48 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
48 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
---
|
|
title: "Rank for the searches that are ready to buy"
|
|
description: 'Search intent is the "why" behind a query. Map every keyword hot, warm, or cold before you write a word, and you''ll stop producing content that ranks but never converts.'
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
## What is search intent in SEO?
|
|
|
|
Search intent is the goal a searcher has when they type a query: to learn, to compare, to find a site, or to buy. Google ranks the page that best satisfies that intent, regardless of who "deserves" it. Optimizing a page against the wrong intent is the most common reason content ranks nowhere.
|
|
|
|
## The 4 types of search intent
|
|
|
|
- **Informational:** "[what are seed keywords](/library/keyword-research/seed-from-conversation)" → wants an answer
|
|
- **Commercial:** "[best keyword clustering tool](/library/keyword-research/cluster-topical-hubs)" → wants a comparison
|
|
- **Transactional:** "openseo pricing" → wants to act
|
|
- **Navigational:** "google search console login" → wants a specific place
|
|
|
|
## Hot, warm, cold: the practitioner's intent map
|
|
|
|
The 4-type taxonomy is fine for textbooks. For planning a content calendar, temperature is faster:
|
|
|
|
- **Hot: ready now.** Transactional and high-commercial queries. Buyer intent keywords like "X vs Y", "X pricing", "best X for [niche]". Build these pages first: smallest traffic, largest revenue.
|
|
- **Warm: comparing.** Commercial-investigation queries. They know the problem, they're shortlisting solutions. Comparison pages, use-case pages, honest alternative pages.
|
|
- **Cold: learning.** Informational queries. Highest volume, longest payback. Their job is trust and retargeting, not conversion. Measure them accordingly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Run this play with the [OpenSEO MCP](/docs/mcp):
|
|
|
|
```text
|
|
Using the OpenSEO MCP: research keywords for "[your topic]" and group
|
|
results into hot (transactional/commercial), warm (comparison), and
|
|
cold (informational). Recommend which 5 hot pages to build first.
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Search intent FAQ
|
|
|
|
### Why is search intent important for SEO?
|
|
|
|
Because Google ranks pages that satisfy intent, not pages that mention keywords. A perfectly optimized page against the wrong intent can't win. Read the SERP and you'll see the intent Google has decided the query carries.
|
|
|
|
### What are buyer intent keywords?
|
|
|
|
Queries that signal purchase readiness: "pricing", "vs", "alternative", "best X for Y", "discount". They're low volume and high competition per click, but still usually your best ROI, because the searcher arrives pre-sold.
|
|
|
|
### How do I check the search intent of a keyword?
|
|
|
|
Search it. The current top 10 is Google's answer: if it's all listicles, the intent is commercial comparison; all docs and definitions, informational. OpenSEO also auto-labels intent on every [researched keyword](/features/keyword-research).
|