User Intent: What is User Intent and How to Optimize For It

In this article, discover one key factor Google considers when ranking your content and how you can align your site to maximise your search rankings.

As SEO continues to evolve, it’s no longer enough to just target keywords. You need to understand and optimize your content for user intent – the reason behind a search query.

Google prioritizes user intent when deciding which pages to show in the search results. If you want to learn how to align your content so that it satisfies both the search engines and your audience, this guide is for you.

Not only will I explain what user intent is and why it matters for your SEO strategy, but I’ll go over how you can pinpoint the searcher’s intent and craft your content to match.

Ready? Let’s kick things off.

What Is User Intent?

User intent (aka search intent) is the purpose behind every search query – the underlying reason that prompts someone to type certain words into a search engine.

Understanding user intent requires getting into the mind of a searcher to understand their motivations.

One user may just want to learn the answer to a question, for instance. Another may be looking to buy a product that solves one of their problems. Someone else might want to learn the options that are available to them.

By understanding what a searcher is looking for, you can craft your content to better help them.

Why Is User Intent Important in SEO?

Users want to be shown content that helps them. Google wants to show searchers the most relevant results. By factoring user intent into your content creation process, you can satisfy both the users and the search engines.

When your content is aligned with user intent, users stay longer and engage more – and this helps with rankings.

Google has been working toward becoming more sophisticated at understanding user intent for years. Their Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines even have a whole section entitled ‘Understanding User Intent’ – more on that later.

Whether a user’s goal is to a) access information, b) fact-check, c) learn a new skill, d) compare products, e) find a local store, f) buy something, or g) achieve an entirely different motive, you should aim to pick up on this and align your content accordingly.

This creates a better experience for the searcher, rewarding you with higher search rankings.

Types of User Intent (& How to Optimise)

We can segment search queries into four primary types based on the user intent:

• Informational intent: Searchers are seeking knowledge.
• Commercial intent: Searchers want to research products or services.
• Transactional intent: Searchers have an intent to buy or complete a given action.
• Navigational intent: Searchers want to find a specific page, website or location.

Note that these four categories are not all-inclusive. Other types of intent exist, it’s just that these four buckets tend to cover the majority of queries (and especially the ones we’re focused on when SEO-optimising our content).

Other types of intent include:

• Local intent: Searchers looking for nearby businesses or services (with reviews).
• Visual intent: Searchers want to see images, diagrams or videos.
• News intent: Searchers want to learn about current events or breaking information.
• Definitional intent: Searchers want to learn the meaning or definition of a word.

There are even more types of intent. 

But while it’s good to be aware of these additional types, it could be argued that even these types fit into the four main categories. For that reason, we’ll focus on them.

Let’s break each of the four principle types in more detail, and learn how to optimise content to match.

1. Informational Search Intent

These are the types of keywords used by knowledge-seekers.

Typical searches will include queries like “how to,” “what is,” “guide,” or “tutorial.”

Searchers who use informational keywords are looking for information, answers, or solutions.

Use your content to educate them and build trust.

Example searches: 

• what is the easiest language to learn
• how to make gingerbread cookies
• istanbul travel guide

How to Optimise Content for Informational Intent

Content that aligns with informational intent is typically comprehensive educational content that answers users’ queries.

For example, you might create a long-form article, step-by-step tutorial, or walkthrough guide. 

Your goal should be to cover the topic in as much detail as necessary to meet the searcher’s needs. 

(Warning: this can be overdone. Filling the article with a bunch of fluff content that’s not relevant to the query could do more harm than good.)

To optimise effectively, aim to:

• Answer in-depth: Provide comprehensive content that’s well-researched, fact-checked  and anticipates any questions the user might have.
• Ensure it’s well-structured: Make your content easy to scan and understand with clear heading/subheading structures, bullet points, and images.
• Convey authority: Speak from experience where possible, establish expertise, and share original research or link to credible sources or data.

2. Commercial Search Intent

These keywords are used by researchers seeking information to help them make decisions.

Their search queries often include terms like “best,” “top,” “review,” or “vs.”

