Search intent
how important is it? [2021]
Basically, it's quite simple: we've finally found a keyword, but how do you get the right content for it? How do I create the right page that corresponds exactly to what the visitor to my website expects? The search intention plays a very important role here and is the basis of good SEO texts.
Why is the search intention so important?
Search intent is absolutely not a ranking factor, but a basic requirement. It is the basis for how content must be designed on the website in order to be successful with search engines.
To be honest, what is the goal of a search engine? To fulfill exactly what visitors are looking for the most and then provide them with everything they need at the click of a button. And this is precisely why the visitor's search intention is so important, because the search engine now knows what the visitor is looking for and what they will search for next. The search engine, and therefore in Germany mainly Google, pays attention to the user signals in the SERPs.
And this is exactly where SEO and content marketing come in!
What types of search intentions are there?
SEO uses the study as a basis for this „Determining the informational, navigational, and transactional intent of Web queries“, which is divided into three (3) different areas in terms of search intentions:
- Informational (knowledge)
- Transactional or Commercial (act)
- Navigational (wanting to go to a certain place)
Google itself, however, publishes with the current General Guidelines / Quality Rater Guidelines (as at 2020) under point 12.7 four (4) different search intentions:
- Know & know simple queries
- Do & device action queries
- Websites queries
- Visit in person queries & user location
What is the difference between the classic subdivision and Google Guidlines?
Let's take a closer look at the classic allocation.
INFORMATIONAL
The intention here is to find the desired information during a search. For example, this could be advice pages, recommendations for action, instructions, recipes or similar.
TRANSACTIONAL
Transactional in this context means that the visitor wants to complete a transaction, i.e. either register, fill out a form or make contact. In the best case scenario, this ultimately leads to a conversion, i.e. a new customer or an order.
NAVIGATIONAL
For the "navigational" section, the visitor wants to go to a specific location. This can be a website or a local company.
But why does Google now divide this differently?
Basically, the only difference between the two categorizations is that Google is even more detailed here.
KNOW AND SIMPLE KNOW
The website visitor wants to find out more general information on a topic. Google becomes even more specific and differentiates again with "simple know" so that the visitor can also search for a specific answer.
"Vaterstetten municipality" (example for "know")
"When does the folk festival take place in Vaterstetten?" (example for "simple know")
DO AND DEVICE ACTION
Google also goes into a little more detail here. The intention "do" means that the visitor wants to achieve a certain activity or goal. However, it does not necessarily have to be transactional, i.e. lead to a transaction at the end.
In this case, "device action" is the search or the command to trigger an action using voice input.
Download an app (example for "do")
Google, download app xy! (example for "device action")
WEBSITE
The visitor's intention is to access a specific website or subpage.
"diemarketingarchitekten website" (example for "website")
VISIT IN PERSON
This search intention is location-based and in most cases leads to local results. The user is looking to find a location, such as a restaurant in their vicinity.
It is not always possible to clearly assign the search intent, so that there is also "mixed intent" or "multiple user intent". This means that certain search intentions can be assigned to several categories at the same time. In these cases, Google recommends choosing the category that is most likely to be relevant for the respective target group.
What is the difference between search intent and user intent?
There is actually a difference between user intention and search intention. User intention is the result or goal that the user or visitor wants to achieve. This could be the purchase of a carpet or something similar. However, in the first step, the search intention is more likely to serve to inform the visitor about something (informational). In the second step, a purchase decision is usually made (transactional), which ultimately leads to the fulfillment of the user intention, i.e. the purchase of the desired item or similar.
It is therefore important to differentiate between the two intentions, even if they are often lumped together.
1. EXAMINE THE SERPS
If you now take the keyword "glasses" and enter it into Google, you will quickly find out that Google only suggests "transactional", i.e. only pages for the purchase of glasses.
This means that an information page with only the keyword "glasses" would not rank.
2. ANALYZE SEARCH RESULTS
You can also take a look at the topic of "Autocomplete" on Google. Here too, Google already indicates the search intentions of visitors.
Here, too, you can usually quickly recognize which form of search intention it is.
3. EXAMINE TITLE
Even though there was an update regarding automated titles by Google in August 2021, the search intentions can often be recognized here as well. The snippets give a clear indication of what the visitor is looking for and which metadata or keywords are decisive for clicks.
In summary, it can be said that landing pages and their topics, such as advice pages, store pages or similar, can be easily differentiated in most cases. The exception here is also "mixed intent".
Text creation with the help of the search intention
It is important for the search engines that the user finds all the answers to the question he has at that moment, but also that the further questions he will have afterwards are answered.
It is therefore not enough to just leave a short piece of information on websites and fill the rest of the content with images, just because this may be more appealing to the visitor.
How can I cover multiple search intentions on my site?
Based on the information we have already summarized so far, it makes sense to address different types of search intentions for visitors, but also with the aim of being able to rank for different search intentions.
It is therefore important to know the search intentions and user intentions of my customers and target group and to create content for them. Because only those who provide the right content on their website will also meet Google's requirements. You should never forget that every search engine wants to be the best and will therefore only provide users with websites that meet the requirements that now exist.
Conclusion regarding search intent and importance for SEO
In summary, it can be said that a lot has changed in recent years and the search engine, especially Google of course, is becoming more intelligent every day.
The aim should therefore be to keep up with the pace of change and provide both the target group and visitors to the website with a website that is as comprehensive as possible. This should not only cover content that directly relates to my topics, such as service pages, but also gradually address more distant topics.
Good content will fulfill the user intention, but also the user intention and thus contribute to the success of my company.