User intent is the foundational piece of strategic SEO efforts. We should align content with different stages of a searcher's journey and leverage intent-based strategies for better SEO results.
User Intent - also known as customer intent and search intent – is the primary reason behind users going to a search engine and typing in a query.
In the context of SEO, user intent refers to the goal or objective a user has when they type a query into a search engine. In simpler terms, it’s the “why” behind the “what.”
This is the pain, need, want or desire driving the user to take that first key action, entering a query into the search bar, no matter the platform.
There are distinct ways to approach user intent.
1. Leverage a user's journey stage position
Understanding the user’s search journey stage is vital for effective SEO.
Aligning your content to meet their expectations creates positive experiences and meaningful audience engagement.
Spotting journey stages isn’t easy, but users provide signals through their search behavior. As a content strategist or SEO, identifying these signals is crucial.
2. How to confirm where users are in their search journey & understand users' content expectations?
Check below the way you can spot user signals that could drive your strategy forward:
Users send clear signals through:
(1) The way they conduct searches
(2) The language choices they make when they search
Recognizing and acting on these signals within your SEO strategies is crucial. Simply acknowledging journey stages isn’t enough.
We must understand users’ content expectations in how they want to receive information.
Leveraging these signals is vital for creating valuable content at each stage.
When a search includes phrases such as “who,” “what,” “learn,” and ideas,” users are telling us they want to learn more.
Therefore, your content should focus on sharing knowledge and educating your audience about their problems.
Users commonly adapt their searches as they move toward being gain or product-conscious.
“Who”, “what,” and “why” are replaced by “best,” “compare,” and “for” queries.
Users are looking for brands to display their expertise as they seek help with the pain they now acknowledge they have.
Brand terms and product names will emerge within queries at this stage, so this needs to be reflected in your content.
When users search for specific products, brands and categories, highlight them in your content. This helps users at this stage, especially as searches become more focused and specific.
And finally, as users reach the end of the search journey and look to spend their money on a solution to their pain, expect searches to become focused on that purchase. At this stage, key drivers are “buy,” “discount,” and “price.”
Content should focus on these signals, guiding users to product, comparison, and other “money” pages.
2. User Intent and Keyword Research
2.User Intent and Keyword Research
The main goal with keyword research is to match search intent, so you’re providing customers with products/answers that match their needs—and are described accordingly.
SEOs can’t depend on keywords alone to rank on a SERP, Keywords need to be used in the context of user intent to be truly effective.
Historically, it seems that SEOs focused on terms with significant search volume or favorable seasonality. However, we must dig deeper into the “why,”.
When conducting keyword research, prioritize delivering value to your audience and addressing brand needs in the search journey.
Go after intent-based strategies rather than a random collection of terms with favorable search volume.
By adopting this user intent focus as a foundational piece of the puzzle, strategists will be able to see a wider landscape for their brands to inform strategy.
An example: Canva’s ‘color palette’ ranking strategy Canva, the design tool, leveraged user intent to improve their image rankings on Google. Instead of solely focusing on keywords and search volume, they recognized that users searching for “color palette” sought inspiration and ideas. By creating inspirational content aligned with this intent, their page now ranks favorably at the top of Google’s search results. This shows that understanding and matching user intent can lead to higher SERP rankings.
3. How to optimize for search intent
When a user enters a search query into a search engine, the goal is that they will find the content they need. When the results match their intent, the user is more likely to engage and have a positive user experience. This is why search engines like Google take keyword intent seriously.
Identify Search intent
It’s simple but important to start by identifying the intent before you jump into optimization.
There are 4 main categories we can use to understand the intent behind a keyword
Informational Intent: users seeking further information on a topic (eg. benefits of outsourced payroll)
Navigational Intent: users simply trying to access a resources (eg. mysdworx, sdworx login)
Commercial Intent: users looking for a solution that we provide (eg. payroll provider)
Transactional Intent: users actively seeking to make a purchase (eg. buy HR training)
Your website should target each type of keyword intent, though it will depend on your products or services and your overall content strategy.
How To Identify A Keyword's Intent To understand a keyword's intent, you can look for clues. Clues can be found below: 1. Review SERPs Features 2. In the keyword phrase itself 3. With a keyword intent tool 4. Use AI prompt - check the prompt of how to check keyword intent on AI article. 5. Analyze User Behavior and Click-Through Rates CTR Review analytics data to see how users interact with your content. High click-through rates on certain keywords may indicate that your content matches user intent effectively. 6. Consider the Context of Your Website or Content What type of content does your website typically provide? Understanding your audience and the purpose of your website can help decipher intent.
Know your transactional page for a certain type of query. So that you can create content that match user intent.
Think like your audience Check whether your content or current page provide the necessary info. searched for different types of answers and know what good results look like.
Review the SERPs Look at the search results and assess what already ranks. - What type of page is it? - What is the content like? - How does yours compare?
You might see that most of the content that satisfies search intent talks about something you’ve missed or formats things differently.
It won’t always be that obvious, but it’s well worth reviewing the SERPs and looking for similarities in the top-performing pages.
Analyze your current results (See the SEO Dashboard)
Look at your current ranking and click-through rate for your chosen query. If your content isn’t ranking well, this could indicate a search intent problem.
Examine your engagement metrics, such as bounce rate and time on page.
If people aren’t engaging with what’s on your page, you probably haven’t satisfied their search request as well as you could have.
To help with optimizing content, see if you can find a similar page with better engagement metrics and compare the differences. This can help you to spot opportunities for improvement.
Consider Mixed Intent Broad keywords with a high search volume may often have various intents, so think about your different audiences. For example: ‘iss payslip login’ – this is commercial intent When you see a mixed intent through the SERP, you’ll need to choose which user intent will most benefit you. For example SD Worx is selling the ISS software, so we will choose the commercial intent as it's more likeiy to align with the goals.
