Keyword search intent is a highly researched topic that can be very helpful with the optimization of a website. A user’s keyword search intent is the reasoning behind searching something. Search intent can come in all different forms, but there are four main types.
The first form being, informational intent. The user will make a search related to a specific query about a topic. They are motivated to answer a question or to gain a general understanding about a topic. The need to find this information is not super pressing, it is not imperative that the user finds what they are looking for. Usually the user will end up going down a rabbit hole and will end up learning more than they expected about their topic or they found something else that interested them.
The second form is navigational intent. This is very simple and straight forward, the user is just looking for a specific page. They could be searching for any type of page, but it must be for a specific page like YouTube or Twitter.
The third type is transactional intent. This is when a user is wanting to make a purchase, so they are looking for the specific item they would like to buy. The user may already know the exact product that they want, or they could have an idea of a product they want and they search for things that are like it with the intent to purchase one of those items.
The last type is commercial investigation. This is when a user is looking for some sort of product, but they are not sure if they will be making a purchase. They are maybe wanting to gain some sort of knowledge about the product or find what the best option is and then they will consider purchasing, but this is more of an initial research phase.
Search intent is something that is very important when you are creating keywords, you need to be keeping the user in mind throughout all steps of the way when you are building a website. User intent is something that will make or break how you website performs.
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It is important to note and understand the different kinds of searches there are and be able to recognize them. In SEO, if you are able to do that you will be able to much better understand the user’s intent when creating a search. This will allow you to better choose keywords and content that will match the user’s needs.
This post is really helpful in identifying the different kinds of search intent there are. I appreciated the distinction between transactional intent and commercial investigation, as they are very different and the keywords you’ll be considering are very different for each kind of intent.
I liked the last one, commercial investigation since most people do this alot. Look for a product but aren’t sure fi they are actually going to buy it. At least they know how to gain info about the product and than think of making a decision from there, very nice.
Thanks for breaking it down into these four categories. It was super helpful to see them all broken down like this. It has given me some more ideas for my own site! Especially the transactional, I keep forgetting while making my churches website for people that watch online will want an easy way to give. I will have to do some more keyword research related to that.
Great post! I didn’t even know about the four types of consumer intent. I remember (ask an ENTR major) being encouraged to take a psychology class and now, looking back, I understand why. You must understand the minds of your users and your customers.