A guide to the ins and outs of search intent for local SEO

Have you ever wondered what are people typing in the search bar when they’re looking for your business? While the use of local keywords with high search volume or most searched ‘near me’ keyword is essential, learning the search intent of each keyword just might be the key to your SEO success.

So how exactly do you learn the search intent of your potential customers? This comprehensive guide will help you understand how search intent works.

What is search intent?

Search intent is the idea that the user is thinking of typing into a search engine, like Google, to find their specific needs. It’s like going into the minds of people searching for your business or service, especially with local searches. Learning what keywords they search for will be vital for your local SEO strategy.

Why is it important to use keywords with search intent in mind?

From the perspective of SEO, having keywords with search intent in your content will make it easier for people to discover your website/business. If you’re able to use keywords from local search engines related to your business, there’s a bigger chance for your website to rank higher in the search engine results page (SERP). This is because the keywords that people are searching for can be found in your content.

Below are some benefits of using keywords, with search intent in mind:

1. Reduced bounce rates. One main reason why visitors leave your website is failing to get what they expect. Since your content has keywords with search intent for local SEO optimization in mind, chances are your visitors will get what they need, hence, reduced bounce rates.
2. More page views. Because your visitors are getting what they searched for, they are more likely to engage with the other pages of your website.
3. More featured snippets. Since your content is based on the user’s search intent, there is a high chance that it would make it to the rich snippet section. This means your website is the best local page and has ranked 0 (the highest possible rank) in Google’s SERP because it has been optimized for search queries.
4. Wider audience reach. With a higher local SEO ranking, it’s safe to expect that you’ll get a wider audience reach, especially with Google being smart enough to round up similar queries on your content.

 What are the different types of search intent?

 Search intent is classified into four different types:

1. Informational – Most people do their online searches because they are looking for information. It could be about a local business, children, cars, online marketing—anything under the sun. People doing informational searches have a specific question in mind about a particular topic.
2. Transactional – This is done by people looking to buy something online. They are often searching for the best deals they can find.
3. Commercial – Some people are more careful about their online purchases. They do a lot of research about the product, the seller, and how it will be delivered. These are the people who basically have a transactional intent but still need more information to make a sound decision about their upcoming purchase.
4. Navigational – These are people searching for a specific website using search engines. Websites need to have good local SEO ranking factors to benefit from this. Websites that rank high in SERPs are most likely to get organic traffic from this type of search intent.

What content should you create for each search intent?

If you need to improve the local SEO of your small business, consider what kind of content you can create, based on the four types of search intent. Below are tips on how to achieve this:

1. Informational. This type of content should provide the needed information by the user. Below are three common types of informational content:
2. How-to blogs – How-to content is utilitarian. It gives people a step-by-step guide on doing a specific task. It needs to be efficient, effective, and not dull. Focus on topics and questions that are relevant to your business.
3. Lists – There are many types of listicles that you can create to provide information to your users. These include advice, analysis, news, and curation, to name a few.
4. Guides – These are similar to how-to articles/videos, only that they are more in-depth.
5. Transactional. These can be product descriptions or list-type content. The objective to create content that can entice the user to purchase your product or service.
6. Commercial. Reviews and user-generated content are two great examples. They give your customers the information they need before purchasing a product or a service, followed by a call-to-action or a link through which a purchase can be made.
7. Navigational. This is a search query entered because a user is searching for a particular website or webpage. Reasons might include the user is too lazy to type or not sure about the URL to use.

How can a local business create content with keywords?

After filtering all the keywords related to your business, it’s time that you learned how to create content with it. Here’s how to create content with local SEO and search intent in mind:

1. Check your keyword’s SERP reliability. It’s no secret that Google rankings fluctuate. That’s why you need to check your keyword’s reliability over a period of time. There are many tools you can use for this such as Moz and Keywordtool.io.
2. Align with the three C’s of search intent. These are:
   1. Content Type – Examples are blog posts, product pages, and landing pages. Look for the most dominant content type in the SERPs and use it.
   2. Content Format – Examples are how-to articles, step-by-step guides, lists, and opinion pieces. What format can you see on top of the SERPs? Follow what is practiced the most, but don’t forget to put your spin on it.
   3. Content Angle – Include your selling point in your meta tags; so that users can see what makes your content stand out.
3.  Analyze the search results and top-ranking pages. Take the time to analyze the SERP in detail by studying the “People also ask” box, running a content gap analysis, and checking out the top-ranking websites/pages.

Search intent is a powerful tool that can help you gain the upper hand in your local SEO listings. Use it wisely and properly as it just might be the secret to your SEO and content success. Good luck!