Keyword intent in SEO. Haven’t heard much about it? You’re not alone. Put simply, keyword intent is the concept of why people are searching for what they search. This can be important in making sure you are targeting the right people, who want to ‘buy BMW’ rather than know what ‘BMW’ stands for.
It is hard to gauge what EVERY searcher is looking for. But there are general rules of thumb that give us clues about what people actually want.
We bet you’re thinking “yeah, keyword intent is cool, but what’s it got to do with me, Freestyle?”
We bet you’re also thinking “hey – I didn’t say that!”. But we needed a segue, so…
Here is an example of how important keyword intent can be in changing the quality of traffic visiting your website.
Example: The Southampton Accountancy Company
Imagine you own an accountancy firm in Southampton. Maybe also imagine that it isn’t the start of the year, so you aren’t buried under copious amounts of tax returns.
You’re looking to boost your website hits using SEO and are toying with a few ideas for keywords.
Accountants Services
Whilst this may explain what you do, it is awfully vague.
It is more likely that people searching this term are interested in knowing more about what accountants do, rather than being ready to work with you. This is known as informational intent. It’s generally worth avoiding, in our opinion.
Accountants in Hampshire
Some quick research will tell you that the search volume for this term is big – that’s good, right?
Not necessarily. It is easy to be drawn towards targeting terms with bigger search volumes as the numbers are often appealing. But it is always about quality over quantity when it comes to SEO. You may get some rankings with the help of some SEO experts (ahem…), but it might not lead to the most leads. More likely these searchers are just exploring their options, which is known as commercial investigation.
That being said, it can be better to target traffic at a county-level but it just really depends on the industry. At Freestyle, we make data-driven decisions in how we target your SEO, bringing you the best possible results.
Accountants in Southampton
This search term is similar to the above but, by pinpointing their location, the searcher has given away that they are seriously looking to get in touch with someone. This is where you come in!
The search volume may be lower for this term. But by ensuring you’re at the top of the list when someone searches for this term, you’re increasing the quality of your website visitors.
TL; DR: Keyword intent and your business
If you’re B2C – try to rank for ‘buy [your item]’. These people want to buy – and they probably want it right now.
B2B? don’t be afraid to target a more accurate search term with a smaller volume. Those visitors may be fewer, but they will be much more inclined to contact you.
We are always happy to talk about SEO with businesses – it’s what we do. We try to make the process simple to understand and explain how we can help you. Contact us or book a meeting to chat about search intent.