Examine ambiguous Intent Example: ‘ workforce management’ There could be different meanings behind the words they’ve used in their query, and they haven’t given enough detail to qualify this. Search engine will display both intent: 1. PAAs 2. A Commercial intent e.g workforce management softwareThis is quite confusing, but the likelihood is that there will be a collection of people searching with the same phrase, but behind that are two completely different intents. Search engines cannot tell exactly what the person intended, so they serve both results. If you want to rank, what do you do? The best option is to satisfy the intent you’re interested in as best you can, as you can’t change these mixed results.
Use AI to ask for Search Intent See Martech Guide here on how to use Ai for search intent.
Update Title Tags and Meta Descriptions to match intent Using the right language in title tags and meta descriptions can clearly indicate that your content satisfies the user’s search intent. This could help improve click-through rates as searchers can see immediately that your page will provide what they need. Including words like “buy” or “get” for transactional queries and “learn” or ‘discover’ for informational queries can help your result to stand out.
Use keyword clusters While you’re researching your search query, take note of keyword clustering. A single page rarely ranks for just one query, so keyword clustering tools can help create a bigger picture regarding search intent. So if your content is missing the mark, you can consider adding more detail about aluminum options and problems with the locks to fulfill that keyword intent better. Use answerthepublic.com for keyword clustering ideas.
Check the SERP features When you carry out a Google search, pay attention to the SERP features you see. Is there a People also ask box, knowledge panel, an image pack or a local pack? These features give an indication of the search intent. They’re there to help users find what they want so pay attention to what’s available. You can check your SERP features you are ranking on the SEO Dashboard.
Use the SERP features Now you’ve seen the search features, can you use these? For example, what are the PAAs shown in the search engine results? Could your informational content better satisfy search intent if you include the answers to some of these? Perhaps an image pack indicates that your content might benefit from more visuals. Plenty of video results could suggest that including your own unique video might enrich your page.
Use the right format Formatting is important in helping people process information and discover answers for themselves. And that makes it vital when it comes to search intent too. For example, if the user’s primary aim is to browse products, their intent will be best satisfied with a product listing page. Let’s say we’re searching “dresses for weddings.” Our aim is probably to look at the styles available and decide what we like and what will suit us. So it’s not surprising that all the top results are product listing pages: No other page format comes in the top results. This only deviates when more informational articles appear much lower down the results page. A category page that directed users to subcategories like midi, maxi, mini or different colored dresses rather than listing products would be less likely to satisfy the intent of this type of shopper. This is because they are unlikely to have reached that stage in their decision-making process yet. They don’t know what type of dress they need and are searching for inspiration, so while the overall intent is to buy a product, the micro-intent is to browse.
Include supporting entities The concept of matching search intent is straightforward, but creating relevant content that satisfies a user’s needs is much more complex. Intent and entities (location, people, businesses) are inextricably linked. Entities help search engines determine the meaning of content, and what content means confirms whether it satisfies a certain intent. The best way to demonstrate that you satisfy intent is to really understand the topic and the pain points of your target audience. Then, create high-quality content that provides solutions. To do this, you’ll need to research related entities and include them in your content, showing a depth and breadth of knowledge about the topic in question.
E.E.A.T If you really want to satisfy search intent you’re going to need some experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust. After all, if someone is looking for information on a complex or niche subject, they’re more likely to trust an expert’s advice over a generalist’s. You can optimize for search intent by improving on these factors. If you have a more experienced person available within your organization, ask them to contribute, review or fact-check your content. You can also expand on E-E-A-T factors by asking subject matter experts from outside your company for quotes, contributions or analysis.
Check your language and readability Just as using the right language in title tags and meta descriptions can be beneficial, so can carrying it through the rest of your copy. If you write in a way that demonstrates you’re answering a question or fulfilling a need to a reader, they are more likely to engage with your content and feel that you have satisfied their query. In some cases, this might be as simple as adding language that reflects the intent such as ‘buy now’ or ‘for sale’ within transactional pages. However, you might need to review the readability to make sure your content communicates clearly and effectively. Consider the words you use and whether they align with the intent. Address pain points directly and make it clear you are doing so.
Get human feedback Once you’re clear about the intent and what you’re trying to achieve, ask others to read and review your content for this intent. Do they feel it satisfies the intent? Can they suggest any improvements? After all, your content is for real people, so it’s important to get another perspective. This is ideal if you can get your page reviewed by your target audience. But if it isn’t possible, simply asking one or two colleagues to review your content might be enough to identify areas for improvement.
Get AI feedback If you’re short on time, or in a small team, you could ask AI to review for intent. It’s always a good sense check anyway and might give you some useful optimization ideas. For example, I’ve added some of my own content and asked ChatGPT to: “Create a list of search intent that it fulfills. List the intents in bullet points along with the sentiment”. This is a good sense check to see if it identifies the intent you’d aimed for. You can even ask a simple question like:
“Does this copy satisfy a transactional intent?”
And ask follow-up questions based on the response. This can help you to generate ideas for improving your content based on intent.
Check your calls to action Have you included CTAs in your content and do these match the intent? While “buy now” might be your go-to for transactional intent, you might use phrases like “learn more” or “sign up” on more informative pages. Review any calls to action to see if they support the intent. Adjust these if necessary.
Continuously improve Search intent and search engine’s understanding of it can often change. Like any optimization work, it’s best to keep reviewing and improving your top pages to ensure they still fulfill the intent.
Updated
No other page format comes in the top results. This only deviates when more informational articles appear much lower down the results page. 