The fascinating thing about keyword intent is that it is a window into the mind of your customer. There are very few situations where you actually get an insight into what your customer is thinking at the moment they are searching for a product or service.
Keyword Intent signals what phase of the search buying cycle the customer is in. Just like when a customer is browsing through a retail shop, they simply could be “just looking thanks” or they could be researching information and comparing products in relation to a need they have right now.
For example, if a customer is searching for “holiday ideas”, this is a signal that they have a need for a holiday and are now exploring options. Once they have decided what they really want is a “beach holiday”, it narrows the keyword intent and decision making further. When in a “buy” phase, keywords are extremely focussed such as “hotel gold coast australia” or “hawaii resort”.
Keyword Intent is both commercial and non-commercial in nature.
As a website owner and depending on your overall strategy, you can target keywords that show both commercial and non-commercial intent. For most Home Based Business, there are soft sell and hard sell approaches.
To increase brand awareness, it is important to draw associations between your business and terms used throughout the search buying cycle. These terms can also include non-commercial terms.
For example, if you are a surf tour travel company, you may want to consider ranking for terms like “surfing tips”, to increase your brand awareness for next time the user searches for “surf holiday”. Provided the user had a good experience with your brand and trust is established, the customer is more likely to click on your listing within Google search results when they are using more commercial terms such as “surf holiday” or “surf tours”. Even though your customer may not be ready to buy today, at some point they will be and it important to plant seeds for when they are.
For Online Marketing businesses that want to generate sales today from organic search, it is important to include terms within the Keyword Strategy where the keyword intent is commercial. When keyword intent is commercial, customers are providing signals to purchase a product or service. Website owners must rank well organically for commercial related terms in order to drive traffic that translates into sales transactions.
What are some examples of high and low commercial intent in Online Marketing?
In a travel context, non-commercial intent keywords are words like:
* Country Names - e.g. “France”, “Australia”, “United States”
The user in this case has not provided any signal as to why they would be searching for a destination like France, Australia or United States.
Low to mid commercial intent words are:
* Generic Terms - e.g. “holiday ideas”, “unique holiday ideas”, “cheap flights”, “car rental”
Even though the user has shown some intent to purchase a product or service, they have not made a decision as to what they would like to do.
High commercial intent words are:
* Specific Terms - e.g. “discount car rental san Francisco”, “cheap flights to Chicago”