Searchers with commercial intent are interested in products, services or brands but haven’t yet made a buying decision. They’re actively considering solutions that could potentially address their problems.

Ensure your content effectively showcases your solutions, educates, and differentiates your offerings. 

Example searches: 

• best gdpr survey solutions
• cheap flights to miami
• duolingo vs rosetta stone

How to Optimise Content for Commercial Intent

Searchers who have commercial intent want to learn their options and be educated on the differences between them. Optimise your content to aid decision-making.

Roundups, detailed product reviews, comparison articles, listicles, rankings lists, buyer’s guides, or detailed landing pages tend to be great formats for this.

Where relevant, third-party reviews (eg., from Amazon, G2, TrustPilot, etc) or other types of social proof can help make your content more persuasive and trustworthy.

To optimise effectively, go beyond simply rehashing product descriptions and features. Share your own perspective, tie descriptions back to the user’s problems, and add high quality unique visuals.

3. Transactional Search Intent

Transactional keywords are types of buyer intent keywords that are used by searchers intending to make a purchase.

They might use words like “sign up,” “buy,” “order,”  or “download” in their search.

These searches are ready to take the next step, and should be shown content that makes it easy for them to do so. 

They’re often just looking for the best deal or most convenient option before they act.

Example Searches: 

• order iPhone 16
• download cleanmymac
• buy spirulina powder

How to Optimise Content for Transactional Intent

To help align your content with transactional intent, lead the user to the desired action by making the process clear and easy.

It doesn’t matter if you’re creating a product page, checkout page, ecommerce page, optin form, or landing page – your focus should be on removing any possible friction.

This may involve:

• Minimising the number of steps involved
• Ensuring instructions are crystal clear
• Increasing the visual appeal
• Offering more payment options
• Using clear calls to action (eg.,”Buy Now”, “Add to Cart”)

4. Navigational Search Intent

Searchers in this category are often searching for a specific website or page on a brand’s website.

They also may be searching for a location.

Results displayed by search engines will link users to their intended destination.

Example searches:

• X login
• Sairbubway near me
• Airbnb contact

As SEO-focused creators, these queries are typically not our focus when it comes to content.

How to Optimise Content for Other Intent

Ensure your site’s key pages (including the homepage, about us page, contact page, login page and listing pages) are optimised for brand searches.

Out of the box, most CMS tools like WordPress are SEO-friendly. But you can add plugins like Rank Math or Yoast to tailor things further.

Ensure you’ve submitted your sitemap to Google Search Console.

Your goal here is just to ensure your site is well-optimised and user-friendly. 

How to Determine User Intent 

There are several ways to deduce the user intent behind a specific keyword.

Manual Methods

You can conduct manual research by entering a query into Google’s search bar and observing the results.

Are the majority of the results informational articles, or are they product pages or reviews?

Analysing the top 10 results can give you clues about user intent. The ‘People Also Ask’ section shows related queries which can also give you clues.

Many times you can use your discretion to determine user intent. But keep in mind there are times when it’s not so obvious.

Using Tools

The problem with the above is it can be very time consuming when you’re working with a lot of keywords. There are tools that can work out intent at scale. 

Within our Keyword Clustering tool, there’s an option you can select which will check intent for hundreds or thousands of keywords at once. This can help automate the user intent discovery process, making it easier to decide what type of content to create.

We simplify intent into four main categories:

• Informational
• Commercial
• Transactional
• Other

We do this because at the end of the day, you really just need to know what type of content you need to create to align with the user’s intent.

This makes it easy to determine:

1. Am I creating an informational long-form blog post? (Informational)
2. Am I creating a product page? (Transactional)
3. Do I need to create a buyer’s guide? (Commercial)
4. Is it some other type of page that I need? (Everything else)

An added benefit to using Keyword Insights is that we also group similar keywords together into clusters, making your large list a lot more manageable.

A slight nuance at Keyword Insights is that we refer to “intent” as “context” to illustrate the difference between our tool and our competitors.

An example will help illustrate why we find “context” to be a more useful descriptor:

Let’s look at the word “ginseng supplement”. It’s a transactional keyword, because anyone searching this term is likely looking to buy the product — at least at some point down the line. 

