{"id":5631,"date":"2023-05-15T05:46:58","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T10:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keyword.com\/?post_type=blog&p=5631"},"modified":"2025-07-16T05:01:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T10:01:51","slug":"understanding-search-intent","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/keyword.com\/blog\/understanding-search-intent\/","title":{"rendered":"Search Intent: What is it, And How Do People Search?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Millions of blog posts are created daily, but most struggle to rank for their target keywords despite their stellar content.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why?<\/span><\/p>\n

Often, there is a mismatch between their target keywords and search intent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every searcher has something specific in mind when they type their search query. It might be an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or information before purchasing.<\/span><\/p>\n

No matter the experience and quality incorporated in creating your content, it must be able to provide the exact answer to the searcher\u2019s query to rank on search engine result pages.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, search engines are obsessed with satisfying user intent. As a result, optimizing search intent has become a primary factor for better visibility on SERPs.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this article, you will learn what search intent is about, how it changed over the years, and the techniques for understanding it.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is Search Intent?<\/h2>\n

Search intent<\/a>, also known as user intent or query intent, refers to the underlying purpose behind a user’s search query on a search engine. It aims to understand what the user is trying to accomplish or find when searching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. You hear about the importance of rank tracking and its impact on improving organic search presence, and now you want to do further research about this concept. So, you head straight to Google and search for a term such as \u201cHow does rank tracking improve organic search presence\u201d or \u201crank tracking and organic search presence.\u201d <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Google provides a list of pages relevant to your search query. Possibly, the first result you clicked looks okay, but you quickly realize it doesn\u2019t emphasize how rank tracking boosts organic search presence.<\/li>\n
  3. You click another result, like Keyword.com<\/a>, with your search term in its title.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n


    \n<\/span>\"What
    \n<\/span><\/p>\n

    4. You delved into the page and discovered that they spread their tentacles even to sharing practical case studies of brands that skyrocketed their organic search presence with rank tracking.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u2026which is the exact information you are looking for.<\/span><\/p>\n

    If more people click on the page, <\/span>get a complete answer to their query,<\/b> and comment, the page will get a significant ranking boost on the search engine result page.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Search Engines and Search Intent<\/h2>\n

    Search engines strive to provide the most relevant and valuable results based on the user’s intent rather than solely focusing on the specific keywords used in the query.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Google\u2019s search quality evaluator guidelines show how Google prioritizes satisfying searchers\u2019 intent to succeed on their result pages. Just as their primary objective emphasizes <\/span>providing users with the most relevant, highest quality information <\/span>based on user search queries<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Google\u2019s<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s examine some core Google updates that reflect the search engine\u2019s focus on satisfying searchers\u2019 intent.<\/span><\/p>\n

    – RankBrain (2015)<\/b><\/p>\n

    Google RankBrain <\/span><\/a>update focuses on<\/span> creating content that matches users\u2019 intent<\/b> and is optimized for conversational speech.<\/span><\/p>\n

    – Broad Core Algorithm Update (2018)<\/b><\/p>\n

    This update brought the concept of E-A-T, emphasizing <\/span>creating content for users<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    After the update, Google\u2019s Danny Sullivan said,<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cWant to do better with a broad change? Have great content. Yeah, the same boring answer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    – BERT (2019)<\/b><\/p>\n

    Google BERT<\/span><\/a> update allowed Google to understand keywords with conversational intent better. The focus is to improve the understanding of consumer intent by ensuring content <\/span>addresses the users\u2019 questions<\/b> and is optimized accurately.<\/span><\/p>\n

    – Broad Core Algorithm Updates (2020)<\/b><\/p>\n

    According to Ryan Jones, Search Engine Journal contributor, \u201cGoogle aims to serve content that provides the best and most complete answers to searchers\u2019 queries. Relevance is the ranking factor that will always win over all others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    Again, <\/span>Bing Webmaster Guidelines<\/span><\/a> prioritize satisfying user intent as a primary parameter to rank pages on their search results.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cRelevance refers to how closely the content on the landing page matches the intent behind the search query.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    Even though backlink is a crucial ranking factor, if your content doesn\u2019t satisfy the user\u2019s intent, it won\u2019t rank. In fact, in 2019, top SEO specialists, including Josh Hardwick and Viola Eva, highlighted search intent as the most impactful ranking factor.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here is a <\/span>case study<\/span><\/a> from Ahrefs that validates this fact.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Ahrefs experienced over 3100% increase in traffic for one of their pages by optimizing for search intent.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cIn 2016, we studied on-page SEO across two million keywords and created an article after the research.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The post was good but never ranked for anything or got much traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n

    So, we looked at the top-ranking pages to determine why this was and soon realized that search intent was the issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Basically, searchers didn\u2019t want to see a study; they wanted an actionable guide.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Now the post ranks in the top 5\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Broad<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u2026and traffic has increased by 3,100%!<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Broad<\/p>\n

    <\/h2>\n

    Types of Search Intent:<\/span><\/h2>\n

    1. Informational Search Intent<\/h3>\n

    Informational search intent is basic\/foundational searches. Often these searches are done by users at the beginning stage of the buyer\u2019s journey. They use words like:<\/span><\/p>\n