Search Intent and Why It’s SO Important in B2B Marketing

Hi, I’m Josh. I spend a lot (a LOT) of time working on our client’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization). In fact, SEO is one of the most principal parts of my job here as a Growth SME at Red Branch Media. Lately, search intent has become a massive part of my SEO efforts.

What is Search Intent?

What is search intent, you ask? Well, in layman’s terms, it’s going beyond what people are searching for to figure out why people might be typing in that particular query. According to Statcounter Learning Center, 

“Search intent is the reason behind a person’s search. It is the searcher’s ‘why’ to what they type into the search engine. You may not have heard of search intent, or keyword intent, but you carry out this action everyday when you look something up.”

Why Search Intent is SO Important for SEO

You can keyword stuff all the livelong day and create articles about whatever you’re trying to get people to buy. Still, if it’s the wrong KIND of article, you’re never going to rank, because it’s not what others are looking for – meaning, they won’t click on your content, and you’ll slide down the rankings like you’re playing a game of chutes and ladders.

According to JumpShot, a typical searcher uses about three words in their search query.

“It’s not enough to optimize your website for just keywords as they don’t provide enough context. If you can figure out why a searcher typed a particular search query, you can bring them to the most relevant page, blog post or guide, instead of hoping for the best when a certain keyword shows up. It’s an extra level of potential, and by tailoring your content to the searcher’s intent of a keyword, there’s more opportunity for ranking higher.”

Essentially, search intent is an extra level of potential, and by tailoring your content to the searcher’s intent of a keyword, there’s more opportunity for ranking higher.

For example, say you are trying to rank for “paper airplanes” because you are a master paper airplane folder and teach a paper airplane folding class. If you write articles like:

• Paper Airplanes Get Girls, Here’s Why
• Paper Airplanes are Superior to Regular Airplanes
• How to Get Your Mom to Say Yes to Paper Airplanes
• Paper Airplanes for Work and Fun!

None of those are likely to be searched. People are more likely to search for articles about HOW to make paper airplanes (tutorials, images, step-by-step instructions), so you’re creating content that isn’t RELEVANT to your audience. FYI, more than 80% of search queries are informational, while navigational and transactional have about 10% each.

After all, relevance is the foundation of SEO success.

How to Optimize for Search Intent

If I type in employee engagement, you’ll see the top results are more informational – “What is” “How to” and lists. Since Google looks for the most relevant topics, this correlates with search intent.

So, this shows us that typing in “Employee Engagement”, our search intent automatically looks for informational content and helpful lists.

Now that we’ve identified search intent, it’s time to publish something that gives searchers EXACTLY what they’re looking for. Creating content that’s a 1:1 search intent match is optimal.

Here are more quality sources on search intent to help you ensure you’re performing it properly:

• A quick and easy guide to understanding search intent for SEO 
• Why You Need to Optimize Your Content for Search Intent
• What is search intent?

With this information at hand, you now understand the basics of search intent and how it will impact your SEO.

Do you need to perfect your Search Engine Optimization? If so, I cannot recommend Red Branch Media’s Growth team enough. We work with your content creator, social media pro, account manager, web developer, and designer to ensure your marketing efforts not only climb the rankings but boost your brand and educate your prospects. There’s just no one better in B2B Marketing!

The Branchers

We build the best damn marketing campaigns on the planet. And we do it for industries and companies you might not identify as easy to market (right away). Working here takes a very special kind of person.