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By Ruchi Pardal
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15 Jul, 2024
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~ 7 minutes to read
15 Jul, 2024
~ 7 minutes to read
Struggling to get results from SEO? Chasing high-volume keywords might not be the answer.
The secret weapon of successful SEO companies is understanding search intent.
According to Semrush, by targeting the right keywords with the right intent, SEO experts can boost your website’s traffic by up to 30%.
Let’s learn how to reframe keyword research to prioritize search intent.
Keyword search intent is also known as user intent. This refers to the purpose behind a user search query.
It means what the users search for in the query when they enter some phrase in the search bar.
By understanding user intent, you can create content that meets your users’ and customers’ needs and requirements.
The four primary search intents are Informative Intent:
This intent means users are looking for information in their content. This usually starts with how, what, where, when, etc.
For example,
Navigational Intent:
Navigational intent refers to when users try to find a specific website or page. They already know what content they want and what page they want for their information.
For example, Facebook login and OpenAI blog
Transactional Intent:
Transactional intent refers to when users are looking to make a payment. These usually include the words buy, discount, purchase, deal, coupon, and many more.
For example,
Commercial Investigation Intent:
Users are researching products or services and considering a purchase but haven’t decided. They are looking for comparisons, reviews, or recommendations.
Examples include:
Traditional keyword research focuses on high-volume keywords to drive traffic to the website. It includes:
Volume:
Prioritizing keywords with the highest search volume to attract potential customers and users.
Image Source: Conductor
Competition:
This is mainly based on how many websites use the same keywords and phrases.
Relevance:
Ensuring that the keywords are relevant to the website’s content and industry.
Intent-based keyword research prioritizes understanding and addressing the specific needs and intentions behind users’ search queries. This method focuses on creating content that aligns with the user’s search intent, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. Key components include:
User Intent:
Analyzing the purpose behind search queries to create content that directly addresses the user’s goals, whether informational, navigational, transactional, or investigative.
Long-Tail Keywords:
Focusing on more specific, low-volume keywords that reflect the user’s precise intent. These keywords often increase engagement and conversion rates because they closely match the user’s needs.
Content Relevance:
Crafting content that matches the keywords and satisfies the user’s intent by providing valuable and relevant information or solutions.
The first step is to clear your niche. Make sure to know what area of expertise the website or business addresses.
For example, search “strength training, cardio workout, nutrition plan if you are in the fitness niche. This can help you cover the maximum area of interest in your niche.
Use tools like Google Trends, which allows you to find the best core topics. Also, it lets you know the current and latest topics in the market.
Image Source: FasterCapital
According to Ahrefs, businesses using core topics can easily find potential customers.
Use tools like Ahrefs, Moz, and Semrush to find relevant keywords for your niche and business. These tools also help you understand keyword volume, difficulty, and trends, allowing you to choose the best keyword accordingly.
For example, if you opt for a sports niche, then by using Ahrefs, you can find the keyword “best running shoes.” This has a volume of 40,000 monthly searches and a low difficulty score.
In short, this means that many potential users are finding this keyword, and it is easy to rank. As a result, this allows you to reach potential customers quickly. Also, you can get organic traffic on your site easily.
The third step is to analyze the search engine result page for your identified keywords to understand the search intent behind them.
To do this, use tools like MozBar. This helps you identify what types of content are ranking highly for your keywords.
For example, if you opt for the sports niche and find “how to lose weight” and find out that most of the content is in blog and article format, then the user is looking for informative content.
As a result, this pattern allows you to know the basic content strategy and helps you know the intent easily.
Refining keyword lists based on search intent is an important step in keyword research. This involves categorizing and prioritizing keywords according to the specific intentions of the users who are performing the searches.
For instance, data shows that 80% of searches are informational, while only 10% are transactional. This highlights the need to create content that addresses the majority’s informational intent.
Read more: 6 Effective Keyword Research Lenses
Reframing keyword research to prioritize search intent is essential for effective SEO strategies. Traditional keyword research often focuses on high-volume keywords, but understanding user intent allows for more targeted and relevant content creation.
Businesses can significantly enhance their SEO efforts by identifying core topics, using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to discover intent-rich keywords, analyzing SERPs for intent clues, and refining keyword lists based on search intent.
To determine the search intent of a keyword, analyze the top-ranking result on the search engine result page. Also, look at the type of content, such as whether it is informational, a product page, or a comparison review.
Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to do this. This insight into the search volume and keyword variations. In addition, the tools help you know if your keyword is informative, navigational, transactional, or commercial.
To optimize for search intent, start by categorizing your keywords, such as navigational, informative, transactional, or commercial intent. Also, make content that has detailed guides and articles for informative queries.
To optimize for search intent, use tools like Yoast SEO to ensure that your content is well-structured and keyword-optimized.
In addition, make sure to analyze the SERP results regularly to stay updated on changing user intent.
The best way to do a successful keyword search is to identify core topics relevant to your niche using tools like Google Trends. Use keyword research tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz to find keywords with high search volume and low competition.
Focus on long-tail keywords, which often reflect more specific user intents and lower competition. Regularly update your keyword list based on performance data and changing trends to ensure continued relevance and effectiveness in your SEO strategy.
Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and SEMrush to find high-intent keywords. Look for keywords with specific modifiers that indicate strong user intent, such as “buy,” “best,” “discount,” “review,” or “how to.” Analyze the search volume, competition, and SERP features to prioritize keywords with high commercial or transactional intent.
Furthermore, the top-ranking pages for these keywords should be examined to understand what content meets the user’s needs. Also, use tools like AnswerThePublic to find long-tail keywords that show clear intent and review your site’s analytics to identify which keywords are driving conversions.
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