Search intent SEO: how to produce content that truly meets your target audience’s expectations

Is your content not generating enough traffic and is your return on investment falling short? THE question to ask yourself is this: does your content truly meet the expectations and needs of your audience?

Understanding what your audience is looking for when they type a query is essential to produce relevant, engaging and visible content.

Semji provides you with a template to help you analyze the search intent behind your query, so you can ask yourself the right questions (10 to be precise 😉 ) before any writing.

What is search intent?

In SEO, search intent is the information a user is looking for when they type a query into a search engine. The challenge for search engines: correctly interpret the queries formulated by users and quickly provide them with the information they need on the results pages. Thanks to various updates and AI learning, this interpretation gets more and more precise every day.

One query, several intents? Tell the difference between real search intent and search intent inferred by Google

Every day, Google records nearly 7 billion queries. 15%, or 500 million, are brand-new queries. To best answer users’ searches, Google must therefore constantly evolve and update itself. Especially since, when a user runs a search on Google, they often have a very precise idea of what they want to find. Yet the query can be phrased in different ways by users. To find a yoga class, for example, I can type “yoga class”, “yoga paris”, “cheap yoga”, “vinyasa yoga”…

Google is constantly improving its algorithm in order to interpret users’ search intents ever more precisely.

On the results pages, or SERP, Google therefore provides its own interpretation of user queries and constantly adjusts the order and nature of the results provided based on the actions and words searched by users. Sometimes Google is unsure. It can thus offer several interpretations of the search intent. It’s up to you to put yourself in the users’ shoes and further analyze what they are looking for, either by exploring related keywords or by directly surveying your target audience.

The different types of search intent.

When a user submits a query on Google, they may have different search intents in mind: finding general or specific information, finding a website, making a purchase, etc.

Sometimes, search intents are ambiguous. Google therefore displays different types of results that may match users’ expectations. For example, for the keyword “ boucher”, the user might be looking for a butcher near them, want to learn about the profession, or find the definition of the verb.

The different search intents can be divided into 5 categories:

“Know” or informational searches

This type of query requires an answer, meaning the user asks a question directly in their query. The answer can take different forms:

• The simple “Know” query:

Google directly provides the answer to the question in the SERP before offering other, also relevant, results. This is the case for specific questions whose answer doesn’t need to be elaborated on.

• Featured Snippets

Surely one of the most coveted positions by content creators. The featured snippet is the small box above the first results Google offers for a query. For your content to reach this position, it must be recognized by Google as the most complete content and the one offering the most relevant answer of all.

• The classic SERP display

The answer to the question isn’t obvious to the search engine. It therefore offers a ranking of the most relevant content on the subject.

In the conversion funnel, this type of query is generally located at the beginning or middle of the process.

“Do” or transactional / conversion searches

Transactional intent most often corresponds to an intent to buy or obtain a service or product on the part of the user. The “Do” query type is therefore more generally associated with an action the user wants to take.

In the context of a conversion, when a prospect enters a transactional query, they are at the end of the funnel.

“Website” or navigational searches

The goal of a navigational or “Website” query is to find a result the user has already identified. Example: a website name, a company name, or a specific result like “Lemonde coronavirus map”.

Geolocated “visit-in-person” searches

These queries aim to locate a place, a physical store, a product or a service nearby or within a specific geographic area. They call for a precise response from search engines. This type of search represents an ever-growing share of the total number of queries.

Voice assistant queries

Voice searches are also among the queries growing in scale each year. They are slightly different from a written query and their phrasing is often interrogative and long. Indeed, with the rise of voice assistance, users’ searches are conducted using more conversational approaches.

To best answer search intent from this channel, it’s important to focus on long-tail keywords.

To go further, feel free to revisit our webinar “ SEO based on search intent: analysis and strategy”.

Why is understanding search intent essential as part of an SEO strategy?

Producing content is expensive. Many companies produce it without really reaching their target audience or getting a return on investment. The reasons are many:

• Companies don’t use their target audience’s vocabulary and position themselves on terms that appear little or not at all in search intents.

• They are keen to promote their products and services and don’t offer content likely to address their target audience’s issues and expectations.

• They offer little content, or it is low-quality or underdeveloped and only partially meets users’ expectations.

• They suffer from a lack of visibility on topics related to their business and don’t position themselves as experts on the subject.

As a result, companies that don’t analyze their target audience’s search intents are flying blind and have very little chance of generating leads through their content.

Our 3-step method to perfectly meet search intents

Once users’ search intents are properly identified and understood, how do you concretely meet their expectations and thus ensure your visibility with your target audience?

