What is search intent and why is it important for SEO?

We recently released an SEO audit programme to help clients achieve their marketing goals with Google. Most of the audits we conduct focus on commercial or transactional intent keywords, providing insights into which search terms clients should target.

However, a common question that arises when we propose the idea is, what’s so important about pursuing these specific keywords, especially when they are already receiving traffic from other keywords?

Understanding the differences in user intent behind various keywords is crucial. Knowing why people use Google and how it works is valuable for your business and SEO efforts. Although driving traffic to your website is important, not all traffic is created equally. Certain keywords are more valuable than others.

By understanding what’s happening on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page), you can determine the best type of blog content to write, how to structure your landing pages, what your competitors are doing, and where to allocate your resources to achieve a positive ROI with SEO.

What is Search Intent?

In its simplest form, search intent is the goal or reason someone has when searching for a specific query (keyword) on Google.

Google aligns web pages with what they believe people want to see when they press enter on their keyword in the search bar. Depending on the keyword typed in, you will get different results nearly every time.

Let's say you type in ‘local plumbers.’ You would get results from different plumbing companies in your area. The intent behind this keyword is likely from a person (perhaps a homeowner or landlord) looking to hire a plumber for some work, potentially needing them urgently. These people are willing to pay for a service.

However, if you were to type ‘local plumber jobs,’ a slight variation of the previous keyword, you would get completely different results on Google. Listings from job websites like Seek would appear, and the ‘People also ask’ section would be filled with relevant answers about hourly rates and related topics. 

These are two completely different types of people searching slightly different key phrases on Google. Understanding these nuances from a business perspective allows you to get specific with your targeting, so you can better align with the services or products you provide and attract those who are ready to make a purchasing decision. 

Although there are millions of keyword variations, search intent can be boiled down to four types: informational, navigational, transactional, and commercial.

Informational Intent

Informational intent keywords are used when a user is seeking general knowledge about a specific topic. The search result pages for these keywords are often filled with articles that answer users' questions.

These keywords are important to target because they often have less competition and higher search volumes. This means you can attract larger amounts of traffic to your website with less effort. They are also valuable for building trust with potential customers, making them aware of your products or services, and capturing leads.

However, informational keywords typically have lower conversion rates than other types of keywords, as most people are simply looking for information and are not necessarily interested in purchasing at that time. This often results in higher bounce rates and lower engagement times, especially if their question is answered immediately.

Here are examples of informational intent keywords: 

• ‘’What is cold forming in steel fabrication”
• “Benefits of using sustainable building materials”
• "What is precision steel cutting"
• "Advantages of modular construction"
• "What is steel tempering”

These topics are valuable to include on your website, but sometimes the intent behind these search terms can be unclear, making it difficult to identify target audiences precisely.

For instance, someone asking a question about steel tempering might be genuinely curious about the topic but may not be interested in exploring related products or services. These keywords are crucial for building your website’s domain authority and are typically targeted in our monthly marketing programme.

Navigational Intent

Navigational intent queries are used by people who are looking for a specific web page or website, or searching for a particular company name.

Users of these keywords typically have a goal in mind and are unlikely to click on a different site. This means the first result usually receives the majority of the clicks.

These keywords often come naturally to web pages if basic optimisation is set up correctly. This means they can rank well for specific terms with minimal effort. Instead of actively targeting and ranking for these keywords, Google will understand the search term and prioritise the page accordingly.

Here are examples of navigational intent keywords:

• “Spark NZ login”
• “John Deere”
• “ISO 9001 certification”
• “www.mitsubishielectric.com”
• “CES 2024”

These are arguably the least important keywords to target, but it’s crucial to ensure that your website or business name appears on the first page when typed into the search engine.

You can check this by following this article here. If your business appears first, you're all set. However, if it doesn’t, I recommend having us take a closer look.

Transactional & Commercial Intent

Transactional and commercial intent keywords are search terms used by people looking to take immediate action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a service, or requesting a quote.

These keywords often include terms like ‘buy,’ ‘purchase,’ ‘order,’ ‘discount,’ and ‘subscribe.’ On the search results page, they frequently appear in the form of shopping panels and may include rich results such as prices, stock availability, and customer reviews.

