Having knowledge about Search Intent is the secret factor to create an outstanding content strategy. Today, in this article, we’ll discuss the different types of search intent, how to determine the best search intent for your keywords, and how to optimize your content in the right way for search intent. First, let’s start from the basics.

1. What is Search Intent?

Search intent is the end goal a user has when he/she searching a query in a search engine, it’s the exact type of answer or resource a user is looking to receive in search results. We called it “Intent” because the search goal of the users is not always obvious from their query. For instance, if I search for something like “Honda Civic Cars”. Do I want to learn what Honda Civic Cars are? Which are the best models in Honda Civic Cars? Where can I buy a Honda Civic Car? Here my search intent is not clear, so it’s up to Google to interpret my search query and decide what kind of content to show in my search results. On the other hand, if I search something like “Best Honda Civic Car under $2500”, here my intent is clear that I want to see a list of Honda Civic Cars models. Most preferably with the purchase links.

2. Why Search Intent is Important for SEO?

Satisfying users’ Search Intent is the ultimate #1 goal of Google. Therefore, if you really want to succeed with your SEO and content marketing efforts, Search Intent needs to be a significant part of your approach. Actually, Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines are more FIXATED with Search Intent, and Google recently published a research report called “How Search Intent Is Redefining the Marketing Funnel” which simply showing us the importance of search intent. Backlinks and other traditional ranking factors are still important. But, if your webpage doesn’t satisfy the users’ Search Intent, it’s not going to rank in the SERP.

3. What Are the Different Types of Search Intent?

While there are endless search queries, we can categorize them into four primary intent categories:

1. Informational
2. Navigational
3. Commercial
4. Transactional

1) Informational Search Intent

You may have already guessed it, yes, searches with the intent to get information categorized as Informational Search Intent. These information search queries could be in the form of a how-to guide, a recipe, or a definition, and it’s one of the most common search intents, as users can look for answers to a vast number of different questions. However, not all informational search queries are questions. Users simply searching for “Jay Shetty” are most likely looking for information about Jay Shetty.

Examples of Informational Search Queries:

• “What is Adaptive Marketing?”
• “Robin Sharma”
• ”Directions to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport”
• “SEO”
• “Football Scores”

2) Navigational Search Intent

Sometimes users just want to get somewhere, both online and in real life. The users simply looking to navigate to a specific website or webpage, and it’s often easier to do a quick search in Google than to type out the URL., also the user could be unsure of the exact URL for a specific website/webpage. As such, these searches tend to be brand or website names. Besides, users can look for an address of a real-world place and google like Pizza Hut London.

Examples of Navigational Search Queries:

• “LinkedIn”
• “Ahrefs SEO Beginners Guide”
• “Facebook Login”
• “McDonald’s Melbourne”
• “Moz Keyword Research Guide”

3) Commercial Search Intent

Commercial Search Intent is also called commercial investigation. Users start their commercial investigation before they’re ready to make a purchase. Usually, they use search to investigate brands, products or services. In their commercial investigation, users often compare products and brands to find the best solution for them.  These searches queries often include non-branded localized terms such as “best face cream for winter” or “The Best Indian Restaurants in NYC.”

Examples of Commercial Search Queries:

• “Top Indian Restaurants in London”
• “Best Bodybuilding Supplements”
• “WordPress or Medium for the blog”
• “Best Dedicated Server Hosting Germany”
• “Ahrefs or SEMrush”

4) Transactional Search Intent

Users do transactional searches when they are looking to make a purchase. So these searches have words like buy, price, cheap, etc. Also, these searches are mostly about a subscription, service or product. Usually, these transactional searchers have a good idea of what they’re looking for. So, they look for places to make purchase means they search for a product/service page, with a straightforward layout, pricing, and a buy button.

Examples of Transactional Search Queries:

• “iPhone 12 Pro Max Price”
• “Expressvpn Coupon”
• “Buy Michael Kors Handbags”
• “H&M Men’s Shoes Sale”
• “Shop Mac Cosmetics Online”

4. How Does Google Understand Search Intent?

Google always wanted to satisfy users’ search intent to provide them with a better user experience. There has been a series of Google algorithm updates specifically aimed to give more importance to search intent. For example, RankBrain update back in 2015 focused on search query context like user’s location, search history, etc. Then there was BERT update in 2019, which aimed to resolve lexical ambiguity, learn new words, find synonyms, and soon there will be a MUM algorithm update that will be able to change/adjust the content in order to satisfy users’ search intent. But, if we keep these Google algorithm updates aside, there are three general factors that Google uses to understand search intent, they are:

  Context of Search Query

In simple words, context is the circumstance surrounding your search query like your location, language, current events, and search history. For example, if you were to google Australia on a normal day, you’d get a SERP result of regular pages from Wikipedia and the tourist resources. But, if you were to google Australia on the day it was hit by bushfires, the entire SERP results will change to the news coverage about the bushfires.

