Identifying search intent - what are your users after?
Misunderstanding search intent = creating content that doesn’t match up to what your users want. But what is search intent, and how can you get to grips with it? 🤔
Search intent is what the intent of your user is when they type something into a search engine.
Do they want to buy a product? Learn more about a topic? Figuring this out gives you the tools you need to create landing pages that meet your audience exactly where they are.
There are 4 types of search intent
Search intent can be categorised into four core areas. Grouping keywords into these areas makes it easier to produce the right types of content.
Intent Type | Users Thoughts 💭 | Search Examples |
Commercial | “I’m interested in buying something, but want to learn more about it” | HP or Canon printer |
Transactional | “My wallet is open - I’m ready to buy something now” | Buy a HP laserjet printer |
Informational | “I want to learn something or find out more information” | What is a printer? |
Navigational | “I want to find something or go somewhere” | HP website |
Sidenote: the topic of printers may have been inspired by that one sarcastic af ‘Best Printer 2024’ article by The Verge that gave me a laugh, snippet here 👉
Right then, how do you identify the intent of a search?
Generally, you know what you want to find when you type in a search query, so putting yourself in the searchers shoes is a good place to start.
I know it can be tricky to decide what the intent of a term is without checking, especially if it’s a niche topic. So if you’re in any doubt, here’s how to decipher what the intent of a search is by dissecting the SERP (search engine result page).
Commercial Terms 🛒
Commercial terms target users in the middle of the funnel. They are aware of a product/service, and are considering their options.
Results for commercial terms will be…
Largely articles and guides
Comparison websites
Content towards helping users make a purchase decision
Transactional Terms 💰
Transactional terms target users at the bottom of the funnel. They are ready to convert, and are finding somewhere to spend their cash or sign up to a service.
Results for these terms will be…
Product pages
Product category pages
Informational 📚
Informational terms are searched by people right at the top of the funnel. They are in a research or discovery phase of their journey. They might never go further than this, but creating content that serves as a helpful resource (think E-E-A-T!) is the way to go when you want to rank for these terms.
Results for these terms will be…
Articles and information-led pages like how-to guides
Navigational 🧭
People searching for navigational terms are already somewhere in the funnel, and are already aware of the brand/place that they are looking for - they are just trying to get to it.
Types of terms classed as navigational include…
Login pages (‘Instagram login page’)
Brand/website names (‘BBC website’, ‘Facebook’)
A physical location (‘coffee shops near me’)
Mixed Intent
Some terms have mixed search intent. This is where the query is relevant for two or more types of information. For example, when I searched for ‘cactus’, the SERP showed me:
A Wikipedia page about cacti (Informational)
A knowledge panel with more facts (Informational)
2 ecommerce site category pages (Transactional)
It’s also common to see Commercial and Transactional results overlap. Recently, whilst researching the boat insurance niche, I saw an instance of Commercial pages (largely comparison sites) being mixed in with the top few results.
This is something users in the EU will see more prominently, as Google recently changed the way they displayed results to feature more comparison sites to comply with the Digital Marketing Act (DMA).
Optimising for different types of search intent
Okay, now you can decipher what the intent of a search is, I’ll give you some tips on how to optimise for different types of search terms.
Query type | Optimising for these terms |
Transactional | Create a product or service page (if you are selling relevant products or services) Focus on the user experience of your converting landing pages. Is it easy to make a purchase? If a conversion looks like a contact form submission for your site, can the form be located and filled in with ease? |
Commercial | Create relevant category page, buying guides, or other commercially-led content. Include helpful information, thinking about what users at this middle stage of the funnel would want to know. Include rich media where you can if it makes sense to. |
Informational | Create detailed content, not just for the query in question, but for supporting topics too. Build out clusters of related articles and other informational pages, and ensure internal linking is considered. |
Navigational | These are terms you will usually naturally rank for, but make sure the structure of your website is clear to help with this. |
Successfully creating content that ranks isn't easy, but starting with understanding what users want to find will set you up for more success than going in blindly.
Not taking the time to do your research about intent could mean wasting time, and ultimately, your website may not come across as authoritative as it could do if you are producing landing pages that don't fulfil the needs of your audience.
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