Does Your Digital Marketing Agency Understand Search Intent?

Knowing the “Why” Behind User Searches Guides Content Creation

For business owners, internet searches represent opportunity. It’s your chance to connect over a relevant query, proving you’re a valuable informational resource who can guide the customer on their journey.

Rising above the noise is the challenge. People make more than eight billion Google searches per day. Only a fraction of those searches relate to your business, your industry, or one of your products or services. Those are the searches you want to be in on.

Not only do you want to know what people are searching, but also why they’re searching it. In the digital marketing world, we call this search intent. Searching is the action; search intent is the motivator behind the action.

Understanding search intent is key to creating an SEO strategy that connects with your audience. To rank highly in search engine results pages, your content has to align with what users are looking for.

Does your digital marketing agency truly understand it? If not, your business could be missing out on opportunities to engage customers and drive conversions.

Let’s explore what search intent is, why it matters, and the four primary types of search intent. We’ll also provide examples to illustrate how aligning your strategy and digital marketing services with each type of intent can improve your results.

What Is Search Intent, and Why Is It Important In Digital Marketing?

Search intent is the reason behind a user’s search query. When someone types something into a search engine, they have a specific goal in mind, whether it’s finding information, making a purchase, or navigating to a specific website.

Understanding this intent helps companies and digital marketing agencies create relevant blogs that increase clicks and organic traffic.

Search intent is important because:

• Content that matches search intent is more likely to rank higher in search results.
• Users are more likely to interact with helpful content that directly addresses their needs or questions.
• By catering to intent, businesses can guide users through the customer’s decision-making journey.

The four main types of search intent – navigational, informational, commercial, and transactional – provide a framework for understanding user goals. Let’s dive deeper into each one.

Navigational Intent: Getting Users Where They Want to Go

Navigational intent satisfies a user’s searches for a specific website or brand. The goal is to directly navigate them to a known destination rather than discover new information.

• “iFocus Marketing website”
• “iFocus Marketing address”
• “iFocus in Overland Park”

It’s important to dominate navigational intent by optimizing your website for your brand name and relevant keywords, including physical location keywords like county, city, and state. A digital marketing agency that understands navigational intent will maintain a strong branded presence in search results using search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search campaigns.

Informational Intent: Helping Users Learn

Informational intent is the most common type of search intent and caters to users seeking knowledge about a particular topic. These queries are not focused on purchasing, but rather on gathering facts, tips, or solutions to problems. Searchers can simply be curious, or they’re very early in their consideration process.

• “How to fix a leaky faucet”
• “Best ways to improve SEO”
• “What is search intent?”

A good digital marketing agency will create keyword-rich blog posts, how-to guides, videos, and infographics that answer users’ questions. Targeting long-tail keywords also helps address user queries that are highly specific, such as, “What size tires go on a 2024 Kia Sorento EX?”

Commercial Intent: Guiding Purchase Decisions

Commercial intent bridges the gap between learning and buying. Searchers who enter commercial intent keywords are mid-marketing funnel, still needing a bit more information before making an informed purchasing decision.

• “Best PC laptops under $1,000”
• “Top-rated digital marketing agencies”
• “Is organic fruit better than regular fruit?”

This is where comparison guides, product reviews, testimonials, and case studies are particularly effective. An experienced digital marketing agency will create content that highlights the benefits and features of your offerings while showcasing why your brand stands out.

Transactional Intent: Driving Conversions

Transactional intent is for users who are ready to take action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a service, or booking an appointment. When they land on your webpage, you have a chance to capture a conversion.

• “Buy iPhone 16 online”
• “Book a hotel in Kansas City”
• “Sign up for a free trial of Adobe”

Digital marketing agencies use clear calls-to-action, landing pages optimized for conversions, and user-friendly checkout processes to support content with transactional intent. Pay-per-click campaigns are also highly effective in capturing high-intent users ready to take action.

Get Digital Marketing Services That Cater to Search Intent

Understanding and leveraging search intent is key for digital marketing success. If you know the “why” behind searches, you’ll be better positioned to address user queries with relevant content. By extension, this provides the information users are looking for, guides their evaluation process, and helps convert leads into sales.

As an agency that specializes in advertising and digital marketing in Overland Park, iFocus has the creative and technical resources to create content that’s relevant to your users’ search intent so your content resonates with every stage of the customer journey.

Ready to work with a team that knows how to optimize for search intent? Contact us today to talk to one of our experts and schedule a discovery session.