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Hello friends following me this Friday on "implicit vs explicit search intent."
When you've been around the SEO industry for a while you start hearing new terms emerge. Search intent, user intent, keyword intent. As usual, I'm going to start with a bit of history.
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When you've been around the SEO industry for a while you start hearing new terms emerge. Search intent, user intent, keyword intent. As usual, I'm going to start with a bit of history.
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Informational, navigation, and transactional queries - this categorization has been around since I've been doing SEO, and it takes an internet search to appreciate how old it is - 2002. You can still split up queries this way, but it's not great.
https://www.cis.upenn.edu/~nenkova/Courses/cis430/p3-broder.pdf
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https://www.cis.upenn.edu/~nenkova/Courses/cis430/p3-broder.pdf
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Who|what|when|where|how|why|which - informational
Login|signin|some branded searches - navigational
Buy|download|upload|free - transactional
These are non-exhaustive "modifiers? off the top of my head that SEO's would drag/drop in Excel as an array to categorize queries
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Login|signin|some branded searches - navigational
Buy|download|upload|free - transactional
These are non-exhaustive "modifiers? off the top of my head that SEO's would drag/drop in Excel as an array to categorize queries
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As the world got better at technology - or perhaps because search technologies got better - informational queries started to increase. Relevant answers were at our fingerprints. Google introduced "Micromoments" which is a fancy word for JTBD.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150623200734/https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/micromoments
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https://web.archive.org/web/20150623200734/https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/micromoments
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Every one of you reading my Tweets goes through these "moments" where you're going through life and Search is a great companion. Instead of calling a trusted friend/parents/professional you're Googlin'. This was simplified to "Do, Know, Go" (& Buy)
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-journey/micro-moments-understand-new-consumer-behavior/
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https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-journey/micro-moments-understand-new-consumer-behavior/
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The problem? Ambiguous head queries and evolving search needs. @KennChoi was generous enough throw in a few for this rant. "Home gym, fire pit, carne asada tacos"
https://twitter.com/KennChoi/status/1324402545486422016
The SERPs tell us it's a spectrum of things you could want to do. AKA fractured intent
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https://twitter.com/KennChoi/status/1324402545486422016
The SERPs tell us it's a spectrum of things you could want to do. AKA fractured intent
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Let's take the query "home gym"
In SEO, we like to say SERP features reflect query intent.
Product Listing Ads? Transactional intent/i-want-to-buy stuff for a home gym.
Map pack? I want to go to a gym near my home.
Videos? I want to learn about kinds of home gym setups
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In SEO, we like to say SERP features reflect query intent.
Product Listing Ads? Transactional intent/i-want-to-buy stuff for a home gym.
Map pack? I want to go to a gym near my home.
Videos? I want to learn about kinds of home gym setups
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Those are "generalizations" on SERP features. The reality is is that intent is nuanced based on your previous query and personal circumstances. e.g. Odds are if you searched "carne asada tacos" at 1AM on a mobile device in Colorado you're probably stoned|drunk|craving
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Googlin' "carne asada tacos" at 5PM and you're at a work laptop/desktop? Maybe you're impressing a date with a recipe.
The "you're looking for tacos" part is explicit. The "what else you need" is implicit (impress date). e.g. Make sangria and guac too to impress your date.
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The "you're looking for tacos" part is explicit. The "what else you need" is implicit (impress date). e.g. Make sangria and guac too to impress your date.
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And here's the magic SERP feature that has happened the past year. People Also Asked. The follow-up queries are giving us hints to what the implicit intent is.
Want another pro tip? Click on a result, go back, look at people also searched for. An example...
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Want another pro tip? Click on a result, go back, look at people also searched for. An example...
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Back to "fire pit" SERP https://www.google.com/search?q=fire+pit&filter=0
People also searched for (1st result)
menards fire pit
gas fire pit tables costco
30 inch fire pit
outdoor metal fire pit
hampton bay gas fire pit
propane fire pit
We're not even done folx
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People also searched for (1st result)
menards fire pit
gas fire pit tables costco
30 inch fire pit
outdoor metal fire pit
hampton bay gas fire pit
propane fire pit
We're not even done folx
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"fire pit" SERP when you "pogostick" back
People also searched for (2nd result)
wood burning fire pit ideas
best wood burning fire pit
wood burning fire pit amazon
fire pit wood logs
wood burning fire pit table
wood burning stone fire pit
Wow. Look at that difference.
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People also searched for (2nd result)
wood burning fire pit ideas
best wood burning fire pit
wood burning fire pit amazon
fire pit wood logs
wood burning fire pit table
wood burning stone fire pit
Wow. Look at that difference.
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In the old days SEO's looked at just query syntax to best match the explicit intent (think searcher is trying to accomplish).
It's 2020. Start looking at the implicit intent people may have by going down a deep rabbit hole.
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It's 2020. Start looking at the implicit intent people may have by going down a deep rabbit hole.
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Should results change if it's at home vs mobile? time of day/year? Age group?
Btw, you can find this in Trends or Display Network audience tools, RSLA, to get inspiration if you also understand paid search.
We can do better than copy and enhance what SERP competitors do.
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Btw, you can find this in Trends or Display Network audience tools, RSLA, to get inspiration if you also understand paid search.
We can do better than copy and enhance what SERP competitors do.
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I leave this thought with you - you can create an ML for classifications but you'll always need training data. A lot of models the world runs on broke because we were not ready for a pandemic. There's an implicit covid19 intent for every query now.
Be helpful. Be kind.
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Be helpful. Be kind.
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Additional reading (maybe I plagiarized, I wouldn't know):
@ajkohn: Query Syntax http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/query-syntax
@eywu: Around the 7-8 minute mark, query streams https://www.seroundtable.com/vlog-060-29238.html
@Suzzicks: Fraggles https://mobilemoxie.com/blog/how-to-find-track-fraggles-in-your-seo-efforts/
Nothing is new under the sun, apparently.
@ajkohn: Query Syntax http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/query-syntax
@eywu: Around the 7-8 minute mark, query streams https://www.seroundtable.com/vlog-060-29238.html
@Suzzicks: Fraggles https://mobilemoxie.com/blog/how-to-find-track-fraggles-in-your-seo-efforts/
Nothing is new under the sun, apparently.
Ye' ol' internet rabbit hole: https://twitter.com/victorpan/status/1322181312640393217
