Understanding Keyword Intent for Superior Google Rankings

In the world of search engine optimisation (SEO), grasping the concept of keyword intent is fundamental to improving your Google rankings. Keyword intent refers to the underlying purpose of a user’s search, and by recognising this, you can craft a highly effective keyword strategy that targets the right audience at the right time. In this article, we’ll explore the four primary types of search intent and how using tools like SEMrush can help you create content that closely aligns with user expectations, driving relevant traffic to your site.

Key Takeaways

  • Keyword intent is crucial for enhancing SEO and increasing Google rankings
  • Four primary types of search intent: informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional
  • Identifying and categorising keyword intent helps create more targeted and relevant content
  • Analysis of search engine results pages (SERPs) provides insights into user intent
  • Utilising intent analysis tools like Semrush optimises content creation and keyword strategy

The Essence of Keyword Intent in SEO

At the core of SEO lies the importance of understanding the user’s purpose for searching, commonly referred to as keyword intent. Recognising the type of information users seek allows for the development of content strategies that are more likely to satisfy user needs and preferences. This alignment between user intent and content relevance is fundamental for achieving higher rankings on Google and ensuring that the provided information or services are timely and pertinent.

Keyword intent can be examined from two primary perspectives:

  • User search purpose
  • Targeted content

Both perspectives are crucial in crafting a successful SEO strategy that meets user expectations and helps attain better search engine optimisation results.

To those who understand keyword intent, the gate to successful SEO is wide open. It unlocks the potential for creating meaningful, relevant, and purposeful content that resonates with users and elevates your Google rankings – Oli Corby, Founder of VIEWFULE

The essential components within keyword intent that should be addressed in an SEO approach are given in the table below:

Component Description
User search purpose Identifying the actual goal behind users’ search queries by understanding the type of information they seek.
Targeted content Creating content that aligns with users’ search intentions and effectively addresses their needs, expectations, and preferences.

Recognising keyword intent enhances your ability to communicate with your audience in a more meaningful and effective manner. Moreover, it enables you to identify potential gaps in the content you offer, allowing you to address them and optimise your website for better SEO results.

In conclusion, understanding the essence of keyword intent is a powerful tool for building a successful SEO strategy. It is the key to offering valuable content to users, catering to their needs and preferences while simultaneously driving higher rankings and enhancing overall website performance.

Types of Keyword Intent: Unveiling User Motivation

Understanding user motivation is vital for targeted SEO and effective content planning. There are four primary types of keyword intent that unravel the motivation behind user searches: informational intent, navigational intent, transactional intent, and commercial intent. Each type requires a specific approach to address the user’s needs and improve search engine rankings.

keyword intent types

Informational Intent: Providing Answers

Informational intent covers user searches aimed at finding answers or learning about a topic. To target informational intent keywords, content must be rich in information and provide assistance through diverse formats such as how-to guides, tutorials, or informative articles. This approach ensures that you’re addressing questions and catering to users seeking educational content.

Navigational Intent: Directing Users

Navigational intent is expressed when users search for a specific website or webpage. To meet this type of intent, it is essential to ensure that brand names or targeted pages feature prominently in the content, providing clear paths to the requested information or locations. A well-constructed website structure and easily accessible internal links facilitate user direction and specific website search.

Transactional Intent: Encouraging Purchases

Transactional intent signifies a user’s readiness to make a purchase or perform a specific action on a site. Content catering to transactional intent should focus on product or service pages, ensuring they are straightforward and informative. This approach facilitates purchasing decisions and leads to conversions through refined keyword targeting and streamlined user experience.

Commercial Intent: Facilitating Decision Making

Commercial intent is directed towards users comparing brands, products, or services before making a purchase. Crafting content like comparison articles or reviews that highlight different options and features can effectively target these users. In addition, delving into brand comparison, customer purchasing decisions, and product reviews can further support potential buyers in their decision-making process.

In conclusion, identifying and addressing the different types of keyword intent plays a crucial role in delivering relevant and targeted SEO content. By catering to user motivation, website owners can provide valuable information and assistance, ultimately leading to higher search engine rankings and more satisfied users.

