How to utilize user intent searches for Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) ?

Did you know that understanding the intent behind a keyword is more important than uncovering those with the highest amount of volume? It all comes down to what the user is searching for. One user may be looking for the answer to a question, while another is raring and ready to buy. Understanding the difference with user intent will make or break your Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and content efforts.

What is User Intent Searches ?

User intent searches have to do with the reason why users conduct a specific search. Why do they search? Do they search because they have a question and want an answer to that question? Do they search for a specific website? Or, Do they search because they want to buy something?

Over the years, Google has become more and more able to determine the search intent of people. And Google wants to rank pages highest that fit the search term as well as the search intent of a specific search query. That’s why it’s essential to make sure your post or page fits the search intent of your audience.

How to utilize User Intent Searches for SEO ?

You want to make sure that a landing page fits the search intent of your audience. If people search for information, you don’t want to show them a product page. At least, not immediately. You’d probably scare them away. If people want to buy your product, do not bore them with long articles. Lead them to your shop.

Optimizing your product pages for more commercial driven keywords is a good idea. If you sell dog vitamins, you could, for instance, optimize a product page for [buy dog vitamins]. Perhaps you also have an article about administering vitamins. You could, for example, optimize that article for the search term [how to give vitamins to my dog].

It can be quite hard to determine the search intent of a query. And, perhaps different users will have a (slightly) different user intent, but still land on the same page. If you want to know more about the search intent of your audience, the best way is to ask them. You could make a small survey, containing questions about what people were searching for and make that survey pop up if people enter your website. That’ll probably give more insights into the search intent of your audience.

It is crucial to ensure that the content you are writing fits both the terms people are searching for, as well as the search intent of your audience. Make sure your post or page is informational, if people are searching for information. But lead people to your sales pages if they are prone to buying one of your products.

Search intent has a huge impact on how Search Engines rank content, delivering it to the users who need it most. By optimizing your content and Search Engine Marketing campaigns for intent, you are more likely to rank for target keywords and generate a positive ROI from your PPC ads campaigns.

Of course, there are other secondary benefits to optimizing for search intent:

1. You’re more likely to get visitors to visit other pages on your websites

2. Relevant content means you’ll see a reduction in bounce rate

3. Search Engines know to group relevant queries together, meaning you’ll expand your reach

Audit your content, on-page Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing campaigns. Look at the data from Google Analytics and Google Search Console in order to uncover low hanging fruit for better results. Create content and campaigns that match with the users’ intent and you will start to see better results.

iMarketology can help you for your Search Engine Optimization for your websites.

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