Search and SEO
What is Search intent?
Search intent is what a person actually wants when they type a query. It is usually classified as informational, navigational, commercial or transactional, and matching it matters more than matching the words — a page that targets the right phrase with the wrong intent will not rank.
Also called: user intent · query intent
The four types
- Informational
- "how does stripe checkout work" — wants an explanation, not a sales page.
- Navigational
- "stripe login" — wants a specific destination.
- Commercial
- "best proxy provider" — comparing before buying.
- Transactional
- "buy residential proxies" — ready to act.
How to read intent without guessing
Search the query and look at what is already ranking. If the first page is entirely guides, a product page will not break in no matter how well optimised. The results are the clearest available statement of what the engine believes the query means.
The mistake this prevents
Targeting a high-volume informational term with a commercial page, then concluding that SEO does not work. The traffic was never available to that page type, and the correct move is either to build the informational page or to choose a different term.
Where this is covered in depth
A definition can only go so far. The 35 types of SEO, explained without the padding covers this properly — 6 minutes, free, no email required.
Who wrote this
Anas Bin Masud builds e-commerce sites and does technical SEO for businesses in the UK, Canada and Pakistan. These definitions come from client work rather than from a content brief — where an entry describes a mistake, it is usually one found on a real site. More about how I work.