User Intent and Search Engine Optimization (SEO): What Website Owners Need to Know

Search engine optimization (SEO) has changed since its late 1990s origins. While search engines continue to evaluate backlinks, they now look at other signals when ranking websites, one of which is user intent. By understanding the connection between user intent and SEO, you can align your website with search engines’ modern rankings algorithms.

What Is User Intent?

Also referred to as user search intent, user intent is the purpose of a search query. All search queries have user intent. It’s what a user is trying to find or access by performing a search query. User intent reveals what type of content a search engine user is trying to find.

Why Search Intent Matters for SEO?

Users don’t randomly perform search queries without some type of goal. Rather, they perform search queries to find content. The specific type of content for which a user is trying to find is expressed in user intent. Search engines will identify the search query’s user intent, after which they’ll serve the most relevant organic results for it.

Different Types of User Intent

While user intent is simply the purpose of a search query, there are different types of user intent.

Informational

Informational user intent, for instance, expresses the desire for information. Search queries beginning with “how-to” or “what is” typically have informational user intent. Users perform search queries with informational user intent to find specific information.

Local

Another common type of user intent is local. Local user intent means that a user is trying to find content about a local place or business. Search queries can contain either explicit or implied local user intent. Adding the name of a city or “near me” to a search query will often create explicit local user intent.

Conversely, some search queries have implied local user intent. Search queries for categories of local businesses, such as “auto mechanic” or “dry cleaners” have implied local user intent. Automotive mechanics and dry cleaners are common local business categories. Therefore, search queries for them have implied local user intent.

Transactional

Search queries performed by online shoppers may have transactional user intent. Transactional user intent expresses the desire to make a transactional purchase. Search queries beginning with a transactional word like “buy,” “shop” or “purchase” have transactional user intent. Online shoppers who are ready to make a transactional purchase may express transactional user intent in their search queries.

The Importance of User Intent

Why does user intent matter for website SEO? In the past, it didn’t matter. Search engines originally ranked, as well as served, websites to users based on individual keywords in their search queries. Today, search engines use advanced technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence to dive deeper into search queries.

With these advanced technologies, search engines are better able to identify user intent. Machine learning and artificial intelligence allow search engines to determine the type of content users are trying to find. Instead of processing each keyword in a search query separately, search engines will process all of the keywords together and as a whole. This advanced processing method provides context into search queries to reveal user intent.

How to Optimize for User Intent

To optimize your website for user intent, you must fulfill visitors’ needs by providing them with relevant content. The content published on your website should match the user intent of their search queries. After performing a search query and clicking a link to your website, users should find the content for which they were searching.

Keep in mind that user intent optimization isn’t the same as keyword optimization. Keyword optimization focuses on specific keywords, whereas user intent optimization focuses on the purpose of search queries and the keywords they encompass. Keywords are an integral part of search queries.

Google & Search Intent

According to research from Google, nearly one in seven search queries are new. New search queries are those that Google hasn’t processed in the past. Optimizing your website for user intent will help it rank for a variety of search queries, including new search queries. Optimizing your website for keywords, on the other hand, will result in fewer and potentially lower rankings.

Creating evergreen content can help your website rank for search queries with informational user intent. Most search queries have informational user intent. A study published in ScienceDirect, in fact, found that four-fifths of all search queries have informational user intent.

Optimize for Informational Intent

You can optimize your website for informational user intent by creating evergreen content. Evergreen content is timeless. It doesn’t become stale or irrelevant. You can create evergreen content that continues to attract search engine traffic for many years. For informational user intent, evergreen content is the perfect format because of its everlasting relevance.

Whether you’re creating evergreen or time-specific content, try to use a conversational and casual writing style. You should write content as if you were talking to another person. With a conversation and casual writing style, your content won’t target any specific keyword or keywords. Rather, it will provide value for all users whose search queries contain the user intent.

Optimize for Local Search Intent

If you own a local business, you may want to target local user intent. Mentioning your local business’s address in content pieces, for example, may help your website rank for search queries with local user intent. You can also use schema markup to help search engines understand your business’s location. With these local user intent optimization tactics, your website may rank higher for local search queries.

Other Types of Content

You can create other types of content besides text. While text-based articles and blog posts may consist of the bulk of your website’s content, you can supplement it with video content. Video content can satisfy user intent just like text content. Some users even prefer video content because it doesn’t require reading. Users can simply watch and listen to a video. Just remember to create videos around user intent and not keywords.

SEO requires more than just building organic backlinks. You must create top-tier content that satisfies user intent. If your website is optimized for user intent, it will offer a positive experience. Search engines may then reward your website by raising its rankings.