At Semji, we recommend a 3-step method to the users of our platform. It makes it possible to produce content that performs well for search engines and is high-quality for users.

To discover how Semji can help you design high-performing content tailored to your target audience’s needs, request your personalized demo now!

To illustrate our method, we’ll take a search example, the keyword “yoga”, to help you better understand how to apply our method.

Step 1: Define the right content angle based on SEO queries

How do you find the right angle to position your content on a target query? Here’s an approach that will help you understand user expectations based on Google search results.

• Define a target query
• Analyze the SERP
• If needed, adjust the target query
• Choose an angle if there are several user intents on the same query.

Defining a target query: what does it involve?

Based on your objectives, the keywords you’ve identified and your lead acquisition strategy, you will have defined a number of queries you want to be positioned on. You’ve also identified which types they belong to.

Before creating content, it’s essential to compare it against user intents in order to verify that your keyword choices align with users’ expectations.

For example, we chose the query “Yoga”, a highly competitive, short-tail, informational keyword.

Decode the SERP and analyze the top competing content

Analyzing the SERP: what exactly does it involve? It means identifying the elements the search engine provides for a given query. For a query, Google may display videos, articles, images, a PAA block, a map, news, a position 0, etc.

Identify the different types of elements the search engine offers to answer the query.

SERP element	Type of search intent
Maps	local
Google My Business	local
Directories	local
Shopping tab	Transactional
Knowledge Graph	Informational
Images	Informational and/or Transactional
Videos	Informational and/or Transactional
Wikipedia	Informational
PAA (People Also Asked)	Informational
Position 0	Informational
Reviews	Informational

In the case of the query “Yoga”, for example, we find a wide variety of results.

Videos, images, articles, addresses, etc. Because it is very general, the query “yoga” brings up a wide variety of results and content.

The Semji advantage

Our tool offers a summary view of the competition on the SERP. In a few clicks, you can see the content that performs best and how it is structured.

Adjust the target query if necessary

First question to ask yourself: does the results page contain a site of the same type as yours? If it doesn’t and you notice that user intents don’t match your positioning or your topic, it may be necessary to adjust your target query. There is sometimes a big difference between user search intents on one hand and what professionals imagine on the other.

The latter have in-depth knowledge of their subject and use vocabulary that most of their audience doesn’t master. It’s therefore always important to check whether a target query really matches what users might be searching for. It sometimes holds surprises!

A simple example: if you want to address the notion of the “core” in yoga, in particular to talk about the abdominal muscles, you’ll quickly notice that queries around the keyword “yoga center” correspond almost exclusively to searches for places to practice yoga.

Last step: the detailed analysis of the competing content in the TOP 5. It will help you determine the angle of your article.

What are the types of competing content? Their lengths? Do they have E.A.T. criteria? We’ve listed all the questions to ask yourself to analyze competing content in our template on search intents.

For the query “yoga”, for example, the first site to rank is Wikipedia, with a very detailed page, then Santé Magazine, which offers a very complete article including a video and links to other pages on the subject.

To rank, it’s essential to target the main search intent, the one that stands out most in the SERP. If the search results mainly highlight informational content, that’s what you’ll need to work on.

If this is your first page on the topic, it can be worthwhile to create a pillar piece of content that covers the subject as a whole. Then, to strengthen the ranking of the page and of your site on the query, you can create other content on the same topic but with different angles. We’ll come back to this later.

Here, for the query “yoga”, it’s mainly informational and generic content about yoga and its benefits that ranks. For your content to also appear in the top SERP results, you’ll therefore need to create rich content, a pillar page that brings together all the topics around yoga. Take the time to analyze the structure of competing pages and the subjects they cover.

E.g.: for the term “yoga”, competing articles cover postures, benefits and the history of the practice, potential dangers, etc.

Take the time to list all these topics so you can address them in your pillar page. It will be central to your ranking strategy and can then be fed by several other pages ranking on related keywords such as “yoga benefits”, “yoga poses”, “yoga for beginners”, etc.

Step 2: Build the outline to meet users’ expectations

Once your search intents are properly identified, it’s time to structure your content. With common sense, you should be able to create a clear and logical outline for your users.

Identify the main themes of the content

First, gather the various subjects you need to cover in your content and organize them so that the sequence is as logical as possible. To do this, you can use traditional writing methods such as the inverted pyramid and the 5Ws.

E.g.:

• What is yoga?
• Why practice it?
• Who can do yoga?
• Where can you practice it?
• What is the best time of day to do a yoga session?
• Etc.

Discover all our tips for structuring your content.

