Same words, different meaning. That difference determines whether your page has a chance.
Search intent is the purpose behind a search query: does someone want to know something, buy something, find a specific site or compare something. Google assesses whether your page fits that purpose. A sales page does not score on a question where people want an explanation, no matter how good it is.
IN COMMON LANGUAGE
The four types
Informative: someone wants to know something. Commercial: someone compares providers. Transactional: someone wants to buy or request. Navigation: someone is looking for a specific site.
The practical test: type in your term and see what it says. Explanatory articles means informative intent; service pages means commercial. That tells you what kind of page to create.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it determines your page
If the results show explanations and you put in a sales page, you lose: no matter how good that page is.
That is why a knowledge base and service pages coexist: different intentions, different pages, with links in between.
- Type your term — the results show the intent.
- Asked for an explanation, give an explanation — no sales page.
- Comparison requested, compare — also with options that you do not supply.
- Purchase intention: price and promotion — not a long explanation.
- One intention per page — don't mix them.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
More about search intent
Can one page serve multiple purposes?
Rarely good. A page that explains and sells usually does half of both. Better: an explanation page that links to the service page, so that each page does one thing well.
How do I see the intent of a term?
Type it in and look at the first ten results. What kind of pages are those? That's Google's own judgment about the intent, and you don't have to argue with it.
Does the intention change?
Yes, sometimes. For new topics, this shifts from informative to commercial as soon as providers come along. Check your most important terms a few times a year.
CONTINUE READING
Of course, continue reading about this subject.
Do your pages match the question?
We check per page whether it matches what the searcher actually wants.