Keyword research is a crucial tactic in SEO strategy, but it isn’t just about the average number of monthly searches and synonyms. Now more than ever, search intent – the reason a user is querying a phrase – is the key to winning in search rankings. We’ve touched on this before in our post, Why Keyword Research Must Be an Ongoing Process, but let’s dive a little deeper, shall we?
Types of Search Intent
There are four types of keyword intent: navigational, commercial, transactional, and informational. While each of these can stand alone, we often see keywords that have a combination of two or more.
Navigational Intent
Like the explorers of old, we think of maps when we hear “navigation.” When a search engine user is looking for a location to purchase goods or services, their intent is navigational. These queries often end in “near me” or with a town name, and usually result in a street address or a local map featuring places marked with pins. For example, “sushi restaurants near me” or “where to buy bulk snack foods,” are search queries with navigational intent.
A user searching for a specific website also has navigational intent. They’re looking for the virtual location of the business or person online.
Commercial Intent
When a person is in the consideration phase of the sales process, their keywords have commercial intent. They may be looking for reviews, pros and cons, reasons to purchase, or a top-five list of specific product types.
For example, if you were looking for your first pair of running shoes, you might type “best running shoes for high arches” into Google’s search bar. This query results in a top-seven list, Reddit entries, and a shoe store’s best-of article, showing that Google understands this keyword to have commercial intent.
Transactional Intent
When a person decides to buy a specific product and searches for it on Google, this is transactional intent. For example, querying a specific brand and product name will usually lead you directly to that brand’s product page on its website, or a business like Amazon or a big-box store that sells that product. Google understands that most users who are looking for a specific item or service intend to make a transaction soon.
Informational Intent
If a person is looking for guidance, education, or more general information, their intent is informational. These queries could lead to news articles, how-to guides, government or educational websites, or an ecommerce blog post aimed at helping users understand a topic.
“What is the difference between silk and satin” is an informational query. Typing this phrase into Google’s search bar results in entries for a popular homemaking website, Reddit forums, YouTube explainers, and ecommerce sites focused on selling fabric. You’ll find a wider variety of content types, and often, an AI Overview or featured snippet providing the answer at the top of the search engine results page (SERP).
If you’re hoping to attract potential customers at the beginning of the sales process, focusing on keywords with informational intent and providing unique and helpful content is the way to do it.
Understanding How and When User Intent Changes
It’s important to realize that Google’s interpretation of search intent can change frequently. Google’s systems don’t just look at the definition of a word or phrase, but they also see how people around the world are using it that day. From seasonality to current events, Google’s algorithms consider the big picture, what people are clicking on, and how long they stay on the websites they click through to.
As a specific example, the term “u edge” on most days is understood to refer to a metal product. However, at the beginning of college semesters, googling that term results in locations for student housing called “University Edge.” We’ve seen an e-commerce client in the metals industry that normally dominated for that term tank for it every January and July because Google changed its interpretation of users’ intent from transactional or commercial to navigational as students searched for places to live near campus.
Current events can also change keyword intent. Taylor Swift famously (allegedly) used this to her advantage a few years ago when her use of private air transportation was highlighted by a group making a point about climate change. “Taylor Swift jets” was in the news. Then, the world-renown singer went to a New York Jets game, and the same keyword resulted in a totally different set of articles. While this example has little to do with ecommerce, it’s a fun way to illustrate our point.
How to Mitigate Fluctuations in Keyword Intent
ROI Revolution’s e-commerce clients felt the March bump in consumer purchasing behavior, followed by a slight slump in the beginning of April; our clients drove 6% fewer sales the first three weeks of April compared to the prior three weeks in March. However, there was a rebound at the end of April, with session and conversion volume returning to March levels.
Among our clients, B2B businesses had an uptick in March and conversion volume was steady throughout April, while there’s been much more volatility for our B2C clients.
Navigating the Challenges: E-Commerce Marketing Strategy Shifts
While you can’t control what’s in the news, the time of year, or any other external factors of everyday search, you can understand how user intent works, and how to guard against dramatic traffic drops when it changes.
One of the simplest things you can do is check which types of search intent a keyword may have. A query like “pillowtop mattress” may result in commercial or transactional pages (or both!) listed on the SERP, so you may want to have a page that represents each. Many SEOs will tell you not to have two pages that focus on the same keyword, but experienced SEOs understand that Google will choose the one that it thinks will most likely match user intent.
That said, you should not have more than one page per keyword per intent. Two transactional pages focused on the same keyword will compete against each other; don’t do it.
Always remember that keyword research is not done in a vacuum. There will always be changes in the SERPs, and knowing the potential causes will help you troubleshoot when you see declines in your keyword rankings. Being intentional about search intent means planning for those changes, so your website can more easily ride the Google roller coaster.
Need help with SEO strategy? Reach out for a conversation!
