Define the purpose of the user search or Search Intent
The purpose of the user search is a topic that, if properly understood, can change the content strategy of our site. You might think that Search Intent is the same as keywords, but in fact keywords are only part of the search goal. This is why on many sites, despite the good content, the keywords and the purpose of the user search still do not match.
But what is the purpose of the search? Why is this so important for search engines and Google? Search Intent The core of the user experience and the important purpose of Google algorithms to evaluate the performance of websites. An issue whose role is becoming more prominent every day, and in this article we decide to examine it. If you are interested in understanding the purpose of user search, we suggest that you do not miss the continuation of this challenging article. Because we are going to get acquainted with the definition of the search goal, its types and optimization methods.
Define the purpose of the user search or Search Intent
Meeting the needs of users, which has become the most important concern of Google these days, is one of the hottest topics in the user experience in SEO. Meeting user needs is not just about optimizing keywords; Keywords are part of a very important concept called Search Intent. But what is the purpose of the search?
The user’s goal of the search is the concept of the intention that the user is seeking. Suppose you need mountain shoes for a nature tour. You tell your friend that I want to go camping and I do not have shoes, your friend will send you his own shoes. In this process, your friend pays attention to your meaning and tries to meet your needs. Google, like your friend, pays attention to the user’s search purpose instead of focusing on the keyword to meet the user’s needs.
The user’s target position of the search in the production of content tailored to the needs of users
Understanding the purpose of the user search helps us to understand the depth of the user’s needs and to provide the user with what the user really needs (even beyond that!). Producing content tailored to users’ needs is not just about optimizing a page for the A keyword. Our content should be produced according to the end purpose of the user to meet his real needs.
The user who is looking to buy mountaineering shoes is not interested in studying the types of mountain shoes or their applications, and the user who wants to know the characteristics of the best mountaineering shoes, does not need to check the price and model of these shoes; Understanding the purpose of the user search means paying attention to such topics. In the article ” Internal SEO ” there is a section called optimizing content elements, which we suggest you to take a brief look to better understand the continuation of this article.
Why Search Intent plays an important role in SEO?
As we noticed in the previous section, the user experience, the user’s purpose of searching and meeting his needs are completely intertwined and interrelated. That is, if we can properly understand the purpose of the user’s search, we will design our content according to his needs, we will create a good user experience for him and we will meet the real needs of the user. But what positive effect will this have on our site SEO?
To fully answer this question, we examine it in several different ways:
1. Google cares about the user’s search goal
Meeting user needs is so important to Google that in 2019 it unveiled the Rank Brain algorithm; Rank Brain is an algorithm whose core is based on understanding the purpose of the user search. So if we put the pieces of this puzzle together, I see that the better our site performs in understanding the user’s Search Intent and meeting his needs, the easier it is to pass through Google’s filtering algorithms. For more information, we suggest you read the article Rank Brain Algorithm .
2. Our site ranking gets better
One of the issues you may have encountered is the high bounce rate of the site. When our content is optimized for keywords only, the user will be logged out immediately upon entering the site; Because his need has not been met. But what if our content was exactly what the user intended? The story certainly had a different ending. If the user finds the content they want on our site, they will visit other pages and will probably come to our site next time. So what better way to improve a site’s natural ranking!
3. Our access to target users and real customers increases
Another aspect of content optimization for the purpose of user search is access to real customers. Content that is tailored to the user’s Search Intent has high conversion power. This means, for example, that if a regular piece of content could turn one in 1,000 visitors into a customer, the content generated for the user would need to turn 100 into regular visitors and 10 into our actual customer; This means more access to target users.
Now that the need to pay attention to the purpose of the search has become clear to us, in the next step we must be able to better understand the needs of different users; This is probably the most important and difficult part of our content production strategy.
