Keyword intent today is a big part of keyword research

Keyword intent today is a big part of keyword research, and even though it is often overlooked or given less attention than it deserves. Understanding keyword intent is extremely relevant as it will help you anticipate and predict what a user will do based on their users.

To market effectively, you need to understand the way your target user is thinking and acting.

The exact wording people use in their search queries when they users, can offer some insight and can give you an idea of what they are looking for. This model is known as keyword intent.

If you clearly understand keyword intent and its different forms, it will help you ramp up your content strategy and to create content that supports with your target audience’s needs and preferences, and you will also use this understanding to optimize current content.

Keyword intent, search intent or user intent, is the fundamentally purpose behind a search query and describes the reason a user is searching for a specific phrase and the kind of information they hope to get from their search.

Why Keyword Intent Matters: The 4 Benefits to Understanding Intent

Keyword research defines the process of identifying keywords you want your website to rank high for in search engine results pages and is a fundamental part of effective search engine optimization or in short, SEO.

Keyword-targeted content tend to perform better than content that is not.

If you understand the intent behind a specific search, you will be better prepared to:

1. Create More Targeted Content

To connect with your target audience, you must have a good understand how they search. If you know who is most likely to buy your products or services, you can use the right keywords to attract their attention, even if they did not know about your business when they started searching.

Understanding the differences in various keywords’ intent can help you narrow down and identify phrases that are worth targeting.

By designing your website and it is landing pages around these keywords, will help you stand a better chance of attracting customers.

2. Perform Better in Search Results

Content that lines up with a keyword’s search intent ranks better on search engine results and that is a proven fact.

In the past search engines looked solely at text data and backlinks to determine page rankings but these days has new algorithms and ranking factors. The websites intending to satisfy user intent and the value of creating content that matches a user’s intent outweighs the importance of including specific keywords.

Search engines regard web page content holistically, looking for more appropriate information about who it would be relevant to. This means if you create content that matches search intent, you will see improved SEO results.

3. Get the Right Traffic and Leads

All traffic not the same, there is a vast difference between getting a great deal of traffic and getting a great deal of converting traffic.

Significant exposure is helpful in many ways, but your goal should always be to have more conversions from people who want what you have to offer. Understanding keyword intent, will help you find people who are most likely to be interested in your business.

Ranking for high-intent keywords increases your probability of connecting with your target audience, the people you are most likely to convert.

High-intent keywords bring in high-quality traffic.

Keyword intent is especially important when you are building a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign, you want your viewers to click on the advertisements leading to your site to increase your ROI.

If you optimize for the wrong keywords, you will not get the right kind of traffic to your website, meaning readers will not stick around or click on your ads. You want to attract people who are looking for your kind of content so you can generate more leads and conversions for your business.

4. Find Out Where Users Are in Their Buyer’s Journey

The buyer’s journey explains the path a consumer moves along before deciding to buy, starting with an interest in something, and then finally paying for it. Keyword intent shows you where users are on their journey.

The farther along the journey a consumer is, the more likely they are to make a purchase. Certain keywords are sending a strong signal of intent to make a purchase or act, while others not, you can use keyword intent to find people who are already searching for whatever you are providing.

When you target and optimize for intent that aligns with something you are selling, you can rank higher in search results and eventually have more sales.

The 4 Different Types of Keyword Intent

Keyword intent differs and you can think of it as:

 - Commercial Intent

 - Transactional Intent

 - Informational Intent

 - Navigational Intent

Commercial Intent

Keyword phrases with high commercial intent are those that show a user is ready, or at least getting ready, to make a purchase, they show "buy now" intent, even if the user is not at the end of the buying process yet.

This is the users are ready to convert to a service, purchase a product, but they are looking to find the best option before they pull the trigger.

Commercial intent signifies that people are at least getting close to the end of the buying process, so these search terms can be financially rewarding.

Transactional Intent

Transactional intent is almost the same as commercial intent but go one step further and indicates that searchers are ready to make an immediate purchase. They know what they are looking for but want to make sure they are taking the right decision.

Transactional keywords lead users to a place where they can choose their product, go to check out and complete the transaction.

Keyword phrases that include terms like "buy" or "discount" indicate that users know what they want but are just looking for the best possible deals before completing the transaction.

Since these terms signify that a buyer is approaching the end of the buying process, they are incredibly valuable keywords to target.

Informational Intend

If users are simply looking to educate themselves on a particular matter, their keywords will carry informational intent.

“How-to" articles tend to show up in results for terms in this category.

This type of keyword suggests that the user is not going to make a purchase right away.

The search query might give them information they can use to buy down the road, but they are not exactly looking to take any action, besides learning and educating themselves.

Navigational Intent

Search phrases have navigational intent when a user is looking for a particular website, they might describe the page to the search engine, rather than clicking on a saved bookmark or poking around a website to find the exact page they are looking for.

A navigational search can also help users find a particular brand when they do not know the URL.

Users with navigational intent rely more on the optimization of your website than keywords and already know what they want to find. You just need to know the right keywords to target, for them to find your brand. This might mean creating new pages or blog posts on your website geared toward those particular keywords and establishing a clear site structure.

Every type of keyword has its uses, but specific ones are more valuable to marketers than others and you can think of this as the difference between high-intent and low-intent keywords.

In conclusion:

High-intent keywords indicate the searcher is ready (or close to ready) to make a purchase. Keywords of this nature are usually transactional or commercial.

Low-intent keywords are those that indicate a user is not going to make a purchase yet. These tend to be keywords that are informational or navigational.

Informational and navigational keywords do not show high intent because they do not generally indicate a desire to make a purchase.

When it comes to conversions, it is the commercial and transactional keywords that show the most promise.

When you optimize your content for commercial and transactional keywords, you will more likely attract people that are already close to making a conversion.