Understanding search intent in practice

Four typical intents

• Informing: “What is local SEO?”, “How does … work”
• Navigating: “Der-H Medien contact”, “Google Search Console login”
• Comparing: “best advertising agency Stuttgart”, “WordPress or bespoke”
• Acting: “have a website built price”, “logo quote”

How to recognise the intent

1. Search for the term yourself on Google.
2. Look at which kinds of pages are at the very top: guides, product pages, directories?
3. Read the “People also ask” sections.

If the results are mainly guides, most people want to learn something. A purely sales-oriented page has little chance there.

Adapting your content

• A guide with a clear answer suits the “informing” intent.
• An overview with criteria suits “comparing”.
• A service page with a clear call to action suits “acting”.

A practical example: one term, three pages

The term “logo” can mean very different things. The search “logo meaning” wants to know something, “logo maker software” is looking for a tool, “have a logo designed Stuttgart” is a commission. A single page cannot serve these three intents at once. It makes more sense to have a guide on what a logo has to achieve, a comparison page on doing it yourself versus commissioning it, and a service page with the process and contact details. Each page gets its own main question and its own title.

Mixed forms and grey areas

Not every search is clear-cut. With terms such as “web design costs”, the searcher usually wants to learn, but also to judge whether a commission is feasible. A page that first explains an honest price range with the factors that influence it, and at the end shows the route to an enquiry, then fits. The results list reveals how Google classifies such terms: if calculators, tables or provider pages appear there, that reflects what searchers expect.

Typical mistakes

• A sales page for a learning question: someone searching with “What is …” will usually leave a page that is purely an offer.
• One guide for everything: if one long text is meant to serve four intents, none of them is served properly.
• Title and content do not match: the title promises instructions, the text delivers only advertising. That prompts a quick return to the results list.
• Guessing the intent from instinct: check it against the current results, because it can change over time.

Checks before you write

1. Put the searcher’s question into one sentence.
2. Note what they should be able to do or know after reading.
3. Check whether the first five results are trying to do the same as your planned page.
4. Decide on the next sensible step: read on, compare or enquire.

Checking the intent after launch

In Search Console you can see which search queries a page is shown for. If terms appear that have a different intent from the one you planned for, a section or a page of its own may make sense. If a page has many impressions but hardly any clicks, the title and description often do not match what searchers expect.

Example: reading the results list

Type in “have a website built”. If the top of the page shows a mixture of agency pages, price overviews and comparison portals, many searchers want to compare providers and take action. A purely technical definition does not fit there. Also look at the search suggestions at the bottom of the page: terms such as “costs” or “providers” show which secondary questions are in play, and can be built into the page as sections.

More than one keyword

The same keyword can have different intents depending on place, device and time of day. Someone typing “pizza” on their phone while out and about usually wants to order or find a restaurant; at a computer in the evening they may want a recipe. So watch not only the word but also your target group’s situation, and design the page around the most likely one.

A rule of thumb

First understand the question, then build the page. The research is described in Keyword research.