How to Align Search Intent with Visitor Experience
70% of users start with search engines for information, but only 1 in 4 of those searches are successful - with some even taking up to 13 minutes to complete. This is a huge opportunity for marketers. Search engines are a tool driven by intent. Searches happen when a user wants to find something, which can be broken down into 4 categories:
- Navigational
- Informational
- Commercial Investigation
- Transactional
You want to attract customers in all four areas by providing pages and content for all search intents. To begin, build the search intents into your keyword research charts. Check out the example below, provided by SEOMoz:
The next step is to produce one-to-one landing pages aligned with intent. Make sure your copy, images and CTAs (calls-to-action) are aligned with each category. Also, be aware that your goals will differ for each type of intent. For example, someone searching for information will not have the same goal as a transactional searcher.
The last step is to analyze, and review analytics to ensure your landing pages are aligned with intent and desired actions are optimized relative to your goals.
Your SEO strategy may include all stages of the buying cycle - awareness, interest, desire and action - to create value and credibility to searchers. Are you actively attracting customers in all four search categories?
Comments
Using a what if scenario helps a lot.
I am in the process of uploading notes I used in my studies, which is my way of understanding things.
If there is a topic scarcity then I use what if to try and understand what I as a student would type in the search engine to get that information.
So e.g. What is scarcity? is a title which provides value to the user and something that students will actually search for.
Fine, they might not convert much in terms of PPC, but you get good rankings.
Conclusion: Title of posts is extremely important.