Analysing SERPs to Decode Keyword Intent

Analysing Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) is a crucial step in decoding keyword intent and formulating an effective SEO strategy. When examining SERPs, it is essential to identify key elements that can reveal the users’ intent behind each keyword or phrase.

SERPs analysis

Noteworthy SERP elements that can help determine the type of intent include:

  • Shopping ads: These ads are typically indicative of transactional intent.
  • Reviews: They are often associated with commercial intent as they provide users with insights into products or services.
  • Instant answers: These elements usually signify informational intent, as they aim to provide quick and concise answers to users’ questions.
  • Site links: Site links are more frequently seen in navigational intent, as they help users find a specific website or webpage.

Observing these SERP elements can shed light on the intent behind users’ searches and aid in tailoring content creation accordingly. As these elements can differ for every keyword or phrase, it is essential to assess them individually.

For instance, if you notice your targeted keyword displays a significant number of shopping ads in the SERP, it is a strong indicator that users searching for that keyword have a transactional intent. On the other hand, if there are more instant answers or articles, it’s more likely to cater informational searches.

Understanding the various intent types within SERPs and aligning your content accordingly can substantially enhance your website’s relevance to users, as well as your chances of ranking higher in search engine results.

When examining SERPs to decode keyword intent, also pay close attention to the top-ranking pages and their content. This gives you an idea of the type of content Google considers relevant for the intent behind each keyword. Armed with these insights, you can create content that is both valuable to users and likely to be favoured by search engines for the targeted keywords.

In summary, performing a SERPs analysis is an essential aspect of decoding keyword intent and developing a successful SEO strategy. Recognising user intent and tailoring content to meet the different types of intent not only enhances the user experience but also increases your website’s chances of achieving higher search engine rankings.

Creating Intent-Based Content to Attract Quality Traffic

To attract and retain quality traffic through informational keywords, it is essential to create engaging and rich educational content that comprehensively addresses user questions. By focusing on intent-based content driven by keyword optimisation, websites can improve their chances of attracting quality traffic, increasing their visibility on SERPs, and driving more conversions.

Engaging Educational Material

Informational Keywords: Crafting Engaging Educational Material

Developing engaging material that caters to informational intent requires deep understanding of the target audience and their informational needs. Incorporating relevant subtopics, formatting the content appropriately, and providing up-to-date information are key strategies for satisfying informational keyword intent and enhancing SERP visibility.

Quality traffic is driven by intent-based content that caters to the informational needs of the users.

When designing content targeting informational keywords, follow these simple steps:

  1. Research the target audience – having a clear understanding of the target audience is crucial in delivering content that reflects their needs and preferences.
  2. Choose relevant subtopics – identify relevant subtopics to explore in greater depth within your content, allowing users to gain comprehensive knowledge.
  3. Format the content effectively – use headings, bullets, tables, and images to improve readability and make the content more engaging.
  4. Update information frequently – ensuring the information provided is current and accurate boosts credibility and trust with the audience.

Consider the following table that outlines the advantages of crafting engaging educational material for informational keywords:

Advantage Description
Increase in SERP visibility Content that aligns with user intent has a higher likelihood of appearing in top positions on Google’s search results.
Attraction of quality traffic By offering valuable content, you can attract users genuinely interested in the subject matter, who are more likely to engage with your site and potentially convert.
Enhanced user trust Providing comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date information fosters trust between users and the content provider, possibly leading to repeat visits and higher site authority.
Improved brand reputation Demonstrating expertise within your industry by offering engaging material can positively impact your brand’s reputation, positioning it as a trusted source of knowledge.

In conclusion, intent-based content plays a crucial role in attracting quality traffic, leading to enhanced search engine rankings and improved visibility. Through strategic keyword optimisation and a focus on crafting engaging material, websites have the potential to reach the right audience and provide valuable information to users, ultimately driving higher traffic and better user engagement.