Here are examples of commercial & transactional intent keywords:

• "buy industrial air compressor"
• "CRM software subscription"
• "best industrial robots for sale
• “business phone systems comparison"
• "purchase 3D printer"

If you are seeking a higher ROI for your SEO efforts, then targeting these search terms should be your highest priority. 

People searching these keywords are usually further along in the marketing funnel; they are often aware of their needs, comparing options (like pricing or reviews), or are ready to make a purchase. This differs from people searching with informational intent, who are still gathering information.

Although these keywords typically have lower search volumes compared to navigational and informational keywords, they are highly targeted and effective for attracting new customers. 

Since service or product pages generally focus on just one service or product, they can only target a limited number of keywords. Whereas multiple blog posts can cover a broader range of keywords that offer more opportunities for attracting search traffic. 

For example, on our website, we can only create 2-3 landing pages for our SEO services, but we can write 50 blog articles on various SEO topics such as this one, reaching a wider audience with informational content.

These pages are often harder to rank for due to more competition, and require more effort than standard SEO tasks. This is why we’ve developed a programme to assist with commercial keywords. Unlike the basic on-page optimisation, we do for our informational blogs, targeting these keywords involves extensive work, including competitor analysis, technical SEO, backlink acquisition, page speed optimisation, and more.

Why is Search Intent important? 

Paying close attention to the types of visitors to your website is crucial for effective marketing and SEO. 

For example, suppose your website receives 5,000 visits per month from Google but 99% of that traffic comes from navigational and informational keywords. In that case, you’re likely attracting people who are either familiar with your business or seeking general industry information. You are not attracting people who are ready to pay for a product or service just yet. 

While this traffic can still lead to leads, sales, and improved domain authority, conversion rates are often lower. I recently reviewed a website where most traffic was from variations of their brand name keywords, resulting in minimal new customer acquisition.

100 visits from commercial keywords can yield a higher ROI than 1000 visits from general informational queries.

How to identify Search Intent for your business

You may be wondering how to tell if your business's website is attracting buyers and ranking for purchase intent keywords, there are a few ways to tell.  

Use Incognito tab

Incognito mode allows you to search Google without your previous searches affecting the results. In regular browsing windows, past visits (such as your own business's website) might influence the search results and skew what you see.

For example, if you sell safety equipment and have product pages for items like safety gloves, harnesses, and goggles, check if these pages appear high in the search results when using commercial terms such as ‘buy,’ ‘sale,’ or ‘purchase.’ If you’re only selling in a specific country, include relevant regional keywords as well.

If you see your products or services listed on Google for these commercial intent keywords, it means you are effectively ranking for those terms.

Check current rankings in GSC

Have a Google Search Console account? Every website aiming to do SEO should have one. If you do, go to the official website and sign in to your account.

Once logged in, navigate to ‘Performance’ on the left-hand side, then click ‘Search Results’ and filter by the last 3 months. After that, click on the ‘Pages’ tab to see a list of your web pages with the most Google clicks. It’s common for your top-performing page to be the homepage. You can use the arrow at the bottom to view insights for every page on your website.

Consider URLs that include terms like ‘services’ or ‘product.’ This will give you an idea of which pages are getting clicks.

For example, one of our pages only receives 9 clicks out of 1.42k monthly search visits. This indicates a need to improve rankings for commercial keywords related to this landing page.

Get us to do it for you

You can always get professional help from us.

We offer SEO audits for a fee of $430. This audit identifies SEO opportunities related to a ‘seed phrase’ connected to a product or service you want to increase traffic for on Google. The audit covers various aspects, including page speed, authority score, backlink profile, on-page optimisation, and technical factors that impact search ranking. We also provide recommendations and address any issues affecting your website as a whole.

You can check out the details here to learn more about our audits.

Vanguard 86 SEO Services

If there’s one important piece of information to take away, it’s that Google search traffic is not created equally. SEO is a marketing channel, and understanding keyword intent is crucial for grasping this concept.

You need to understand the type of audience visiting your website to avoid missing out on significant opportunities. By understanding what’s happening in the search results for your industry, you gain focus and clarity to enhance your marketing efforts.