But this information doesn’t necessarily help us determine which type of content we need to create to satisfy the search.

If you actually search the keyword “ginseng supplement” and view the SERPs, you’ll see that the majority of the results are actually long-form informational pages talking about the uses, side effects and benefits.

Only a small minority of the results on page one of Google are product pages.

You can learn more about the Context (User Intent) within our Keyword Clustering tool by following these steps:

Step 1: Flick on “Get search intent” when creating a new Keyword Clustering project.

The software will then group together clusters of related keywords.

Step 2: Sort by search intent.

For instance, you can sort by Informational to view informational intent keyword clusters.

You can always view the dominant search intent for each cluster at the top:

The keyword in each cluster that we recommend to target with informational articles will be highlighted in green.

Note: We’re often able to show you keywords that are transactional in nature, but for which the context is informational.

Step 3: Click the “Show intents” button at the top of a cluster card to see more details.

You’ll be given detailed information about what types of results are shown in the SERPs.

Optional: To get detailed information and view live SERP results, click the ‘SERP Explorer’ button at the top of the keyword cluster.

Enter your preferences, then click ‘Analyze’.

You can then click the plus button again to load the report once the results are ready.

Note: You can enter the SERP Explorer tool manually in the sidebar at any time to conduct a new search or view past results.

How Does Google Categorize Search Intent?

At Keywords Insights, we categorise search intent (or context) as Informational, Transactional, Commercial, or Other.

Other sites might use “Navigational” in place of “Other.”

But Google has their own naming system for search intent categories.

In their Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, they group intent as:

• Know query: when the users wants to know (or learn) something
• Do query: when the user is trying to accomplish a goal or engage in an activity 
• Website query: when the user is looking for a specific website or webpage
• Visit-in-person query: when the user is looking for a specific business or category of businesses to physically visit

As you can see, these groupings have a high degree of overlap with our method of categorization.

Top-tip: Keyword insights Public API allows you to automatically map search intent for thousands of keywords in bulk.

Common Mistakes Related to User Intent (& How to Avoid Them)

There are common traps that those interested in SEO tend to fall into when first learning about user intent.

Being aware of what they are can help you create more effective, user-based content. 

Overemphasising Keywords Without Understanding Context

Many content creators create content around a given keyword without considering the underlying intent or context.

For example, a user targeting the keyword “ginseng supplement” might create a product page when users are actually looking for an informational article.

Avoid this mistake by analysing the search engine results for your given query, or use a tool like Keyword Clustering to automate the process for you.

Misinterpreting User Intent

You should now be aware of the different types of user intent, but it’s still easy to get it wrong.

Interpreting results correctly is more of an art form.

You might mistakenly create an informational article when users wanted a product page.

That would be an easy mistake to make in this case:

You might create a piece teaching users how to learn Spanish using software. But our tool shows you the search intent is actually commercial.

Neglecting User Intent Entirely

Many users neglect user intent altogether. 

Focusing solely on keywords is an outdated approach to SEO. You should always consider the motivation behind a search to ensure it satisfies a user’s needs.

Use any of the methods outlined to determine a searcher’s intent.

Creating Misaligned Content

Once you know the user intent, it’s important to align your content accordingly. 

For instance, you might choose to create the following types of content depending on the intent:

Informational intent → Long-form blog post

Commercial intent → Top 10 product review

Transactional intent → Product page

Imagine you were targeting the word “learn spanish fast app”, which has Commercial intent:

In this case, your content should focus on providing product comparisons or reviews – not a generic industry blog post.

Final Words

Understanding user intent critical for SEO success. 

You can’t just blindly target keywords. To craft content that aligns with search intent, you need to understand the ‘why’ behind the search query.

Remember:

• User intent is the underlying motivation behind search queries (informational, commercial, transactional, and other).
• Crafting content with user intent in mind can improve results.
• Always consider the context behind a search.
• You can automate the keyword context and intent discovery process.

To create winning content, always keep your user’s needs top of mind. That way they’ll get what they want, and your content will move up in the rankings. 

That’s what we call a win-win.