Many of us call Google our digital home, since we use it as home base to search for anything and everything. With that being said, if you are a content creator or digital marketer, it is your goal to find the best way for your ideal client to arrive at their desired destination-- your website or storefront. 

But you may be wondering how to make that happen. If you want to drive more traffic to your site, you will first need to start with search intent. The best way to think of search intent (or user intent) is the reason a person has for arriving at their intended destination. Think of someone entering a location into Google Maps they have never been to, or even a person who knows exactly what they are looking for and where they want to go. 

So when it comes to search intent, you have to walk a fine line between the

Grasping Your Searcher’s Intent 

If you are looking to truly grasp your searcher’s intent, you should create content that fits both the terms people are searching for, and the search intent of your audience. When you are curating content, keep in mind that Google wants to provide the user with the most relevant result for their query. 

Google’s success as a search engine relies on them providing exactly what any given searcher is looking for. If your website or webpage is a low quality or irrelevant match for a given search term, you will be pushed to the back of line (many pages deep into the search results). No one finding your website means no revenue. What it boils down to is ensuring that your content is not only relevant, but also satisfies the user’s intent. 

Search intent can be broken down into two main search goals. 

The first goal is the user specifically looking for information regarding the keywords they are searching. The second goal is looking for more surface level information regarding a topic. The intentions of the searcher can be divided into how specific the searcher is and how exhaustive the searcher is. 

For instance, an exhaustive searcher uses a wider range of search intent around a specific topic. While the other searcher, known as more the specific searcher, has a smaller intent and rarely strays from it. Over the years, Google has learned to better understand a searcher’s intent. Google tends to favor those sites that better grasp the searcher’s intent and gives a high ranking to those webpages. Google goes to exhaustive lengths to fit the user’s search query and satisfy  their specific search intent. 

Search Intent Checklist

Things to Look Into When It Comes to Searcher’s Intent 

There are some things you need to look for and know when it comes to your searcher’s intent, so we made a checklist you can go through to either check off as you go, or things to consider when you are researching your intended searcher’s intent. After you complete this checklist a couple of times it will come second nature to you. 

1. Understand SERP Intent ( And Adapt if Needed)

First, you want to understand the primary search intent of your user or intended audience. 

Next, you want to look into what types of content people are looking for and adapt your own content as needed. When you understand your searcher’s intent and can adapt your content to fit, it can yield numerous benefits such as reducing your bounce rates and using your understanding to look for opportunities and niches. You should dive deeper into the everchanging waters of what customers are going through to end up at their search destination. 

Lastly, always check which targeted keywords you use and update your content to make sure it is as relevant as possible. 

2. Identify Intent Through Various Avenues 

In identifying search intent, you have to consider the various avenues people are taking to get to their desired search destination, your site. 

First, you want to start with the searcher-- consider what they are thinking about and trying to achieve from their search, and then create content around that. You should identify intent using the SERPS, since search results are ranked based on which result is most relevant to the user. 

Furthermore, consider search snippets and how the top ranking pages verify who is and is not ranking well. Using just search results, you can better understand what works and does not when it comes to your searcher, and how to tailor your content to fit their intent. 

There are many avenues your intended searcher can take to get to their destination, so consider the mode and location of their search, since those factors give insight into the intent behind the search. 

Looking into search ads can also help identify the language that resonates emotionally with searchers. What specific intent does the ad itself solve for the searcher? How does it meet their needs or offer them a tantalizing prospect? Ads can help us pinpoint a searcher’s desires and help us improve our content. 

Last but not least, you can identify intent through user interviews such as surveys, client outreach, and questionnaires to better understand your users motivations and difficulties. 

3. Read, Decipher and Take Note of The 5 areas of Search Intent 

Take note of the five areas of search intent, which are keyword research, SERP data, assessing the funnel, looking at competitors’ Google Ad bids, and optimizing for natural language searches. 

Actively consume content and take note of the popular topics related to your search intent. 

But first let’s dive into the first of the five areas of search intent, keyword research. In doing keyword research, you will want to look at the keyword phrases people are using when they search. There are different forms of intent like informational (seeking out answers to questions) and transactional (make a purchase) intent.  

To further your keyword research, get data from your SERPs and dive deeper into which channels people use for their searches, so you can better curate your content to fit that search intent. 

Next, evaluate your competitors’ ad copy and landing pages to see how they are using keywords in their titles, descriptions, and calls to action (CTAs). 

Finally, look at the language people use when they conduct a voice or text search so you can better understand their intent. 

In covering these handful of search intent areas, you can better understand your user and the content you need to satisfy their search intent. 

Are You Fulfilling your Searcher’s Intent?

When it comes down to search intent, are you truly fulfilling it? Is the content on your website fulfilling a goal?  

You can build a road map to see whether or not your content is bringing your searcher to their intended destination. Consider how your searcher’s intent fits in with the buying cycle, how to meet your searcher where they are, and how to satisfy your searcher with the content they seek. 

While two people may be searching for the same thing, they may have different reasons, levels of urgency, and fall into different areas of the buying cycle, which you always need to consider when you try to optimize for search intent.