This is an article “Boost Your Online Traffic With This One Tip” by Marc Primo Warren
Since the birth of Google Search in August 1996, the platform transformed from one that simply relied on plain text data and backlinks to today’s more sophisticated algorithms. Considering that the search engine comprises around 95% of the entire online consumer population, keeping tabs on a plethora of periodic updates is essential for any serious marketer.
Of all the hundreds of tips you’ll find out there when it comes to boosting your online traffic via search engine optimization (SEO), this one takes the cake: understand how search intent works before optimizing it.
Let’s break it down so you can better understand.
Why search intent is important
Like Google’s algorithms, the SEO game is also an ever-changing system that directly affects how your content will rank, acquire significant search volume, increase your organic traffic, and ultimately lead to conversions. These factors are what you should be measuring if you want to get the upper hand online against the competition because this means that your clients will see their sites rank to the top of the search engine results page (SERP) which can directly reflect increases in their leads and sales.
While it still is efficient to select the right target keywords in your content management efforts that can drive your site to the top of the ranks, optimizing your search intent results can prove to be more beneficial to you and your users. While target keywords can increase your ranking, focusing on search intent for exact matches can be highly satisfying to your audiences and help you build your online presence and following.
Understanding how search engines work
Search intent can be classified into two categories: finding information that is associated with certain keywords, and finding information about a topic.
However, users’ search intent can be further classified into several types as follows:
Key information
Often the easiest to spot, these search entries from users are usually entered in the search box to obtain specific pieces of information about a subject or topic. While they are oftentimes typed-in as questions such as: ‘What is the best coffee brand in the US today?’, they can also be in the form of fragments: ‘normal heartbeat per minute’.
Any answer here that does not satisfy the users’ question specifically and does not provide any reasons behind the answers will be flagged as a bad entry in the search engine’s algorithms.
General information
If a user enters a search entry that is too broad such as: ‘Beatles complete albums’, the search engine’s algorithms will further review the search intent and connect it with highly associated search results that make sense. For the example query, a specific number, titles, years of release, and brief descriptions per album will be a good answer that can satisfy the user’s query.
To optimize your search intent for general information queries, be mindful of including useful descriptions and definitions to your target keywords so that they can be associated with a user’s search intent.
Navigational queries
These types of search intent queries don’t necessarily mean that users are trying to find a certain place or map locations. Navigational searches are queries users enter on search engines to find a specific website or tool on the internet, usually if they know the exact domain of the website they are looking for.
Some common examples of navigational queries are login landing pages, news sites, or Google Analytics. For these search intent types, users won’t be looking for long meta descriptions or information passages and expect to see the exact website link they are looking for.
However, if the user is looking for more information about a particular brand or entity, then search engines will review the scope of the search intent and navigate the user to another landing page with more information.
Entity search
When a user’s search intent focuses on a certain name, title, or place, search results should include general information about the subject or topic rather than news stories that involve them. Sort of how you type-in some celebrities on the search box and find Wikipedia entries on top of your page. News items may appear concerning your search query but they fall at the bottom of your SERP and usually are considered out of the search intent’s scope.
Transactional queries
If you are involved in business, this might be the search intent type you would want to focus on the most to boost online traffic for your brand. These are queries that connect consumers to the brands they are looking for online and where all the selling progresses.
In terms of your content management, listing down a few expected search queries from your target market can help you narrow down which target keywords and content you’d include in your blog articles or social media posts.
Keeping in mind how both B2B and B2C users will first perform extensive research on a product before they make a purchase, using a clickbait like ‘Hurry, huge discounts today only’ may not be enough to get you a conversion. Worse, some social media platforms flag these types of headlines as bad content so better check their updated community guidelines from time to time as well.
What you want to do here is build your content according to your marketing funnel and make sure that your target audience is on a journey with you from being aware of your brand to being interested, to finally buying what you sell. Focus on answering search queries that provide solutions or address common consumer pain points and both your site traffic and online authority will soon increase.
Keeping things straight and simple
Studying these search intent types can certainly help you answer the most pressing questions your target audience has for you online via proper content management. Just make sure that you satisfy queries while also avoiding red flags that can weaken your rankings.
Think about how you would talk to Alexa when you need something and review how she delivers the best answer she can find online. That’s how artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved so far and surely, you can do better than that with some manual content management tweaks. But don’t come up with all the answers by yourself. Consult your team and marketing partners on how to best provide the right information to your target market across all stages of your marketing funnel.
Most of the time, all it takes is honest, genuine, and straightforward content with all the key information included to help your audience find you easily in the digital space. Of course, SEO will always be important, but the better you understand how search intent works, the better your chances at a higher ranking.
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