The search intent should be one of the fundamental pillars of your SEO strategy.
Why? Understanding the intentions behind users' searches allows you to optimize your content to provide a memorable experience on your website by addressing their needs and solving their problems.
Much has been said about how search engines prioritize results. One of the decisive elements is the reason why someone decides to search: am I looking for information about a place? Am I searching for a recipe I want to prepare? Do I want to read reviews of a book?
Each search has a specific intent behind it, creating the need to deliver tailored content.
In this article, experts Blas Giffuni and Camilo Ramírez explain what search intent is, as well as the key elements to consider when working on SEO projects to match the way people want to find information.
Search Intent: the ability to detect needs to offer the best content at each stage of the user journey
Initially, the main factors Google used to rank pages were keywords and backlinks.
However, Google's algorithm has evolved to become more sophisticated in providing users with the most satisfying results for their needs at any given moment, thus bringing search intent into play.
Every Google search carries an intent behind it, and content created to meet that expectation and adapted to cover the specific needs of the user will connect and engage more than content that only superficially or generically covers the same topic.
Search intent, therefore, involves analyzing and determining the scenarios in which you want to engage in conversation with your clients or prospects.
Thus, it becomes necessary to know more about your consumer; that is, to define who you want to talk to, when, and in what situation. Additionally, what possible difficulties or problems they may face in that situation and how you can help them solve them to make their lives easier.
Consequently, every SEO strategy should go beyond keywords and consider search intent as one of the fundamental pillars for content generation.
Therefore, when you start creating content for your website, we recommend you develop the habit of asking yourself what the user's problem or need is and at what stage of the consumer journey you want to address it, in order to create enriched and valuable content that directly appeals to the moment the prospect is in.
You should analyze, for example, whether you need to share informational, comparative, or transactional content on a particular page or landing page, depending on the user's goal at that time.
Search intent leads us to a paradigm shift! Thinking in thematic axes rather than keywords
It is important to clarify that when formulating a content strategy based on search intent, you are not abandoning keywords.
In fact, by thinking in terms of thematic axes to meet your user's needs in different stages of their journey, you end up including keywords in your content more naturally. That is, you are not using keywords to meet a quota but including them in your sentences and paragraphs in a way that is not forced or artificial.
This way, keywords are still being used, but with the user's search intent in mind rather than search volume. This methodology is more strategic than keywords because it considers the moment the user is in and what they are searching for in a given situation.
Currently, there are tools that allow individuals or businesses to see what the most common questions and themes are around a term. This allows for a breakdown of the multiple ways a particular topic can be covered.
For example, a useful tool for starting to think about web content in terms of search intent is AlsoAsked, which takes any query and provides the multiple related questions that other users have asked on search engines, to better understand how people search the internet and what types of content should be created to increase the chances of improving your website's ranking.
Some recommendations for integrating search intent into your SEO strategy
If your focus has always been on pursuing the keyword with the highest search volume, it is necessary to change your mindset. Now it is essential to generate content empathizing with the user and putting yourself in their shoes, understanding how they search for terms, topics, and concepts on search engines in their daily lives. Because when it comes to SEO, you should write for people, not machines.
Use the data you have in your own company to create content that appeals to your target audience. As discussed in a previous article, data is the best ally of creativity and will allow you to create strategic content that is personalized to your user and their needs.
We invite you to continue reading our blog to learn more about search engine positioning!
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