what is search intent and why is it important - by CollectLo Team - CollectLo

what is search intent and why is it important

CollectLo Team - CollectLo

CollectLo Team

Content Writer

2 min read . Jul 25

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Hello everyone! Welcome Collect content writing guides! I'd like to start this blog with a question:

What the heck is search intent? Like, what is it? What is user intent? Have you ever heard of it?

Basically, search intent  is the 'why'. It’s the reason people search for what they search for. That's why! More often than not, most every individual's search falls into one of four categories. We have: navigational, transactional, commercial, or informational. 

 Let's break these down step-by-step. Ready?

First up, Informational intent. You’ve got questions and want answers ASAP. Here’s an example: 

  1. How to cook paneer
  2. Capital of India
  3. Or simply Who won the T20 cricket match in 2024 (Spoiler: It was India)

Next, we have Navigational intent. This comes into play when the user already knows where they want to go but needs a quick lift to get there because they want to get there fast! You may search for Gmail login or YouTube  versus typing in the entire URL to save time.

Commercial intent is like window shopping online. It's when someone wants to buy something but wants to compare options first. For example:

  1. Online Course Review
  2. Flipkart v/s Amazon

Last but certainly not least: Transactional intent.The user wants to buy something, credit card in hand but needs to find the right place to do so. More often than not, pages ranking for transactional intent are e-commerce stores or product and services pages.

Oh! I don’t want to forget the local search intent! It’s where the user is searching for local products or services, like an electrician, a restaurant, or a salon near them. Just something to keep in mind!

So, why does this matter? Here are three main reasons:

  1. Search Intent- helps you evaluate your chances to rank for a keyword. It helps you determine the type, scope, and language of your content. For example, if the SERP is transactional, your informative article probably won’t rank unless it’s a product page.
  2. Search intent helps you understand who you’re competing against. Exclude competitors whose content serves different search intents than yours. If you’re writing a software guide, Quora isn't your competition because you have different purposes.
  3. Knowing the search intent helps establish authority. People like getting what they want quickly and easily, and understanding search intent helps you provide that.

Let’s put this into action. Imagine you’re tasked with writing a landing page for a local dog grooming company. You need a landing page that fits transactional and commercial intents. The top results include Wikipedia, YouTube, stores, and DIY dog grooming tips. What does this tell us? The search intent is mixed. We can’t compete with DIY pages when our goal is to sell grooming services.

Great, now what? Ditch this keyword and find one with clearer search intent that matches yours. Check other elements of the SERP like the People Also Ask box, related searches, and videos. Are they mostly “how-to” questions and guides, ads for products, or queries about different shops? This information is useful for you.

Whew! I hope you're still with us! In the next guide, we're going to dive into another crucial aspect: keyword research! I'll see you there! 

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