Refining Your Keyword Strategy With Intent Analysis Tools

Keyword strategy refinement with SEO tools

Utilising intent analysis tools like Semrush can streamline the process of refining your keyword strategy and enable a more targeted approach to content creation. These tools assist in identifying the intent behind keywords and phrases, assessing competitors’ intent ratios, discovering keywords with the correct intent, and incorporating long-tail phrases. By leveraging such analytical instruments, you can optimise your SEO efforts and significantly improve your website’s search ranking.

“With the right intent analysis tools, your content strategy can become more targeted and effective, resulting in better user engagement and higher search engine rankings.”

To help illustrate the benefits of using intent analysis tools, let’s explore some key features:

  1. Keyword identification and categorisation
  2. Competitor intent ratio analysis
  3. Discovering the right long-tail phrases

Keyword Identification and Categorisation

Intent analysis tools, such as Semrush, aid in keyword research by identifying keywords relevant to your industry or niche. They also categorise these keywords by intent type, making it easier for you to align your content with the correct user motivation.

Competitor Intent Ratio Analysis

By examining the intent ratios of your competitors, you can gain insightful data to further refine your keyword strategy. A higher intent ratio indicates which keywords or phrases are more effective in targeting the desired audience.

Discovering the Right Long-Tail Phrases

Long-tail keywords can be a valuable addition to your SEO strategy, as they often attract more targeted traffic. Intent analysis tools can help you identify longer, more specific phrases with matching intent types, ensuring better alignment with user expectations.

Intent Type Important Features Benefits For SEO
Keyword Identification and Categorisation Keyword relevancy, intent-driven categorisation Targeted content strategy, improved user engagement
Competitor Intent Ratio Analysis Analysis of competing keywords, intent-driven insights Informed keyword selection, strategic advantage
Long-Tail Phrases Specific keyword phrases, intent matching Higher search rankings, targeted user traffic

In conclusion, the use of intent analysis tools can greatly improve the effectiveness of your keyword strategy refinement. With the ability to identify keywords by intent type, analyse competitor intent ratios, and discover long-tail phrases matching user search motivations, you have the ingredients for a potent SEO strategy. By focusing on the right keywords and creating intent-driven content, you can achieve better search engine rankings and draw quality traffic to your website.

Conclusion

Understanding the concept of keyword intent is essential for achieving SEO success and improving your Google rankings. By developing a strategic content plan that takes into account different search intents, you can align your content with user expectations and increase its relevance and authority in the eyes of both search engines and users.

As you incorporate these approaches into your content planning, you may notice better SERP positions over time, driving more traffic and potentially leading to more conversions. Whether you’re targeting informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional intent, being able to decode the user’s motivation behind their search queries will set you on the path towards SEO success.

Remember to utilise intent analysis tools, like Semrush, to refine your keyword strategy and gain a deeper understanding of the intent behind keywords and phrases. These tools allow for a more targeted approach to content creation and ensure that your efforts align with the needs and preferences of your audience.

As you continue on your SEO journey, keep in mind the importance of strategic content planning aimed at satisfying keyword intent. With a consistent focus on understanding and addressing user motivation, you can contribute to your website’s upward trajectory in Google rankings and overall online presence. To help realise your digital ambitions, reach out to us for your FREE Consultation today!

FAQ

What is keyword intent and why is it important for SEO?

Keyword intent refers to the purpose behind a user’s search and is critical for crafting an SEO and content strategy that targets the right audience at the optimal time in their buyer’s journey. Understanding keyword intent ensures that your content aligns with user expectations and ultimately helps improve your website’s ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).

What are the four primary types of search intent?

The four primary types of search intent are informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional. Each intent requires specific content to meet user goals and improve chances of ranking higher on SERPs.

How can I identify keyword intent when creating content?

Analyse Google’s SERPs to gain insights into what the search engine believes is the user’s intent behind each keyword or phrase. Observing SERP elements like shopping ads, reviews, instant answers, or site links can help determine the intent and guide the content creation process accordingly. Tools like Semrush can also aid in identifying and categorising keyword intent.

What are some strategies for satisfying informational keyword intent?

To satisfy informational keyword intent, create engaging and rich educational content that comprehensively addresses user questions. Incorporate relevant subtopics, format the content appropriately, and provide up-to-date information to enhance SERP visibility.

