It’s been getting harder and harder to predict what Googles deems most valuable in an SEO campaign and it’s not getting any easier any time soon. Forming an SEO campaign is almost an art of covering all bases, making use that every factor is present and optimised, for example, on-page optimisation, structured data, link building etc. One of these factors that isn’t talked about so much is optimising for User intent.
User intent, also known as search intent, is predicting the specific goal or intention set out by a user when searching a term in a search engine such as Google and Bing. User intent has been overlooked in the past but is now a dominant factor in developing a website SEO profile and improving its searchability.
Optimising for User Intent
Optimising for User Intent is something that will require some research followed by some on-page optimisation changes. Your website should already be targeting certain keywords, which is good, we just need to alter some Meta Data.
You need to start by putting yourself in the user’s shoes, think how they think, type how they type and then you can begin to discover the user intent of your audience.
Meta data on web pages need to be accurate, readable and up-to-date, helping your audience find your website. Don’t be vague.
Types of user intent
There are 3 different types of user intent known as Navigational, Informational & Transactional.
- Navigational – The user intent is when a user is trying to get to a certain website
- Informational – The user is looking for information
- Transactional – The user is looking to purchase or take part in a specific online activity
The idea of intent is that everyone who performs a search in Google has a specific intent. They’re looking for something specific and the content that appears in the search results should meet their intent.
Can it improve click through rate?
Optimising for user intent is one of the many ways you can improve your website Click Through Rate (CTR) as well as bounce rate.
If you are answering a question or giving someone a reason to click your link and your link delivers informative and accurate content then there is a higher chance of them clicking through to another page to find out more about your company or services. They could even go looking for some contact details and get in touch.
The same process goes for Bounce Rate, someone finds your site and they find what they have been looking for then they won’t have a reason to leave.