Search engine marketers need to understand at a basic level what a searcher’s intent is when they enter a query into a search engine. Searchers are choosing increasingly descriptive search terms as each year passes. However, it is still difficult for search engines to know exactly what the searcher intends. For example, consider a search for “transformers.” Does a searcher intend to see clips of the upcoming Transformers movie or do they want to find Transformer toys? Perhaps the searcher intends to find the steamiest photos of Megan Fox. This illustrates the opaque nature of what a given search query actually means.
There are three types of search queries:
- Navigational searches – A searcher wants to find certain Web site. The searcher may not know the URL.
- Informational searches – A searcher wants to answer a question or to learn about something. They seek information
- Transactional searches – A searcher wants to do something (e.g., buy a product, sign up for a service, download software, etc).
Navigational Search Examples
| Search Query | Destination |
| espn | www.espn.com |
| virginia tech | www.vt.edu |
More Search Examples
| Search Query | Type of Search Query |
| how big is texas | informational |
| why is the sky blue | informational |
| new york | informational |
| buy shirt | transactional |
| spider man | informational |
| wine | informational |
| irs | navigational |
| download winzip | transactional |
So we know how to categorize search queries. As you can see there are some gray areas because a term could be placed in more than one category. “irs” could be informational if the searcher wanted to learn about the history of the IRS. The term could also be navigational, the searcher wanted to go to the IRS homepage.
What does a search marketer do with this information? We will dive deeper into search intent in the second half of this series.
