Search engines factor “search intent” into their algorithms in an effort to feed back the best possible results to their users’ search queries.
It’s absolutely crucial to understand this concept when deciding which keywords to target for which sites, especially if you’re trying to manage the expectations of a client who’s hired you to optimise their site for generic keywords in the natural search results.
Let me explain what I mean by “search intent”, in a nutshell, its what search engine users intended to find when they typed in a certain search query in to the search box.
For instance, if a user typed the keyword ”laptops” into the search engine, what would that user be looking for; a website for a specific brand of laptop to buy? or a website comparing and reviewing various brands of laptops? If I would venture a guess I would say the latter and I’d also bet that the algo engineers over at Google would concur.
Now lets take this concept of “search intent” for a test drive and see what results Google feeds back when you type in the keyword “laptops” into its search box…
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=laptops&meta=
as expected, none of the top ten results were for a specific laptop brand, instead, they were all aggregators and/or information sites about various laptops or laptops in general.
So there you go, next time your e-commerce client asks you to rank for a generic keyword like “laptops”, explain to her the concept of “search intent” and its influence on the natural search results.
Then when she understands it, pitch to her a content based project such as a blog about laptops!
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