4 Types Of SEO Keyword Search Intent You Must Consider For Your Website

KEYWORD SEARCH INTENT

When implementing your keyword strategy as part over your overarching SEO strategy, it’s so important that you select the right keywords based on where your audience is in the sales funnel. This requires understanding your audiences keyword search intent.

Different types of keywords reveal the SEO search intent (primary goal or purpose) of the user as well as how familiar they are with your brand when they make a search. For example, is someone searching because they have a question they’d like answered or are they looking to visit a specific website or are they searching because they are ready to buy something. The type of search a user makes shows where they are in the customer (user) journey. The customer journey is the process of realising you need something to the moment you buy it or book a call, and even after.

As a website owner of a website, you need to understand how someone gets from A to Z, from never having heard about you to buying your product or booking a call. That way you can create content for every step of the journey and select keywords that are most likely to end in a conversion.

KEYWORD SEARCH INTENT IN THE SALES FUNNEL

The customer journey in sales if often depicted via a funnel known as the ‘sales funnel’ whereby people who don’t yet know you become aware of you, enter the top of the funnel and begin their journey with you.

As people get to know you, they may consider your product and/or services and eventually make it through the journey, down to the bottom of the funnel and convert.

The higher up the funnel, the less familiar a person is with you and your offer and the more information they will need to build up their know, like and trust factor and make their way down the funnel. At the bottom of the funnel, the users search intent becomes much more intentional and therefore transactional (they’re ready to buy). Your goal is to get as many people as possible from the top of your funnel down to the bottom of your funnel.

To do this, you need to find keywords that relate to all stages of the buyer journey and place them on the appropriate pages of your site.

INFORMATIONAL (ATTENTION)

User is in the discovery stage and looking to learn more or has a question about a topic eg. how tall is Michael Jordon or why is baby skin so sensitive? Choose questions based or longtail keywords and place on your blog page. An example of a keyword phrase may be: Our top five tips on caring for your baby’s skin.

NAVIGATIONAL (INTEREST)

User is looking for a specific website or page eg. a Brand or Facebook login

Only worth ranking for a navigational keyword if your site is the one the user is searching for otherwise, they will leave (bounce out) e.g. Facebook. The user will directly search the brand or page they want.

COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATIONAL (DESIRE)

Search performed to compare something (combination of informational and transactional).

User wants to purchase soon but needs information to help them make the decision and get across the line. User is generally hitting your blog or products or services pages and searching for comparisons between your products/service and your competitors.

TRANSACTIONAL (ACTION/CONVERSION)

Search performed to buy something or take an action like book a call, so the user is generally hitting your product or service pages looking for your pricing or booking times.

Considering the customer journey of your potential customers or clients can really help them make their way from the top of the sales funnel right down to the bottom where they convert.

Understanding search intent and how to select keywords accordingly to this journey is crucial to SEO success. Be sure to consider these factors when selecting keywords for your website.