When discussing search intent, it’s important to understand the distinction between true intent and what purpose(s) Google serves. The AccuRanker search intent model is designed to determine what purpose Google serves.
In most cases, Google has a pretty good idea of user intent and has designed the SERP to fit that. In some cases, intent is unclear and Google will show content that appeals to different search intents. There may be cases where you disagree with Google’s intent for a particular search, and you may even argue that Google didn’t correctly identify the true intent.
You may be right, even Google makes mistakes. However, if your content doesn’t match the intent that Google is trying to meet, you won’t be able to rank for a keyword. Therefore, the AccuRanker search intent model provides predictions about the intent(s) met by Google as shown by the SERP.
In this article, we provide examples and rules of thumb for different intents. However germany mobile phone numbers database it’s not possible to come up with a definitive set of rules for how to differentiate between different search intent categories. However, by leveraging the power of AI, we’ve created a search intent classification model that’s more accurate than you’ve ever seen.
Search Intent Categories
We group search intent into four categories: transactional, commercial, navigational, and informational. These categories are industry standard, but the finer nuances of the definitions and which SERPs match which categories are not fully defined.
There is some overlap between categories, and many keywords have more than one purpose. We’ll come back to this topic later in this article. In this section, we outline the four categories with examples and common SERP features for these purposes.
Operational purpose
The searcher is looking to buy something or take an action. In most cases, they know what they want to buy. They may not know exactly what they are looking for, but they at least have a product category in mind and are ready to buy something without doing any further research.
What characterizes SERP for transactional intent?
For searches that Google believes are transactional in intent, this will typically be Google Shopping . Titles and descriptions on the SERP often include transactional words like sale , discount , buy , shopping , etc. The keyword itself may also include these words. URLs on the page often include /shop/ or /products/ and usually have lots of product images.
In countries where Amazon has a web store, Amazon's presence on the SERP is also a good indicator.
Typical transactional searches are product names, some even combined with a transactional word. However, not all product names are transactional searches. For more expensive items or items you primarily shop for in person (like cars), you’ll typically get content that serves a commercial or informational purpose. This is also true for many online services, such as ranking trackers.
This makes perfect sense, as these types of purchases are rarely made without proper research. So you’re typically not in “buy mode” when you’re searching for these types of searches. See also the example in the multiple intents section. On the other hand, if you’re searching for something more “easy to buy” like a Nike Air Jordan , you’ll see content that speaks to a transactional intent.
Examples of transactional searches:
Buy Sonos One
Nike Vaporfly
Cheap iPhones
Guessing intent from keywords alone is no easy feat, but the SERP tells a story on its own. Take the keyword 3070 , for example . It has a transactional intent. If you didn’t know that Nvidia makes a graphics card with that number, you wouldn’t have guessed it. This keyword can even have split intent depending on the location of the search, as it corresponds to a postcode in Denmark and Australia!
transactional-serp-graphic-card.png
Many transactional keywords have a split intent, and Google may show content that meets more than one intent on the SERP. The most common intent you’ll see, besides transactional intent, is commercial intent, but it’s also possible to see combinations of navigational and/or informational intent.
Commercial purpose
The searcher is looking for a product/service but hasn’t decided which product/service is right for them yet. They may be looking for reviews and comparisons or nearby results. They’re still weighing their options.
What characterizes SERP for commercial purposes?
Words like review , comparison , best , and best are common in keywords, titles, and descriptions on the SERP. There are usually local results . Competition in AdWords is also an indicator, and there could be SERP features like popular products and research product .
There’s a fine line between commercial and transactional searches. AccuRanker distinguishes between these two categories by looking at the content Google presents. For example, consider the keyword crayons . Is the customer still in the research phase? Or is the customer ready to buy something? The SERP provides the answer:
transactional-serp-crayons.png
You’ll see that most of the results are links to product pages where you can buy crayons. Google believes this keyword is transactional. On the other hand, the best keywords for crayons will yield results that indicate commercial intent. As a general rule: If there are a lot of links to pages where you can directly buy a product, it’s transactional. If there are a lot of comparisons and reviews, it’s commercial.
