Search intent
Search intent is the goal behind a search: what the person wants to know, do or find.
Two searches with almost the same words can have different intents, and Google ranks pages by how well they meet the intent, not by how closely they match the words.
Small words can flip the intent. When Google launched BERT in 2019, its announcement used the search “2019 brazil traveler to usa need a visa”. The word “to” decides whether the person is a Brazilian going to the US or an American going to Brazil, and earlier systems missed it. Google said BERT would help with one in 10 searches in US English at launch.
Two ways to classify intent
SEO tools use four intent types. Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines use their own labels, and the two line up closely:
| SEO tool label | Google rater label | The searcher wants to | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informational | Know (and Know Simple for a short factual answer) | Learn something | “what is SD-WAN” |
| Navigational | Website | Reach a specific site | “Fortinet login” |
| Commercial | Know or Do | Compare options before buying | “best MDR providers” |
| Transactional | Do | Take an action | “book SEO audit” |
| Local | Visit-in-person | Go somewhere physical | “IT support near me” |
Google’s guidelines add that a query can carry more than one intent at once. “Apple store” can mean the website or the shop down the road.
Reading intent from the results page
The fastest way to read intent is to search the term and look at what ranks. If the top results are guides, Google reads the intent as informational, and a service page will struggle. If they are vendor pages, a guide will struggle. Check the SERP features too. An AI Overview or a featured snippet on a Know Simple search means Google answers it on the results page, and fewer people will click through.
B2B searches need one more layer: which stage of the buying process the searcher is in. The search intent for B2B entry covers that mapping.
Common mistakes
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Choosing a page type before checking what ranks for the search.
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Trying to rank a service page for an informational search.
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Treating every search with “best” as ready to buy.
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Targeting short factual searches that AI Overviews answer in full.