You must be able to read minds if you want to convert people.
I don’t even joke.
Understanding the user’s needs (also known as user intent) is a driving force in search engine optimization and search marketing to bring more people to your website.
If you don’t nail it, you won’t see a lot of traffic, which will have an obvious impact on conversions.
Instead, make it easy for users to search for what they need, and deliver your promises with your web content. You’ll see more people take up your offer.
How do you determine user intent?
Let’s look at a real case. Let’s say you are thinking about upgrading your smartphone. If you’ve been using your phone for some time, you should find out the options available and what has changed since you last purchased a smartphone.
You’ll start by looking for information about smartphones. You’ll find that your choices are becoming more narrowed and that you will be able to identify the real contenders. To learn more about these phones, you might visit a site that you have already seen. Finally, you’ll be ready to purchase and will be searching for the best deals.
You will enter different phrases and words into search engines at each stage. These reveal the information you need at different times. This is user intent.
Search Engine Land states, “Every user is an intent.”
- Navigation
- Informational
- Transactional
In the above example, informational keywords would be used to search for smartphone features, as well as details about makes and models. You would use navigational keywords to find a site and transactional keywords to search for a deal.
These search types can tell you something about the user’s intent, which you can use to increase conversions. Let’s take a closer look at these search results and discuss how we can make use of the information we already have to improve conversions.
For better conversions, unlock the navigational user intent
It can be useful to keep track of navigational terms in order to determine if your branding is effective. When someone searches for similar phrases, they are likely to have heard of you before and will be interested in what you have to say.
To search for navigational terms, go to Google Analytics and navigate to Acquisition > All traffic > Channels. Click on Organic Search to see what keyword phrases have been used. These are navigational keywords that relate to your company or brand.
Similar information can be found in the Google Search console. To see the most popular search queries, click on the website name. Filter your queries to only show navigational keywords.
With navigational queries, people will click if they are searching for you. You must ensure they can find you easily and that they are able to see the correct pages when searching. Try using the same search terms to see the search results.
Navigational searchers will appreciate links to your website and social media profiles, or a detailed result that shows many site pages. It’s even more valuable if those links include your key conversion magnets.
Find Informational Phrases that Give Users What They Want
What about informational keywords? Jeremy Smith outlines the potential for informational searches to convert. He describes a three-step process.
The intent of the user is_
I create a page which provides_
I create calls to action that satisfy the user’s need for_
Even if they aren’t looking for immediate purchase, meeting their information needs can help them to trust you and make a decision later.
These phrases were found by me a while back, and I decided to do two things.
- I updated the page’s description and rates page to better match the information people were looking for.
- An article I wrote about how to hire a professional blogger .
To find out the informational keywords people use to find your website, follow the steps in section 1. Next, check if your site delivers by entering the same search terms. Then, see what results they get.
Below is an example of my content. However, if I want it in the top three positions I have to work harder.
To find additional keywords that you can use in your content, you can also use the Google Adwords keyword planner. You should search for terms that are related to your niche. Semantic Search is more important than ever with voice search for mobile devices. So be sure to look for questions and how-tos when searching.
Another tool that you might consider is KeywordTool.io. It’s called keywordTool.io. To access search volume data, you will need to subscribe to the pro version. However, even the free version can provide valuable information.
Transactional Keywords and The Buy Button
You can find transitional phrases in your keyword data. These are the phrases that indicate that users are willing to buy. The phrase “hire professional blogger” is informational but can also be transactional as shown in the example on my website.
The phrases people use to describe their readiness to buy change when they are ready.
You can determine your conversion potential by analyzing whether users find the right content using transactional keywords, and whether or not they convert. This can be done with the Google Analytics Users Flow report.
My “hire a professional blogger” post showed that 36 people had landed there within the last month. Most of them left after reading the post, which suggests they were simply looking for information. Nevertheless, there were some visitors who continued to explore the site. 3 of them visited the rates page, the about page and the contact page.
This is a great way to find out what happens to visitors after they visit your site. It also helps you identify where conversions are not being made. You can make your pages more user-friendly by tweaking them.
There are other ways to find user intent
User intent is more than keywords. While the tools described in this article can help, you need to have a complete picture of users’ needs. Ask them.
Here you can combine the data from search terms with information from:
- Customer surveys (exit survey are very helpful)
- Polls
- Social media
- Reviews
Customers can give their opinions and you should check to see if it has any impact on how your site looks or works on different devices. Perhaps there is a small tweak you can make to increase your conversion rate.
Bottom line: Users are already telling you what they want . All you have to do now is deliver.
Are you using user intent research for conversions? What were your results?