How can I refine my keyword strategy using intent analysis tools?

Intent analysis tools like Semrush can help streamline the process of refining your keyword strategy by identifying the intent behind keywords and phrases. These tools enable a more targeted approach to content creation, allowing you to assess competitors’ intent ratios, discover keywords with the correct intent, and incorporate long-tail phrases effectively.

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Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – How to Get on the First Page of Google Part 1

Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is arguably the most important way to drive targeted traffic to your website. This is because SEO leads to improved ranking in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Every business wants to be on Page 1 of Google, but with only limited places – they can’t all be there.

Read on to learn some effective SEO strategies that can help earn you a coveted spot on Page 1 of Google and start reaping the rewards! 

SEO delivers targeted traffic to your website that you need to succeed online.

Did you know that 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine? That’s a lot of people trying to find something. Perhaps they’re trying to find you. Wouldn’t it be incredible if you got on to Page 1 and were quickly found?

We think so and the numbers speak for themselves – The #1 result is 10x more likely to get a click compared to the 10th. SEO will help to achieve this for your business.

Google Ads, along with other PPC marketing channels such as Facebook advertising, stop delivering the web traffic as soon as the ads stop running. Search engine optimisation solves this problem by providing a steady stream of traffic to your website 24 hours a day, 7 days per week – without all the ongoing cost.

SEO delivers ‘organic traffic’ to your website, it’s promotion that never sleeps.


Promotion that never sleeps and never rests is a dream come true for any business. This is the reason why so many people are desperate to have their websites search engine optimised.

The web traffic just keeps on flowing and it often improves with time as more content is added to your website, Google builds trust with you, and more site visitors come.

This article is Part 1 of a 5 part series written to teach you the art of Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO. We’ll cover the basics, right up to the more lucrative and rarer methods that get results.

Read every article and they will help you to improve your relevancy, target the right audience, and improve your search engine rankings. Get ready as we deep dive the latest techniques in 2023!

Starting with:

  1. Define your SEO Strategy

  2. How to perform Competitor Analysis

  3. How to Identify Keywords

  4. Keywords Do’s & Don’ts

  5. How do I Apply Keywords?

 

1. Define your SEO Strategy


how to define seo strategy
First, let’s explain what an SEO strategy actually is.
We’ll then provide you with some real-world examples so you know exactly how to create your own.

An SEO strategy will help you to achieve your digital marketing goals, this is a fact, so it’s vitally important you have one before you start anything. This is why it’s first on this article.

So, without further ado, what exactly is an SEO strategy?

An SEO strategy is defined as the process of organising a websites content – by topic – to improve the chances of appearing in search results.

Essentially, it’s the process you follow in order to maximise the opportunity to gain organic traffic from search engines, such as Google. This matters because organic traffic is precisely what we are aiming to achieve – your website needs a lot of it to succeed online.

An SEO Strategy will spell out exactly what you need to do – and when.


Being prepared with an ‘oven-ready’ SEO strategy, before you actually start doing or paying for anything, is really important. This is because it helps you stay on track when creating content which means it avoids you wasting time and money.

Instead of just creating what you think people are searching for, your SEO strategy will ensure you only create content that people are actually searching for. 

To save you time, here are some real-world examples of what an SEO strategy actually looks like. They are 100% free to download templates so why not take a look?

They have all been populated with examples of what companies, just like yours, use to define effective SEO strategies. Depending on your industry and goals, naturally SEO strategies can vary, but the core structure and topics often remain the same. 

Setting up a Blog and defining a posting schedule are often part of an SEO Strategy.


So, what topics should you cover in your SEO strategy? In no particular order, let’s start with these proven topics… get ready, there’s a few!

