How to Optimize for Search Intent

Matt Garrett

matt.garrett@thriveagency.com

About the Presenter

Matthew Garrett, Atlanta GA

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• Working in SEO since 2013
• Bachelor’s in New Media Marketing
• Lived all up and down the East Coast
• Been at Thrive for 2 years
• Managed SEO/Digital Marketing campaigns for:
• massive NYC hospital systems
• ecommerce software companies
• mom & pop florists
• and over 1,000 local businesses
• Specialize in marketing engineering, technical SEO, and performance-based solutions

Search Is A Social Science

Google & Psychology

• The core objective of Google Search is to give answers fast. Why?
• Psychology shows that most decisions are made to either gain pleasure or remove pain.
• How does this pertain to search?
• Google uses countless signals to decide whether a webpage is an answer to a user’s query.

The Different Types of Search

• Most search queries can be broken down into one of three types.
• Navigational search queries or “Go” queries
• Informational search queries or “Know” queries
• Transactional search queries or “Do” queries
• Most users are searching to solve a problem or reward themselves
• How do Google and other search engines use and display their data to answer that question?

One Query, Multiple Intents

• Google has developed multiple tools to help display a wide variety of information in digestible, small pieces.
• For example, look at how a search for a movie title produces a ton of different suggestions and widgets.

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One Query, Multiple Intents

• Google doesn’t always know what you’re looking for
• Searching small pieces will present you with a wide variety of options to click on
• Users will then click the answer they’re looking for (news, cast, tweets from the official account)
• When a user doesn’t see their solution, they have a variety of next steps, based on what they’re familiar with or willing to tolerate.
• Append details
• Search something different, but related
• Leave Google and use something else
• Give up

Can you think of examples of queries that could mean different things to different users?

Application

List them in the chat, or write them down for your own consideration.

Breaking Down Queries

Thinking About How People Search

• What do people want out of a search?
• Quick response times
• Trustworthy information
• Detailed information
• People don’t want to work to find answers
• People don’t always search their entire question

Critically Thinking About Search Queries

• Use tools to look at what people are searching
• Google Webmaster Tools
• YouTube Analytics
• Bing Webmaster Tools
• Study Impressions, Clicks, the percentage of Click-through Rate, and Avg. Rank
• Replicate searches
• Study results
• Write down the searches you get the most impressions or clicks for
• Think about what people might really be looking for

What do you use to get insights into your potential client’s needs?

Application

List them in the chat, or write them down for your own consideration.

Being a Problem Solver

Dissecting Intent from Queries & Usage

• People have preferences they don’t always explicitly share
• You can optimize for presented intent (active queries).
• There are hidden intents (passive queries) that need to be drawn out from insights
• What can we do to pull this intent from users?

What are some examples of “hidden intents” in your industry?

Application

List them in the chat, or write them down for your own consideration.

Mapping Queries to Answers

• Optimize for the seen & unseen
• Think about how different people may ask questions to a search engine
• Difference in verbiage, length of query
• Think about different cultures, languages, and religions may search
• Check local language demographic
• Think about diets, or restricted product use
• Think about how people use different tools to access search
• Mobile
• Desktop
• Voice

Optimizations: Solving Problems Online

• When writing content on your site, make sure to be detailed with your information displayed on your site and on other apps and networks.
• With food, think about dietary options, delivery, availability, etc.
• With medical industries, think about insurance information, treatment details, etc.
• With professional services, think about price, availability, restrictions, etc.
• With software, think about pricing, alternatives, frequently asked questions, etc.
• Your content exists beyond your website.
• What other networks might people use to find information?
• Are your listings updated, accurate, detailed, and on-brand?
• Are there third party services that already rank for a specific search you can get listings in?

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Optimizations: Solving Problems Online

• Build pages that confirm users explicit and implicit questions
• Make content informative, and balance detail and conciseness
• Learn from user experience using CRO tools and questionnaires
• Always be trying new things and adding new information.
• Make sure users can find their answers quickly by have FAQs, Tables of Content, and precise navigation
• Have compelling titles and meta descriptions
• Make sure your information is correct across all networks
• Avoid concealing information behind a login or paywall
• Make information accessible, simple, and digestible.

What questions does your business answer? What problems do you solve?

Application

List them in the chat, or write them down for your own consideration.

Questions

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them now in the chat! We’ll have the remainder of this time for Q&A.

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Leave your email or email me at matt.garrett@thriveagency.com to receive:

• PDF copy of this presentation
• Information about how you can optimize for search intent
• Free follow up call with someone on our team to talk about your specific situation

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Sources:

• https://thriveagency.com/news/what-search-query-intent-means-for-businesses-and-how-you-can-use-it/
• https://searchengineland.com/psychology-search-unleashing-power-connection-279145
• https://www.seoblog.com/how-to-optimize-your-content-for-search-intent/