Matching the content and landing pages to the users' intentions is the key to achieving higher visibility in SERPs, thus analyzing keywords by intent is an essential step for any successful SEO campaign. To make it easier for you to create valuable and relevant content that better meet the users' needs, the Search Intent detection algorithm was updated and upgraded by adding new functionalities.
The new functionalities will be covered below but first, let's see how the Search Intent is defined and which intent types are available.
In AWR, the Search Intent represents the purpose behind a searcher's query, based on the Top 10 search results ranking on Google for each of the monitored terms.
Following the latest detection algorithm update, the intent was narrowed down to 4 types:
Informational - this is the most common type of online search and is done by users, in the discovery phase, when looking to learn more about a certain topic (eg. weather, SEO, sports, education). Since users are constantly searching for information, these queries have the highest search volumes. Therefore, compiling quality content for informational keywords is likely to increase the awareness of your business, giving you the opportunity to increase your rankings on the SERPs.
Navigational - this type of online search is done by people looking for a specific brand or service. They already know what they are trying to find (eg. Starbucks, Gmail login), but they need help getting to the desired webpage.
Commercial - this type of search is done in the consideration phase by users looking to educate themselves before making a purchase decision. In this stage, the users are searching for information (eg. reviews, alternatives, top/best of the products) to help guide them to the right product or service.
Transactional - this type of search is done beyond the research and consideration phases by users ready to convert. A transactional query is not restricted to only purchases. The purpose behind such a query might also be to complete a newsletter subscription, a trial sign-up, a software download, etc.
In addition to breaking down the intent in the above categories, as mentioned at the begging of the article, several improvements and new functionalities were rolled out, as follows:
Revamped Search Intent filter
The Search Intent filter available in the Difficulty > Keywords report was packed with new options making it even easier to discover the intent behind each monitored keyword and furthermore diagnose the potential issues that prevent the users from converting.
Any - when this option is enabled the keywords having at least one of the selected search intents will be shown.
Mixed - when checking this option the keywords matching both search intents selected will be displayed.
Show only keywords with changed intent - this will show only the keywords for which the search intent has changed when compared to the previous month.
Search Intents automatically updated
The intents behind the keywords being tracked are now automatically refreshed once a month regardless of the frequency selected for the Difficulty updates.
Search Intent filter & column added to the Ranking > Keywords and Comparison > Websites reports
When applied to the ranking table of the two reports, this Search Intent column will show the purpose behind each keyword and whether the intent has changed or not when compared to the previous month.
In addition to segmenting the list of tracked keywords based on purpose, the Search Intent filter in the Ranking > Keywords and Comparison > Websites views can be used in dynamic keyword groups.
URL Intent column added to the Visibility > Landing Pages report
The purpose behind each ranking URL is now displayed as an additional column in the Visibility > Landing Pages report.
When applied to the ranking table, this additional column will show the webpage intent based on its ranking keywords and their associated Top 10 search results.
On mouse hover, the number of keywords by intent is also displayed. For each ranking keyword having a mixed search intent, only the primary intent (the one which is closer to the searcher's purpose) is considered.
Do you have any other questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch and we will keep building the FAQ.