  The phrasing of Search Query

The more words you add to your search query the more clear and defined the search intent. When the search query is formed as a question using modifying words like what, why, how then the intent is most likely informational search intent, on the other hand, if the search queries have words like best, review, top then the intent is most likely commercial search intent.

  User behaviour

Google analyze the type of content most of the users prefer for the specific search query and promotes more of such content in the SERP results. For example, if many users search for “how to fix the blue screen on the computer”, and immediately switch video results to watch tutorial videos, then Google might consider including those video results into the main SERP results. This could be one of the reasons we see different types of content ranking for similar types of search queries.

5. How to Optimize Your Content for Search Intent?

Now, the trick is to find out the best content approach to satisfy each type of search query based on its search intent. For that, we need to have a proper strategic plan. So, let’s check out how to optimize the content for search intent.

1) Choose Your Keywords by Search Intent

When doing keyword research for your website content, just make sure that you have taken search intent into account. There is no reason to create informational content that targets commercial search queries, simply it’s a waste of resources. So, choose and split your keywords by search intent and add them onto corresponding content. There are many keyword research tools out there where you can use filters to identify keywords with specific search intent.

2) Generate Content Ideas from SERP

Now, you have the Keywords list sorted by search intent, so, it’s time to find out the best type of content to satisfy the users. As we already discussed, the intent of the search query and the search query itself are not reliable resources to indicate the type of content needed to satisfy searchers. It’s most common for two similar search queries to be satisfied with very different SERP results. Therefore, the only reliable resource to create the best type of content for a specific search query is to look at what types of content already ranking in SERP. With a quick systemic approach, you can identify which search queries are best satisfied with text content, videos, image galleries, reviews and so on.

3) Make Good Use of Off-Page SEO

Did you ever notice that certain types of search queries are best met with web 2.0 content and other off-page content? If that’s the case with your search query, then consider making these platforms a part of your content strategy. For example, if a certain search query is often met with results from YouTube, then consider creating a corresponding YouTube video and then have your YouTube channel connected to your website. This way you can get into SERP and still have some traffic generated into your website. Another platform you have to consider for local SEO and navigational search queries is the Google My Business listing, this will get your business into a GMB panel, local SERP results, and Google maps. Also, you have to join the Google Merchant Center and have your product pages validated with Google that will help you get your products directly into SERP results and have them featured for transactional and commercial types of search queries.

4) Add Your Website Schema Markup

Search results are getting more diverse and complex. We can see that there are knowledge panels, videos, featured snippets, rich snippets along with 200 other SERP features. All of these SERP features exist to satisfy very specific search intents of users, like searchers looking for brand information, products, recipes, answers to complex questions, etc. One way Google can pull this specific information from our websites is by relying on Schema markup, aka structured data. schema markup is a collection of HTML tags that are used to highlight the different types of content on our web pages. For example, if it’s a recipe post, we can use schema markup to highlight each ingredient, calorie, cooking time, the number of servings, etc. And Google can use this specific information about the recipe to create a rich snippet. There are certain types of search queries for which you have no chance of ranking in the SERP if you don’t have schema markup on your web pages. For other search queries, having schema markup is not essential, but having it may give you an advantage over your competitors.

5) Watch Out for the Shifts in SERP

SERPs have fluidity. You might have cracked the SERP with exactly the right type of content, but the entire thing might change a day from now. Google constantly introduce New SERP features, so, users may go to other types of content, and your competitors are always on the watch out to grab your positions. But, the fluidity of SERP is not a big problem, it can be an opportunity for you to rank better. Always, watch your rank positions in SERP results, and if you see any sudden drop in rankings, investigate the SERP, look for the change in the way Google satisfies search intent with SERP. Then modify your content accordingly. It’s not an issue to regain your SERP rankings if you optimize your content quickly.

 

Conclusion ????

SERP results have been changing rapidly. These days, we can see everything in SERP like blue links, images, videos, stories, featured snippets, products, etc. It seems like Google is experimenting with different ways to satisfy searchers’ search intent. If this trend continues, then it’s a good idea to optimize your content for search intent that will enhance your SEO performance, also help you rank better in SERP.

Hope you found this search intent guide helpful. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Today’s digital era is creating a new world, and more than ever, brands are prioritizing digital channels to connect with their target audience and drive bottom-line growth for their business. As a result, the demand for high-quality, creative, human talent and newfangled digital skills are increased.

For instance, every year Google fills more than 6,000 job roles. (Google receives more than 1 million applications every year but, hires less than 1% from them.)

Recently, QuestResearch Group conducted a Study at Kaplan University, and published the results in Forbes, found that:

“There is a very little number of people who believe in the work readiness of university graduates. And, just 6% of university trustees, 11% of C-level executives and 13% of U.S. adults strongly agree with statements about the work readiness of university graduates.”

