What is search intent?
Search intent is the why underneath the what. Two people type the same words and want different things: one searching a brand name wants the website, another wants reviews, a third wants to know if it is hiring. Search engines spend enormous effort inferring the intent from the query, the context and what previous searchers clicked, and they rank pages that match the inferred intent above pages that merely match the words.
The usual categories are four. Informational: the searcher wants to know something. Navigational: they want to reach a specific site or page. Commercial: they are researching before a purchase, comparing and reading reviews. Transactional: they are ready to buy, sign up or download. Most queries are mostly one of these, and the results page for a query shows which one Google has decided on.
Why it matters
Why search intent matters
Because the best page for the wrong intent does not rank. A beautifully produced page selling brand films will not rank for a query where the searcher wants to know what a brand film is, because Google has worked out that those searchers want an explanation, and it shows explanations. The reverse is also true: a definition will not rank for a query where people want to hire someone. Matching intent is the first filter, before quality and links are even considered.
It also decides what the page should be. Intent tells you whether the searcher needs an article, a comparison, a product page, a tool, a film or a contact form, and whether they want it short or deep. A content plan that starts from intent produces pages people stay on; one that starts from keywords produces pages people bounce from.
In practice
How search intent works in practice
- 01
Read the results page. For any query, the first page of results is Google's published opinion of the intent: if it is full of guides, the intent is informational; if it is product listings and shopping results, transactional; if there is a single dominant site, navigational. Note the format too, articles, videos, lists, tools, because the format that ranks is the format Google believes searchers want.
- 02
Then build the page to match. For informational intent, answer the question directly and completely, with the answer high on the page. For commercial intent, compare honestly and help the decision. For transactional intent, remove friction between the searcher and the action. For navigational intent, make sure the page they are looking for is the one that ranks, with a clear title. Record the intent next to the primary keyword in the keyword map, so that nobody later turns a guide into a sales page or the reverse.
At RIOT
Search intent at RIOT
This glossary exists for one intent: people searching a term because they want to know what it means. So every entry leads with a one-sentence definition and then explains, and the pitch is kept out of it. The page for someone who wants to hire us is the brief, and it is one link away, which is where a different intent belongs.
Watch out
What people get wrong about search intent
Forcing a sales page onto an informational query. The searcher wanted an explanation; the page gave them a pitch; they left; the page never ranks. Give them the explanation, and let the pitch be the next step they choose.
The other mistake is assuming the intent is fixed. Google re-reads intent as behavior changes, and a query that was informational last year can turn commercial as a category matures. Check the results page again before each major piece of content.