Introducing the types of Search Intent users; Know the purpose of the user search
But we come to the most important part of this article, which is to identify the different types of search target users. In order to be able to optimize the site based on the user’s search goal, we must first know these goals. In general, Search Intent users are divided into the following 4 categories:
Search for information
Sometimes the goal of the user, or even ourselves, is just to get as little information as possible in the fastest time possible. Such as the weather in Tehran today, the traffic situation on Chalous Road or how to prepare chocolate dessert; So simple and fast. Google typically uses Knowledge Graph, Google Maps, Google Image, or Google Video to respond to these searches to meet the user’s needs as quickly and easily as possible.
Search to buy a product or service
Another group of search targets, which may account for the bulk of the search volume, is the search for purchases. Such as buying a laptop, buying coffee, SEO training services or language training services. For this category of searches, Google displays results that lead the user to different options for selection and purchase.
Search for research purposes
This group of sources is familiar to all of us and we use it a lot during the day. Such as searching for coffee properties, types of content SEO plugins, the best way to treat migraines and the like. To meet the needs of this group of searches, Google displays results that provide a more complete and detailed answer to the topic of interest to users.
Search with the aim of finding a site
But the last category is searches that aim to find a site. These searches are usually done by brand name or site name. For these types of resources, brand name SEO is very important, because it provides a great chance to be seen by users.
How to identify the search purpose of your site users?
Since we guess after getting acquainted with the types of Search Intent users, you want to know how to identify the search purpose of your site users, without wasting time, we will introduce you to two simple and fast methods:
1. Use keyword search tools to review keywords
If we have come to the conclusion that our content does not fit the needs and purpose of the user search, we should review our content keywords. It does not matter exactly what tool we use to search for keywords, it is important to be able to find phrases that are closer to our user’s search goal. In this case, Long Tail has responded very well in recent years.
2. Check the results of Google SERP page
Once we find the words and phrases being reviewed, we need to go to the Google results page and see what our competitors have done about it. We check the status of each competitor and list everything they have done, whether using images, videos, podcasts or even help graphs. We examine the content structure of sites 1 to 5 more closely.
When we compare the results of these two methods, in addition to identifying Search Intent users, the strengths and weaknesses of our content strategy will be identified. In the next step, all we have to do is fix the vulnerabilities and optimize the content based on the user’s needs.
In 2 simple steps, optimize the site content based on the user’s search goal
According to the results we obtained from identifying the purpose of our users, in the next step we must optimize the content of our site based on the real needs of users. In this case, we recommend 2 simple but professional steps:
step one; Rewrite metadata and content type based on the purpose of the search
We have found the keywords and phrases that align with the user’s search goal in the user search target identification step. Therefore, the first and most important step is to update the SEO title, meta description, H1 and H2 based on these words and phrases. This metadata reflects more than anything else our targeting for keywords. To increase the click-through rate, we must first tell the users with titles that the answer to their needs is on our site.
Step two; Write specialized content that is different and tailored to the audience’s personality
In the next step, we must be professional and different in the eyes of users. That is, we present our professional content in accordance with our user’s personality. Just be careful, professionalism and difference are not limited to the appearance of the site. The audience should be aware of the differences in the quality and degree of specialization of our content with other competitors. In this case, creating a good and memorable user experience is extremely effective. Strong content structure, accurate response to user needs and the use of different types of content to provide the most complete response to the user are also steps that we must take in this regard.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do we know if our content is relevant to our target audience?
With the help of Google search console tool, we can examine the behavior of the audience in the last 3 months. If we have a low click-through rate and a high bounce rate, we need to review our content.
How to improve the content of the site for the purpose of searching users?
- Identify the purpose of our users’ search.
- Pay attention to the content of competitors and find the content structure of their site.
- Get help from writers with good writing and catchy tone to produce content according to the personality of our audience.
- Use content optimization and SEO tools.
- Generate content that creates a better user experience for users.
Concluding remarks
Finally, we emphasize that you must understand the needs of your users when creating content that is relevant to the purpose of the search. Do the keyword research process more carefully and review your content at regular intervals to keep it relevant and quality. Discovering the purpose of the user search is not a difficult task, we just need to know the needs of our users.
