2. Determine search intent and identify the correct format
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 4:15 am
Search intent is what users are trying to obtain and what they expect to see when they type or express a query. Google devotes a lot of attention to programming algorithms to correctly evaluate user intent. It also encourages content creators to respond to such queries with relevant material.
The content format you choose, the message you convey, and the call to action you put in place should depend on the search intent of a keyword. Search intent can be divided into four types:
Informational search – someone is searching for specific information on a topic.
Navigational search – someone is looking for a specific page or website.
Commercial Research – Someone is considering a purchase and wants to research options.
Transactional search – someone wants to buy something.
How do you determine what types of keywords you are looking for or how to find them? It's very simple, there are special words that can help you:
Informational search: “guide”, “tutorial”, question words, such as “what”, “how”, or lists with “top”, “best”, “checklist” in the title (e.g. “best music festivals 2021”).
Navigational search: The name of a brand, product, or service (e.g., "ultra music festival").
Commercial search: Product-related terms such as "cheaper", "review", "comparison" (e.g. "ultra music festival reviews").
Transactional search: "buy", "price", "coupon", etc. (e.g. "ultra music festival tickets").
These are (some) words that will help you determine the type of search intent. If you are searching for keywords, for example, in the Keyword Magic tool , use the keyword filter to get a list of words relevant to your site.
Identify search intent with Keyword Magic tool
Additionally, you can use the Topic Research tool to find out what people are actually asking online about a topic of interest. This is primarily an informational intent focused on this case.
Identify popular user questions using Topic Research
The “mind map” within the tool presents a list of possible topics to cover. You can choose any of them to see the exact questions your audience is asking.
You can also type your keyword into the Google search bar to check if there are SERP features that can help you identify the type of keyword:
Featured snippets can indicate an informative italy mobile number example intent;
People also ask users may also indicate informational intent;
Site links may indicate navigational intent;
Google Ads may indicate commercial or transactional intent;
Google Shopping ads can indicate commercial or transactional intent.
Once you have defined your search intent and keyword type, you can now identify the best format for your content .
This is where a manual search can help: look at the competitor’s pages that are already ranking in the top 10 for your target keywords. Are they step-by-step guides or perhaps a list of different options? What action do the articles call for? What are their titles or how do they describe their article for search results?
How-to guides are most successful for informational queries. On the other hand, comparison posts can work for commercial queries, product pages for transactions, and category pages for ranking on keywords.
You can automate manual competitor analysis with the SEO Content Template tool from the Semrush Content Marketing Platform. The tool analyzes the top 10 search engine pages and gives you key recommendations based on those results: semantically related words, text length, and readability score. Also, the tool shows you what you need in a single tab: titles of the top articles and the context of the target keyword mentioned in the articles.
Analyze competitors for a target keyword
Need more topics for your content plan? Find out more and research topic ideas in our detailed step-by-step guide.b
The content format you choose, the message you convey, and the call to action you put in place should depend on the search intent of a keyword. Search intent can be divided into four types:
Informational search – someone is searching for specific information on a topic.
Navigational search – someone is looking for a specific page or website.
Commercial Research – Someone is considering a purchase and wants to research options.
Transactional search – someone wants to buy something.
How do you determine what types of keywords you are looking for or how to find them? It's very simple, there are special words that can help you:
Informational search: “guide”, “tutorial”, question words, such as “what”, “how”, or lists with “top”, “best”, “checklist” in the title (e.g. “best music festivals 2021”).
Navigational search: The name of a brand, product, or service (e.g., "ultra music festival").
Commercial search: Product-related terms such as "cheaper", "review", "comparison" (e.g. "ultra music festival reviews").
Transactional search: "buy", "price", "coupon", etc. (e.g. "ultra music festival tickets").
These are (some) words that will help you determine the type of search intent. If you are searching for keywords, for example, in the Keyword Magic tool , use the keyword filter to get a list of words relevant to your site.
Identify search intent with Keyword Magic tool
Additionally, you can use the Topic Research tool to find out what people are actually asking online about a topic of interest. This is primarily an informational intent focused on this case.
Identify popular user questions using Topic Research
The “mind map” within the tool presents a list of possible topics to cover. You can choose any of them to see the exact questions your audience is asking.
You can also type your keyword into the Google search bar to check if there are SERP features that can help you identify the type of keyword:
Featured snippets can indicate an informative italy mobile number example intent;
People also ask users may also indicate informational intent;
Site links may indicate navigational intent;
Google Ads may indicate commercial or transactional intent;
Google Shopping ads can indicate commercial or transactional intent.
Once you have defined your search intent and keyword type, you can now identify the best format for your content .
This is where a manual search can help: look at the competitor’s pages that are already ranking in the top 10 for your target keywords. Are they step-by-step guides or perhaps a list of different options? What action do the articles call for? What are their titles or how do they describe their article for search results?
How-to guides are most successful for informational queries. On the other hand, comparison posts can work for commercial queries, product pages for transactions, and category pages for ranking on keywords.
You can automate manual competitor analysis with the SEO Content Template tool from the Semrush Content Marketing Platform. The tool analyzes the top 10 search engine pages and gives you key recommendations based on those results: semantically related words, text length, and readability score. Also, the tool shows you what you need in a single tab: titles of the top articles and the context of the target keyword mentioned in the articles.
Analyze competitors for a target keyword
Need more topics for your content plan? Find out more and research topic ideas in our detailed step-by-step guide.b