Search intent and SEO will always go hand in hand, and it will be your best ally for your blog content strategy.
SEO goes far beyond algorithms, txt and robots, but in any process, even when it's computing or electronic, there will always be a human factor. And what does it consist of? In each person's search intent, which doesn't have to be the same; in fact, we'll see why later.
You as a user enter Google to find answers, of different kinds, but ultimately what you want is to know information about something. In this subjective part (since it varies depending on the person) is where building an SEO search intent strategy comes in. What's the point of SEO if they don't find you?
In this article you'll learn what search intent is, how to detect and interpret it and how to optimize search intent to satisfy the needs users search for through the internet daily, whether about doubts, opinions, knowledge and much more.
In summary, it's what a user wants to find and searches for through search engines, not only Google, since there are platforms like Youtube or Yahoo that also have search engines and users with search intents.
The reason we use Google as an example is because it's the most-used search engine in the world. In fact, it would be strange if you hadn't found us by searching "Search intent" through Google.
Let's take an example:
- If I search "Keyword research for beginners", most likely content focused on giving us advice, tips, courses and how to do it will appear.
- "Advanced keyword research master" shouldn't appear, for example, because the user searching this wants to know information about it in an initial way, not advanced.
Although this may seem obvious to you, the key to search intent is that you have the ability to rank by giving the answer to the question being thrown at the search engine.
That said, search intent can be of several types, and these serve to resolve different user search intents. We can work search intent through the following types:
Types of search intent
Informational search intent
In this type of search intent, the user searches the search engine to satisfy a need: resolve a doubt by getting informed about a specific topic. In this phase, believe it or not, as users we're still trying to understand what kind of need we have.
Navigational search intent
This type of search intent is when you, as a user, know perfectly where you're going, and you reach that place through the search engine. For example, if you want basketball shoes because you're a player, you'll probably go directly to the Nike store to buy yourself basketball shoes.
This type of search intent usually goes associated with the brand.
Transactional search intent
This search intent is common when you as a user have already informed yourself and collected the information you need to know about a specific topic. Once informational search intent has been satisfied, it's usually time to move on to the transactional, and here is when conversions come in, that is, in the Nike store case, you'll buy the basketball shoes.
Search intent: Does it influence the SEO section?
Obviously yes, Google and its intelligent algorithms strive to ensure that your search intent matches as closely as possible what you're really looking for. The search engine tries to understand your request as much as possible and show you those results.
In the past, SEO experts focused on finding keywords, but today we must focus on search intents. The user was put aside in favor of satisfying the algorithm; now it's the opposite, search intent prioritizes the user above Google's robots, and that's good!
Users don't want keywords, they want answers, and that's where you and your search intent strategy come in. Now comes the moment to connect the content about what I've told you.
How to find search intent behind a keyword?
Keyword research is vital for your SEO strategy. This is where we'll find the keywords with the most potential to improve our web project's traffic.
And yes, I know I told you search intent in SEO is more important than keywords, but this is where you must try to understand the search intent behind each keyword.
You can try to put yourself in the user's place (since you are one) and find that search intent that comes as close as possible to those users you want to find you, but hey, you can also help yourself with Google.
You can search Google for the keyword you want and observe the first results; those will almost certainly be the most closely related. That is, the first search engine results can give you ideas and let you analyze possible optimizations you can offer in your article.
If you work search intent well, the next time you search for that keyword you may be in those first positions.
How to focus and optimize my content for search intent?
Once you have your keyword study built and ready to take to your project, it's time to interpret that search intent that can be applied to your website. One of the key moments within this strategy is coming, the sales funnel and its development.
Here we face a dilemma, because search intent should have an informative part, to be able to create traffic, but at the same time serve transactionally. If for example you're covering the keyword "seo" (in the best of cases), those people who find you still don't know what they want to do beyond getting informed.
That very general word will take them to a more specific one, which will probably be a transactional search intent, and that's where conversions come in. This is where you have to make good use of copy, and adapt your title and subtitles to both informative and transactional search intent.
I give the following example:
- We want to sell our SEO course.
- People search "seo", but they still don't know what they're going to do.
- We create an article called "SEO course for beginners".
- This way we cover the informative part and pave the way for the transactional in the future.
- Maybe the initial search intent is to know what SEO is, but ends up being "SEO course", "SEO agency" or "how to be SEO", who knows, but you must be prepared.
In short, in cases like these you must use a broad set of topic concepts to cover more and reach different search intents. If there's more than one search intent, and it's well designed, it's quite likely you'll climb fast in Google's ranking.
Adapt to search intent
This is vital, since there are search intents that adapt better to some formats than others, and if you can identify and structure them you'll have a lot of ground gained towards the search intent you want to cover.
Imagine a user searches "seo step by step": What do you think Google will show them? Exactly! A list with the steps on how to develop an SEO strategy.
- You
- have
- to
- know
- how
- to
- interpret
- Google's
- signals.
Google usually shows this type of content through what we call "featured snippets", which in short is a box that appears in Google's first position when you search for something looking for a result; that's what we call "position zero" and is the ambition of many SEO experts, it's SEO glory made real.
Another possibility is what's called "Topic Clusters", which in short is an SEO strategy based on organizing several pieces of content into specific groups that in turn orbit the main topic you want to focus on.
The advance of Google's algorithm and its working system has made us SEOs have to roll up our sleeves and learn techniques that rely on contextualization. Why? Because Google is increasingly intelligent and capable of handling several requests at once, as if you were talking to someone.
The goal of this strategy is to structure your pillar article (main content) followed by 10 to 30 clusters related to the topic to be addressed. The cluster will link to the pillar and the pillar to the cluster; this way, you'll be creating a global network of content around the main content.
The Topic cluster is the perfect combination to generate traffic (through the main content) and attract conversions through this funnel via clusters and internal links.
But in short, the best way to work on search intent will always be to focus more on user experience and not so much on the wretched algorithms. SEO is more human than you think, and if you can understand your "buyer persona" no one will stop you.
That's what will get your business to reach the top of Google.
Related reading
- How to index your website in Google
- Ranking in Google: technique, content and authority
- Best SEO agency: real criteria
Shall we work together?
If you want to apply this in your company with a team that combines technical SEO, GEO and paid acquisition measured against the income statement, request a no-commitment audit. You can also check real case studies or read the public GEO baselines that Elevam Labs publishes every quarter.
