Search Intent

The reason behind a search query — what the searcher actually wants to accomplish. Google sorts results by intent class, and ranking for a query you don't match the intent of is a waste of effort. The four classes: navigational (the searcher wants a specific site or brand), informational (they want to learn — guides, definitions, how-tos), commercial (they are comparing options before buying — 'best', 'review', 'vs'), and transactional (they are ready to buy — 'buy', 'price', 'near me'). A product page ranks for transactional queries; a buying guide ranks for commercial queries; a definition page ranks for informational; a homepage ranks for navigational. The failure mode is targeting the wrong intent for a page — a thin product page trying to rank for a research query (it won't, because Google sees transactional intent and wants a buying page), or a blog post trying to rank for a buy query (Google wants a product page, not an article). The fix per page is to identify the dominant intent of the target query, confirm the page format matches what Google rewards for that intent, and either restructure the page to match or retarget it at a query whose intent it does match. Stores that get this right earn traffic from every stage of the funnel; stores that don't fight for one query class and lose the other three.