Why Most People Are Wrong About Search Intent? (SEO Tips)

What is Search Intent? Why is It Important for SEO? How to Align with Search Intent for Better Results?

You’re creating content, but your organic traffic from Google is sh#t. Maybe it’s not because your content is bad. It might be because your content doesn’t match to what people search.

Google wants the best article that match to what people are searching. Being relevant is really important for Google ranking.

What if you were wrong all this time. You might not know how to make your content match to the search intent. Then you end up creating content that people aren’t looking.

But don’t worry…

I’ll give you all you need to know about search intent. You can read this article for lireally FREE without a paywall.

After you read this article, you’ll know how to make content that both people and Google like.

1. What is Search Intent?
2. Why is Search Intent Important for SEO?
3. Types of Search Intent.
4. How to Optimize for Search Intent.
5. Conclusion.

Before we dive in, don’t forget to save this article for future reference. Also, hit subscribe because you might not see me again.

What is Search Intent?

It’s simple. People type their queries/questions into Google. Your job is to provide answers to these queries. Sounds easy, right?

But how do you determine what users expect from the answers?

Well, if people search for “Netflix login”, it would be not good decision to create an article with the head keyword “Netflix login”.

The search volume is quite massive.

The intent for this keyword is lireally to access the Netflix website and then log in. Perhaps the user wants to watch Squid Game, Queen’s Gambit or story about nice guy, Jeffrey Dahmer.

All the traffic will land on the top 2 results for this keyword because the intent is so obvious. Take a look at position 3 in this SERP. From millions of traffic, the article only generated 2.1K visits.

If I were granted access to this website’s search console, I would probably see millions of impressions with a Clickthrough Rate (CTR) of 0.02%.

This is just an estimate. Impressions can be many times greater than total visits. So the CTR can also be much lower than 0.02625%.

Then you might ask,

“But sir… if I’m looking for brand awareness, I don’t mind having a lower CTR but millions of impressions.”

Yes, I completely agree. Go ahead and target this keyword if you find business value in it.

But if you have a website about cat food, then why bother spending your time and resources on something that isn’t relevant to your business, like this movie streaming service🗿.

So, before deciding what kind of article you want to write, you should ask yourself these questions:

1. What’s the purpose behind this query?
2. What kind of answer do they want? Navigate to the website? Make a purchase? Or maybe they want to learn something?
3. Can I satisfy this intent?
4. Does my website have topical authority to answer this query?
5. Does this query have business value to my website?
6. Did I lock the door before leaving?

Understanding search intent helps create content to target relevant keywords effectively. In the end you have to learn SEO before start writing articles.

Why is Search Intent Important for SEO?

Search engines really want to deliver the most relevant content to users. Why? It’s because search engines are free! If it’s free, that means the user is the product.

Search engines like Google aim to provide users with the best experience when they use their search engine.

Therefore, articles that best satisfy user intent will rank higher.

So let’s go back to the main question: Why is search intent important?

1. Higher relevance.
2. Get the best from the user experience.
3. More visibility for your website.
4. Better conversion.
5. Reduced bounce rates.
6. Build your authority.
7. Sustainable growth.

Types of Search Intent

There are 4 types of search intent and 99% of all search terms will fall under these categories: Informational, Commercial, Navigational, Transactional.

I know you’ve already guessed, even the category names are self-explanatory. But now let’s dive deeper into this topic!

1. Informational

This category tells us that the user wants to learn something. Your job is to help them learn what they want to learn. Whether it’s about a new phone, technology, fashion, pets, etc.

The informational search intent is pretty good for raising awareness about your brand/website. By targeting this category, you can establish your expertise and credibility on specific subjects.

Here are keywords example for informational search intent:

• What is web hosting?
• How to start my own blog?
• Web design complete guide
• What is SEO?
• What is cricket?
• How to pull a 10/10 girl no root.
• Who is Messi?
• Manchester united last premier league trophy.

After this, they became a mid.

2. Commercial

This category is positioned between informational and transactional. It’s when people spend time comparing things before they decide what to buy.

They intensely compare products to inform their decision making process.

I’m from a developed country called Indonesia. When I want to buy a new phone, I spend hours comparing phones within my budget, such as “Poco M6 Pro Vs Samsung A15”.

I want to understand their unique selling points, like OS updates, chipsets, gaming performances, multitasking, cameras and build quality.

Here are more examples you can explore to broaden your knowledge:

• Spotify vs Youtube Music.
• Tesla alternatives.
• Helio G99 ultra review.
• Paratha vs canai.
• The Halal Guys review.
• Best street food in New York.

3. Navigational

People want to navigate. People lireally want to find something specific.

As mentioned earlier, while the search volume for navigational keywords is likely high, creating content specifically for these keywords may be a waste of your time and resources.

Targeting this keyword forcibly would be useless. It’s like trying to shoot a bulletproof Superman, cast a genjutsu on Itachi, or give 100 dollars to Bill Gates.