Use headings and create depth for content that’s easy to read and comprehensive

Then rank the various subjects according to their level of importance: the most essential ones to cover, which you’ll mark up as h2, then the more specific or detailed subjects, which you can mark up as h3 or h4. The goal of good markup is to allow both the search engine and the reader to skim the content. The reader should be able to understand the subject of the content by reading only the subheadings.

In our example, the outline of a pillar page ranking on the word “yoga” could be organized as follows:

<h2>What is the purpose of yoga?

<h2>Why does yoga help you lose weight?

<h2>Where to find a yoga class?

<h2>Beginner: which yoga to choose?

<h3>Hatha yoga

<h3>Vinyasa yoga

<h3>Yoga nidra

<h3>Ashtanga yoga

<h3>Kundalini yoga

<h3>Yin yoga

<h3>Prenatal yoga

<h3>Face yoga

<h2>5 basic yoga poses

<h3>Downward-facing dog pose

<h3>Child’s pose

<h3>Cat pose

<h3>Tree pose

<h3>Stork pose

<h3>How long per yoga pose?

<h2>How to practice yoga at home?

<h3>Choosing the right mat

<h3>Should you practice with music?

<h3>Morning or evening: when to practice yoga?

The Semji advantage

The Semji platform helps you design, in just a few seconds, a writing outline tailored to the search intents you’ve identified.

Semji tells you which topics to address in your content thanks to Search Intents and Questions (which are the questions users type around a given keyword).

Thanks to the “heatmaps”, you get an overall, summary view of the subjects your competitors cover, the words used, the must-have themes and those that can set you apart.

To cover the yoga topic, you’ll therefore need to create a set of content including long-tail target queries such as “Which yoga mat to choose?”, “5 yoga poses for beginners”, “10 little-known benefits of yoga”, etc. so as to address the subject broadly.

Step 3: assert your expertise on a subject and stand out

The final lever to ensure the visibility of your content is to position yourself as an expert on the topic and thereby stand out from your competitors.

To do this, two types of actions are necessary:

• Produce a set of varied, very high-quality content on the subject: sourced articles containing different information formats (visuals, videos, infographics, audio, etc.) and bringing a fresh or original point of view on the subject.
• Interlink the pages following the semantic cocoon principle to make search engines understand that the topic is covered comprehensively.

Cover a topic through diversified content, using search volumes

To rank sustainably on a set of strategic keywords, it’s now essential to strengthen your authority with Google.

The method? Build an ecosystem of content on a single topic in order to multiply entry points (for Google and for users) and benefit from 360° positioning. This approach makes it possible to cover the entire lexical field of a given subject, address it in depth and reinforce your expert image with search engines.

For example, in Semji, you can look at the most frequently asked questions on the subject and thus discover new content opportunities.

To cover the yoga topic, you’ll therefore need to create a set of content including long-tail target queries such as “Which yoga mat to choose?”, “5 yoga poses for beginners”, “10 little-known benefits of yoga”, etc. so as to address the subject broadly.

The Semji advantage

To help you develop your articles, Semji offers the “Topics” feature to identify the keywords related to the topic. In one click, you can see the context in which competitors use these terms. The ideal number of occurrences of the keyword is also indicated to help you properly optimize your content.

This feature also gives you new content ideas to create around the topic.

Interlink content and build semantic cocoons

The production of content around a single subject must necessarily involve links between them. This is known as internal linking. Creating links between pages is essential to encourage users to read content related to the topic. It’s also a way to signal to search engines crawling the site that it offers a set of pages on a subject and therefore has reliable expertise.

We recommend that our clients interlink their content following the semantic cocoon model. What does it involve? Creating a hierarchy of pages including the pillar page, fairly long and general, which links to all the child pages and vice versa. The child pages can also be linked to each other.

The Semji advantage

The Semji platform tells you which pages of your site you should link from to your new page. The new page will then be directly integrated into a cocoon and will strengthen the visibility of all the pages.

The platform also tells you the ideal number of outgoing links to add to your content.

Search intent: what to remember

What, ultimately, should you remember about search intent?

• Distinguish between user intents and Google’s interpretation.
• Identify the type of each target query and the associated need.
• Use the SERPs to analyze the content that ranks on a topic (and if you need a 👍 to carry out this analysis, download our template, it’s free !)
• Compare your keyword choices against users’ real expectations.
• Analyze the competition to find the subjects to address in your content.
• Prove your expertise through a set of content on a single topic.
• Create links between pages that address the same subject, ideally in the form of a semantic cocoon.

Looking for a powerful tool to help you analyze and effectively answer your users’ search intents? Discover the Semji solution today.