businesses need to collect & analyze huge volumes of data, including search queries, how long users are spending on different pages, & even which page they enter and exit through. But the power in this information can be immense. It’s not enough to just have a great Content marketing strategy. You also need to know how to promote your Content. A lot of people do this the wrong way & end up spamming their blog with posts about different Content on their Site, including the things that they’re publishing.

Search Intent is the number one factor that we consider when creating Content. The 1st thing we do when designing a blog post or writing a guest article is to research what search terms are most likely to be used by the readers when they are searching for the topic of our post.

After we know what the readers are searching for, it’s easy to adjust our Content so that we can attract more people who are searching for the same information. All they want is relevant information that will help them with the decisions that they need to make.

To find out how your customers are searching for your products, services, or brand, simply set up a Google Alert for your company name. That way, you can keep track of how people are finding your Content & what they are saying about your company.

The following are some of the ways you can use Search Intent vis-a-vis keywords:

Start by typing in the search term you want to target. Determine the keywords you want to rank for. After that, come up with 3 synonyms for each keyword. Do this by adding the suffix -S or –ly to the end of each word. Use these keywords to create your title. You can also use them in the introduction & conclusion of your blog post. Use these keywords in your URL.

How To Determine Keyword Search Intent

There are 3 main types of keyword search intent: informational, navigational, & transactional.

The intent of a keyword search is determined by the words in a keyword query. When you think about how people search, you need to consider that they will typically use 2 different types of search terms: informational & transactional.

Think about what your potential customers might be looking for, or how they would search for your product or service.

It is important to try and determine what each of these types of keywords will be. Consider a general search term like “car maintenance tips” as an example. This would be a broad-based search term that anyone could be searching for.

On the other hand, an informational search would use more specific keyword phrases.

For example, “2007 Chevrolet Silverado tips” might be something a potential customer would search for in a car service or auto repair shop.

In an informational keyword search, the person wants to know more about the vehicle they are researching or trying to purchase. They are looking for specific information or advice about the product or service they are seeking.

Finally, transactional keywords identify items & services that a person will buy or try to buy.

For example, someone could be looking for a particular part or service on their vehicle. They might search for “Chevy Silverado parts” or “Pontiac G6 parts”.

In conclusion: Keyword selection is very important to search engines. They determine the most relevant Websites in a given search & then displays them in a Search Engine Results Page. Helping them is a factor called Search Intent. This is something that a business or a Website owner needs to be aware of. User Intent refers to a user’s objective for a search, which could be a single word, a phrase, a task, a product, a specific Site, or a type of video. A digital marketer who has this knowledge will be better able to design relevant Content & offers. Your marketing & SEO teams need to plan a Content strategy accordingly, to stay on top of the competition.

 Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I am an India-based Internet entrepreneur & Internet/digital/new media consultant. Old world journalist, author and communicator with over three decades of experience, I run my own firm, New Age Content Services LLP. We publish 5 Websites in the Internet, Web, and Tech domains.For a fuller explanation, go to www.newagecontentservices.com.
Sorab Ghaswalla
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