Search intent is not a new term. Digital marketing experts have been telling people for years to stop depending on keyword metrics to run a campaign and use search intent research instead. We discuss the importance of search intent research in 2021.
Why Search Intent Research Will Be Vital in 2021?
The bells of change are ringing in the field of SEO.
For years, while digital marketing has seen a lot of change, the basic principles of a practise like SEO have remained the same. Standard practises of top SEOs in the market are largely the same as well. There is an agreement when it comes to recognizing key SEO factors such as content creation, backlinks, and keyword research.
However, a few systematic changes by Google to its search algorithm have begun to ruffle some feathers. Developments in the search algorithm space such as the launch of the BERT update and improvement in natural language processing have made search intent appear as a clear winner.
Keywords were a prized commodity when search engines could not grab the context of a given piece of content. A higher percentage of a word or phrase in a piece of content would help search engine crawlers index webpages under certain categories.
The situation has changed now. Google no longer relies on keywords to rank webpages. It is well equipped to understand the context of any given search query.
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The Rise of Search Intent
As keywords take a backseat, search intent is slowly becoming one of the most reliable ways to track an audience.
The traditional methods of keyword research relied on metrics such as search volume and competition. A number of keyword research tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs ruled the roost and became the best way to not only find keywords but essentially decide the content strategy.
Search intent, while not ignored, was not considered an ideal keyword research metric as it could not be instantaneously quantified.
Lets us take an example. What do you think would be the search volume of a keyword like ‘best jet ski’. By simply looking at it from a search intent perspective, any marketer would say that ‘best jet ski’ would have considerable search volume.
However, one popular keyword research tool which we will not name, suggests that the search volume of ‘best jet ski’ is around 1.9K.
A person with a modicum of awareness would know that more than 1.9K people search best jet ski every month. Clearly, the keyword research tool is inaccurate.
This is why search intent becomes a more reliable measure when compared to traditional keyword research.
Search Engines Matching Queries to Content Accurately
Do users of search engine care about metrics like keyword density? No, all they care about is their query is resolved.
Google wants to move in the same direction. With the BERT update, Google has become more adept at understanding certain search queries. It wants to recognize quality content, which while being short on SEO metrics, is actually addressing the query of a searcher is the best possible manner.
The best way to impart search intent is by writing content which truly solves a problem a given audience is having.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, this article covers the importance of search intent in SEO and digital marketing today.
About the Author – Kanika Soni is a digital marketer and content specialist with seven years of experience in consulting. She currently writes for DelhiCourses, an institute known for its digital marketing institute in Delhi.