  • Define your Goals (What do you actually want to achieve?)
  • Describe your Customer Persona
  • Perform Competitive Analysis
  • Keyword Research & Implementation Plan
  • Align Content with Search Intent
  • Differentiate Titles to Boost SERP
  • Conversion Tunnel Optimisation with SEO
  • Monitor & Report on your Website Analytics
  • On-Page Technical Analysis
  • Content Strategy (including Video SEO)
  • Off-Page Link Building Strategy
  • Mobile Search Strategy
  • Local SEO Strategy
  • Core Web Vitals

Now you’re armed with real-world examples and topics to start thinking about, you can begin to write your own SEO strategy. Next, we’re going to dive straight in topic three on that list – Competitive Analysis.

2. How to perform Competitor Analysis


seo competitor analysis

SEO competitor analysis, or competitive analysis, involves researching your online competitors
thoroughly in order to understand their target keywords, content strategy and backlink profile (amongst others).

The reason you do this is to incorporate many of the things that are working for them into your own SEO strategy.

This approach is smart because it completely avoids guessing which keywords to target, content to create, or links to build. Instead, by researching your top 5 competitors, you are able to analyse what’s working well for them – and build upon that success.

An SEO competitor analysis can help you answer the burning questions such as:

  • Who actually are my SEO competitors? (Spoiler, it’s unlikely to be who you think)
  • What keywords should I target?
  • What does the competitive landscape look like?
  • What topics should I cover?
  • Where can I find valuable backlinks?

Behind every successful business, are hours of research.

Researching your competitors and answering similar questions is not a new concept. Long before you founded your own company, we bet you walked in to other competing businesses first or at the very least worked for one or two previously.

Reviewed their product offering, investigated their margins, reached out to some suppliers or perhaps even gained some inspiration from their branding too. No one, from the ‘Ma and Pop’ business down the street to the most successful businesses in the world – haven’t thoroughly researched their competitors first and you should be no different.

This is also true in the digital space and precisely why taking a long hard look at your online competitors is vital to fulfilling your SEO strategy. It is for this reason it features on Part 1 of this 5 Part series.

So, how do you research an online business? You use online software!


Two popular platforms right now are Seodity and SEMRush.

These are powerful SEO tools and even with only a 1-month subscription, they will help you to create an effective search engine optimisation strategy. All you need is a domain name to get you started, they handle the rest.

Consider these two companies carefully; we’d recommend choosing the one which better aligns with your goals so do compare the product offering as they do differ a bit.

Whichever one you choose – before you know it, you’ll have gained a vast amount of knowledge on your online competitors and be fully prepared what to do with it that knowledge.

3. How to Identify Keywords

keyword research for google rankings


Keywords are vitally important to any SEO strategy – even in 2023.
Choose the wrong keywords and your website will not rank well in search engines, it’s as simple as that. 

This means all the effort, and expense, would have been for nothing. So, what exactly are keywords?

Keywords are defined as the words or phrases you enter into a search engine, the goal being to find something – a product, service or maybe to answer a question.

Perhaps you are in need of a local florist, the keywords you might use to search for one might be ‘a florist near me’ or perhaps ‘wedding florists in kapiti’.

A keyword does not have to be just one word, it can be many. These are called ‘long-tail keywords’ and are used for one reason – to be very specific what you’re searching for.

Identifying long tail keywords and shorter keywords is vital for your website.

But they need to have search volume too, in other words, people other than you need to be actively searching for them as well – a lot. Ideally, you should aim to choose two or three keywords for each page on your website, different for each page and relevant to the content on it.


Why do keywords matter so much, especially with online marketing?


They matter because placing the right keywords on the right pages of your website can improve your ranking in the search engine results pages (SERPs). And, by doing so, increase your organic traffic.

Once again, this is precisely what you want to achieve with search engine optimisation. Web traffic is the life blood to your website and you need lots of it to gain market share.

Keywords differ in three main areas. These are:

  • Search volume: How many people are searching for a particular keyword.
  • Competitiveness: The Domain Authority (DA) and Page Rank (PR) of the sites currently ranking for a particular keyword.
  • Intent: What the user is looking to find when entering a keyword into a search engine.

By performing keyword research effectively, it helps you determine the best keywords to add to your webpages. They even help shape the content on those pages too so this can help with inspiration should you need it.

Seodity and SEMRush both provide you access to sophisticated keyword research tools. But, so does Google Keyword Planner for free… granted, it does have a steeper learning curve.

