Identifying the intentions behind a user’s search intent can be incredibly difficult. However, deciphering it can have a huge impact on your SEO and even increase the quality of your keyword research.
Verbs and Nouns…why are they important?
Over 70% of search queries include nouns, proper nouns like “London” or “Jane” will often make up to 40% of this statistic. This, therefore, suggests that when formulating a query, users are searching with the intent to find a very specific answer.
This means whenever you’re creating content on your site, it’s vital to include proper nouns wherever possible in your keyword selection. Having proper nouns like “Brighton” in your keyword selection localises the search and makes it more specific to the user. An example of this would be “Buy a Kitten in Brighton” compared to “Buy a Kitten.” By using the proper noun of “Brighton” you lower the search volume and give a more relevant and localised search; helping to give users what they want, quick, easy and straightforward answers!
Again, using kittens as an example, verbs are also just as important in search queries. Searching for “kittens” will return primarily return cute pictures and videos of kittens. However, introducing the verb “buy” suggests why you want to look for kittens and helps Google to find you kittens for sale rather than just cute kitten pictures.
Verbs and nouns not only help us with localisation but can also help us to identify which intent type category users fall into.
How to identify intent types
As we all know you can find pretty much anything on Google. There are endless possibilities when it comes to formulating queries. Luckily, there are a finite number of categories they could fit into, making our jobs slightly easier!
Informational Intent
It is said that more than 80% of searches are formed with informational intent suggesting that people have a lot of questions and are looking for answers, fast.
Keywords with informational intent can be incredibly useful to develop content around. For example; searching for “How to do a keyword research” returns results which are predominately content which answers this question. Identifying informational intent in your keywords could, therefore, help you engage with potential customers when they’re looking for the relevant information; helping to increase the chances of them looking at your content or post.
Transactional Intent
This year alone, purchases online grew by 80% meaning that transactional intent within keyword researches has just become even more essential.
When searching online, users are specifying product names and including buying keywords such as “buy,” “discount” and “best price.” Identifying these in your keyword selection can be pivotal for your PPC campaigns as Google can recognise from these keywords that your ads are with a transactional intent and therefore produce shopping ads as a result.
Navigational Intent
Navigational intent involves searching for a particular website or page. An example of this could be entering “Innovation Visual” into the search bar rather than entering the URL into the browser’s navigation bar. This query will return https://www.innovationvisual.com/ as the top result.
Using branded keywords can increase your organic SEO rankings, drive relevant traffic and increase conversions. With this in mind, it is vitally important for your brand to look the part in the search results.
Should we be diving deeper into the structure of search queries?
The answer is yes. Through the use of grammar and focused vocabulary, we are able to access the minds of users and target more specifically. Optimising your pages with the right keywords and the users intent in mind can drive relevant traffic to your site, reduce your bounce rate and increase page clicks, which of course can all lead to having a higher conversion rate.
Still unsure?
If you feel a bit stuck and would like help with improving your SEO, get in touch with one of our team members who will be delighted to help you with your enquiry.
