Glossary
What is Search intent?
Search intent is the reason behind a search: what the person wants to find, learn or do. Matching it is the biggest factor in whether a page can rank.
Search intent (or user intent) is what someone is really after when they type a query. Search engines work hard to match results to intent, so a page that answers a different question than the one asked will struggle, however well it's written.
The four common types
| Intent | The searcher wants to | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Informational | Learn something | "what is a canonical url" |
| Navigational | Reach a specific site | "search console login" |
| Commercial | Compare before choosing | "best seo tools for small business" |
| Transactional | Do or buy something | "buy domain name" |
How to read it
Search the keyword yourself and look at what ranks. If the top results are all step-by-step guides, a product page won't compete. If they're all comparison lists, so should yours be. The format of the results tells you the intent.
Using it
- Choose the page type to fit: a guide for "how to", a comparison for "best" and "vs", a landing page for a product search.
- Answer the question early; don't make the reader hunt for it.
- Keep one page to one intent. Mixing several usually serves none of them.
In Seovyn, when you add a keyword target you also choose its page type, so the article is written in the shape that search expects.
Related
- Keyword researchKeyword research is finding the search terms your audience uses, and judging which are worth writing a page for.
- Long-tail keywordA long-tail keyword is a longer, more specific search phrase. It has less volume than a broad term but is easier to rank for and clearer in intent.
- Keyword targetsThe searches you want articles for: adding your own, where Seovyn's suggestions come from, how it works through them, and why some are skipped.