What is Google Search Intent?

Understand the meaning of Google Search Intent, or as it is called in Italian, of Search Intent, is a fundamental step to get the most out of your content strategy – i.e. the content strategy.

It often happens that, in the face of quality content not match a SEO positioning in line with your desired keywords or phrases. In short, a gap between what people are really looking for and what you are actually offering them. Maybe it's simply a matter of reformulating the keywords so that they are more digestible (eg: how to fix the plumbing of the bathroom fixtures à how to fix the pipes in the bathroom)

In short, the keywords must coincide exactly with the search intent, or rather what users normally look for when they turn to the search engine, a random one, Google.

The definition of search intent

The Google algorithm almost always understands the sense of research of each individual user, comparing your search with previous ones to return relevant information to the screen based on the analysis of keywords as a whole or, if it fails, analyzing word by word.

Search intent is the engine that moves Google people and things, in short. It's not just a "guess how this person will phrase the question," but it's a set of information gathered by the search engine that creates a pretty good estimate of what people expect from Google when they enter certain words into the search bar.

The great thing about Google is that it is a search engine so advanced that it can understand your search, almost all the time, even when you yourself don't understand it very well! For example, if you misspell a term, it's very likely that Google will tell you "Perhaps you were looking for..."

At the same time, the American corporation is becoming more and more like a person. Then, you can ask him questions exactly like you would Uncle Franco - only the answer will be much more accurate. “How is the traffic on the A4?”

The search intent is not unique and absolute: each of us has a different way of expressing the same thing, i.e. the goal of the search. Even if, perhaps, we are looking for the same thing. Or we write the same thing and mean… something different.

Why is search intent important for SEO?

Search intent is a phase foundation of SEO because it makes you think about Google's real goal, which may be noble, but in the end it is what it is. In other words, in order to survive, Google needs to be able to understand what people are looking for. There is a limit, in fact, to how much a person wants to adapt to typing in machine language. Google, however, must meet the needs of users, without ifs and buts.

When you type something into the Google search box, you expect it to return relevant results on page (SERPs). If you write "How to make strawberry jam" and, on the screen, only shops where you can buy it already made appear, you'll probably do a new search trying different terms, for example "Strawberry jam recipe".

If your first search didn't work, though, that means it something wrong in the Google algorithm. And this good search engine doesn't like to be wrong.

Satisfying search intent is Google's main goal, and as a result, it becomes important for those who write on websites from an SEO perspective, or with a view to optimizing content for search engines. It's a circle: if you write content relevant to the keyword, Google relaunches it to you more frequently and the customer immediately finds what they are looking for. All happy.

And you are even happier, because good SEO matches the fundamental principles of the US company and allows you to improve sales, marketing strategy and have even more funds to improve the digital channel – which is essential at this time of year .

Your chances of being reached improve with the efforts you put into matching search intent. The more your SEO is aligned with search intent, the more Google will reward you in terms of positioning, making your page appear higher on the SERP – the Search Engine Research Page.

There are other factors that improve the ranking of a given page, but proximity to the search intent is undoubtedly the thing that makes your page more attractive to Google. Other factors, briefly summarized:

• The relevance
• The authority
• User satisfaction

Search intent: what types of searches are there?

Search intents can be informational, transactional or navigational.

Informational searches are done by users who are simply looking for information, and have no desire for you to sell them anything. What are they for, then? They serve to improve your authority on the subject, so that the person remembers you.

Transactional searches are those that usually generate conversion, i.e. those that lead you to purchase a specific product - straight and safe towards the page that sells it at the best price - provided that the SEO matches the search intent!

Navigational searches aim to reach the website that the user already knows, but whose URL he does not remember. These searches are for brand names or websites, and perhaps include additional specifics such as the section you would like to reach. They have a very high traffic value because they refer directly to the brand.

How is search intent determined?

Keyword modifiers are really helpful in pinpointing a person's search intent. But what is it about, exactly? We are talking about modifiers that add "a tail" to the basic search word, making it absolutely more interesting and specific. In this way it will satisfy a specific user search, finding more results on Google.

If you are not sure which words are the most searched for, look at the Google SERP. There you will find all the answers to your questions and, above all, your bitterest opponents.