Whichever tool you use, they can all reveal the search volumes, competitiveness and the intent of your chosen keywords. So, now you have some keywords in mind, let’s cover the Do’s and Don’ts!

4. Keywords Do’s & Don’ts

keywords for seo dos and donts


Keywords need to be distributed around your entire web page.
Not all grouped up in one place or added too many times on a webpage.  

Too many keywords on one page is a practice known as ‘Keyword Stuffing’ and if you fall foul of it, your website will tumble down the search rankings. We’re talking cliff edge here.

Most SEO experts recommend that your keywords should appear in no more than 2% of your text. For example, if your post or page has 1,000 words, using your primary keyword less than 20 times should be safe.

However, this guideline is largely speculative as Google does not release official advice on what the optimal keyword density is so it’s best to play things safe and be conservative.

Once you have written the text and you’d like to check it for keyword stuffing. You can use this keyword density checker for free as a quick means of verifiying.


If in doubt, play it safe. Reduce your keyword density.

Another important thing to note, is to ensure the keywords are added in context.

Using our florist example from earlier, the following paragraph would be considered keyword safe as it includes the keyword ‘local florist’ in context and not too many times given the character length:

‘We are your local florist based in Paraparaumu delivering Birthday and Wedding flowers to your door, 365 days a year, 7 days a week. Bloomin Good Flowers are the trusted local florists on the Kapiti Coast for over 35 years’.  

One last thing to mention is that keywords change.

What is being searched for this month might not be next month, people’s search habits change regularly and nothing stays the same for very long.

So, it’s really important that you remember to keep up-to-date on your keyword research to keep the web traffic flowing.

We recommend, for most businesses, checking at least every 3-6 months. Some less competitive industries and regions may get away with performing it annually, but keeping on top of them either way is important to your success online – so don’t neglect it.

We offer some of our clients ‘real-time’ rank monitoring of their keywords, so reach out to us if you’d like to be aware of any changes on a daily or weekly report. This way, you’ll be first to know if the wheels are falling off!
 

5. How do I Apply Keywords?

how to add keywords to wordpress
Once you have chosen your keywords, you’ll need to add them to your website.

This is the part that can get a bit technical so feel free to reach out to us at this stage if you don’t have a website developer on speed dial!

There are 7 places you will want to add them to, ideally, but this will depend on the objective of the webpage as some might not be suitable.

They are:

  • Title Tag 
  • Meta Description
  • Meta Keywords
  • Page Content (incl. all the Headers from H1 to H6)
  • Link Text
  • Images ALT & Title Text
  • Embedded File Names (any attached files on the page)

So, how do you apply keywords?

If you are using WordPress, this task is surprisingly easy to achieve and can be accomplished by following this helpful video prepared by a Youtuber.

To start, you will need to download a plugin called Yoast SEO from the WordPress plugin directory and follow the in-app instructions.

Yoast SEO is completely free and provides you with the ability to add your keywords. Are there better options? Sure. But this is plugin is a great place to start and you’ll learn a lot from it with it’s shallow learning curve.

If you’re curious, there is a Premium plugin option for Yoast SEO which we would highly recommend if you can stretch to it. Infact, we used the Premium option in the image above. It will save you time and help you to gain more insight on applying keywords to your webpages – that’s a major win!

For other CMS platforms or Web Frameworks, please get in touch. Laravel, Joomla, PrestaShop, Magento, Drupal etc all require a unique approach to implement SEO effectively so it’s important it be done correctly.


Your next steps.

At VIEWFULE, we intimately understand the importance of SEO in 2023. As the internet becomes more competitive and millions more web pages are added each month, your place in the search results will change. It’s as predictable as the sun rising each morning. But to keep the right web traffic flowing to your website, you need to define your SEO Strategy, keep a watchful eye on your competitors, choose and apply the right keywords and actively monitor your rank in the search engine results. This powerful approach will not only maintain your place in the search results, but gain places too. Stay tuned for the 2nd part of this 5 part series so your Brand can benefit from the power of SEO and dominate in Google in 2023!



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