Here are more examples for navigational search intent:

• Medium login.
• Amazon.
• Facebook.
• Wikipedia.
• Reddit.
• Chipotle.
• Burger King.

Position 1 on this SERP is Medium. The intent of this search is very clear.

4. Transactional

It’s when people want to take a specific action. That action is typically at the bottom of the sales funnel (BoFu). Whether people want to buy, find a discount, get free shipping, or sign up for a newsletter.

Most Google Ads campaigns will target this keyword intent.

The competition is fierce, so you may need to consider investing more in CPC (Cost Per Click).

But one thing I love about SEO is that you can rank higher on SERP for lireally free! Like I said, relevance is a key and SEO is a long long term game. Be patient and you’ll see the results.

Here are the examples for transactional search intent keyword:

• Rank math plans.
• Order papa johns.
• Watch how i met your mother.
• Mailchimp free trial.
• Buy coldplay ticket.

Bersponsor is the Indonesian word for Sponsored. That means the top 3 positions on this keyword are all from Google Ads.

How to Optimize for Search Intent

Now let’s go to the main topic. This step is very actionable. You can try this at home without supervision from an expert. No one is harmed by this process.

First, you should understand the marketing funnel. Second, you should know the 3Cs of search intent.

The rest of the process relies on common sense. Your success is determined by your effort and analytical skills.

But mainly is about “effort”.

1. Understand the Marketing Funnel

• Awareness: This is when customers find out about a product or service.
• Consideration: They compare different options, look at prices, and read reviews to help them decide.
• Decision: They choose one option and make the purchase.

2. The 3Cs of Search Intent

When you search something on Google, you’ll notice that the result is always the same.

There’s a pattern we can read. Most search results will fall under these 3Cs:

• Content type: Blog, video, landing page, etc.
• Content format: Listicle, how to, beginner’s guide, etc.
• Content angle: Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

3. Study the SERP (It’s Mandatory)

If the search results are dominated by e-commerce websites, it’s useless to create a blog post. If the majority of the results are listicle posts, then creating a how-to blog post is a waste of time.

The keyword “Alexa” is filled with e-commerce.

Google is a multi million dollar company. They have built their algorithm over the years and poured a lot of money into their system

They know the best results and what most people are likely to click on to satisfy user intent.

I’ve done SERP analysis on my pillar article. But now, just let me copy and paste so you don’t have to leave this page.

Using Ahrefs SERP Checker, we can find that the top 8 results mention “blog” in the title, and there are 6 articles in listicle format. There are also 3 articles in the top 5 SERP results that start with “How to” in the title.

Here’s search intent for “blog writing tips”. To rank well for this keyword, it’s best to make your article a “how to” list and make sure to include “blog” and “tips” in the title.

4. Find Subtopics From the SERP

How can you find a sub topic that is relevant to the search intent? As I mentioned, the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is important. It’s very useful to observe what works on the SERP.

You can also check the People Also Ask (PAA) box on the SERP and include relevant questions in your article that align with the search intent.

This is an example of a PAA box.

You can also use related searches to find more subtopics you want to cover. This allows you to become more creative.

Just remember, the only limitation is yourself 😊.

5. Analyze the Top Pages Topic

It’s useful to analyze your competitors’ articles. This helps you understand which topics are most relevant to the SERP. Therefore, please read all the top pages on the SERP you want to target.

Take notes and analyze the common topics among the top 3 articles, as well as the unique aspects of each article.

You can simplify this process using this free tool to extract the headings from the articles you want to analyze.

Just by looking at the headings, we can understand the big picture.

Do an analysis like this for the top 3 results or even the top 5 if necessary.

6. Create Better Content

Isn’t it obvious? It’s pointless to create content that fits the search intent if your article itself is suc*. That’s why analyzing your competitors is crucial in this process.

Imitate them, but create much better content. Add more information, data, real life examples, and provide a website with better user experience.

Personalize your article hook more. Different intents require different hooks. What I mean by hooks are the title and the opening paragraph.

If you feel confused and don’t know how to start writing a great title hook, I have tested and gathered over 100 title templates that can assist you in creating high quality title hooks.

Download this template.

I’ll discuss this topic further in a different article about the best copywriting for websites.

I don’t want to make this article longer. Now, let’s end this post.

Conclusion

In the end, we’ll understand that search intent is the most important factor for ranking. You can create high quality content, but if no one has ever searched for it, that means it’s useless.

You’re only wasting your time, resources, and mental capacity.

Learn SEO and don’t be afraid to grow. Always practice, practice, and practice. I hope you can go far in this field.

Bonus

Organic traffic is FREE and I’m going to show you everything you need to know about SEO. From keyword research to technical. In the end, you’ll be writing articles that rank #1 on Google. So let’s get started!

4 Steps to Create SEO Optimized Articles That Rank

THANK YOU!!!

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