Maybe traditional education methods failing to prepare our next generation for what’s really essential to succeed. That’s why self-built skills are becoming more and more important.

So, Good News? A university degree isn’t always a prerequisite to success.

In fact, big brands like Google don’t even require a degree and they’ve been open about online career certificates instead. Also, brands like Apple, IBM, Tesla, and even Hilton, Costco, Bank of America, Whole Foods are following the same and don’t require a degree.

That means you can get a great job without a university degree! But how?

You need to build real, market-ready skills.

5 Market-Ready Skills to Win a Placement in the Content Marketing Industry.

 

1. Having a Good Understanding of Brand Content Strategy

Unless you understand the mechanics of content strategy, you can’t get any content marketing job. The content strategy is barely 10 years old, but, the base foundations of its techniques go back hundreds of years.

If you’ve no idea about brand content strategy, there are six core factors that build a brand content strategy.

The Six Core Factors of Brand Content Strategy

1. Knowing how to define a content strategy and the different parts of content strategy.
2. Get to know your target audience and build a brand differentiation factor.
3. Discover a strategy to find and put together great keywords
4. Knowing the ways to build authority with a dedicated brand website
5. Knowing the tactics to consistently create well-optimized awesome content
6. Having an organized process and system to manage and maintain the content and content strategy (editorial calendar, promotional strategy, etc.).

The above six steps don’t sound light, right? Because truthfully, they aren’t.

If you’re new to content marketing but want to be taken seriously in this industry and build your skillsets, consider getting a mentor and investing in a course led by industry-best practitioners to learn how to build a content strategy. Another best way is to join an internship in a job where you can learn and practice real-time tactics to build these content marketing skills.

2. Having a Better Understanding of SEO

There are valid reasons why more marketers and brands are focusing on SEO:

• More than 90% of US traffic generates from Google – Especially through Google search, Google Images, and Google Maps.
• SEO helps to drive nearly 11X as much traffic as organic social media
• Nearly 68% of all online experience starts with a search engine.

Inbound SEO content is a win in today’s scenario because over the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 to present), Google search traffic spike up to 6 billion searches/day from 3.6 billion searches/day. In short, the number of people using Google to search for answers to their questions has increased to a greater level.

SEO skillset revolves around things like knowing how to write and optimize content for search, maintain and update older content, monitor your content performance, and effectively using tools like Google Analytics, Ahrefs, SEMrush and Yoast. Basically, companies that hiring content marketers are looking for a good understanding of SEO.

So, building your knowledge and skills in SEO is essential. To enhance your SEO knowledge you can find and follow SEO experts and take an SEO course.

3. Having a Great Understanding of Online Content

Can you quickly identify great online content?

If you haven’t sharpened your content recognition skills, you can’t survive in the content marketing industry for a long time. Brands are expecting their content marketing team to produce quality content. So, sharpen your content recognition skills and get to know how to identify good content across these content formats:

• Product Descriptions
• Social Media Posts
• Blogs
• Headlines
• Web Content
• Meta Content
• Emails
• Ebooks
• Case Studies
• Lead Magnets
• Whitepapers
• Video Scripts

Regardless of the industry, all of these above content formats are used across a wide variety of content marketing campaigns. So,  if don’t have good content recognition skills, build them by joining an internship at a content marketing agency, take a lower-paying gig in exchange for building your content- skills, or investing in an online content writing course.

4. Having the Ability to Do In-Depth Research

‘Sourcing a statistic” in your content isn’t working any longer.

You should know the ways to find the original study, plus make sure you’re never linking to anything that’s outdated.  For instance, if you’re sourcing a link to a study from 2019 in your blog post, depending on your industry, it’s quite possibly outdated and won’t add authority to your blog post.

You need to research a bit more deeply than an average person to find great sources and statistics for the content you build or manage in a content marketing campaign.

Statistics and facts matter more than before because now trust is one of the most important buying factors consumers consider when purchasing a product/service from a brand.

5. Commitment & The Ability to Stick with It

This is a simple yet most important trait for a content marketer.

Above all, the success of a content marketing campaign depends on the commitment of the person who is spearheading the campaign.

The founder of Content Marketing Institute, Joe Pulizzi has said that it takes 12-18 months to see the success of content. Also, Pulizzi said that one of the biggest reasons for content marketing failure is that the brands don’t have patience and kills their campaign too early, even, it sounds crazy, it’s the true fact.

If you’re heading into the content marketing industry, you should be committed and build your ability to stick with it until you achieve the results. Simply, be a proponent for a brand’s content marketing success.

Conclusion

There are many other content marketing skills. But, these five are extremely important content marketing skills to master. Now you have the path to build your content marketing skills. Once you built these skills, you’re ready to hustle your dream content marketing job.

Go ahead and prosper your career!