User Intent Keyword Research

What is user intent keyword research? Anytime someone searches on Google for something, there’s an intention behind what they type into the search bar. if you’re creating content for a particular reason, such as to sell a product or service, you’ll want your visitors to be the right kind of visitor.

user intent keyword research

We don’t want any old website visitors coming to our website. Most people simply aren’t looking for what we have to sell! Using user intent keyword research can help you better target your website content for the kind of people who want your stuff! An example is someone types “Yoga mat” into the Google browser. There’s a high chance someone is looking to buy a Yoga mat! Their intent is to purchase something. On the other hand let’s say they type in “free Yoga course online”. Their intent is to find a free course and learn some Yoga from home, rather than a local Yoga school.

User Intent Keyword Research

To attract the right kinds of visitors to your website, you’ll want to think about the user intent before creating a tonne of content. If your content is attracting the wrong audience, you’ll waste a heap of time building content than doesn’t convert visitors into customers.

If you’re a blogger, there’s going to be a lot of competition, depending on your niche of course. But there’s going to be competition anyway! To get your content ranking on Google is tough because there’s so much content out there already. One strategy to get more visitors on your website is to find low competition long tail keywords with low SEO difficulty. But you also need to choose those keywords which are a good match for your products/service and have buyer intent.

This can be difficult because the long tail keywords aren’t always the best ones for search intent.

User Intent Keyword Research – Keyword Planner

Let’s look at the keyword planner and some keywords in the Yoga niche. Using the example of “Yoga mat” as our main “seed” keyword, here’s some of the ideas which came up:

user intent keyword research

These are great if you’re running paid ads, but if you’re creating content it’s going to be difficult getting your content noticed; due to the competition. To find longer tail keywords will give you a better chance of ranking on Google, and getting free traffic as a content creator/blogger.

To find longer tail keywords which also have good search intent you need to look at the keywords with less traffic. Click on the Avg. Monthly searches tab to change the search volume. Here’s some examples:

user intent keyword research

As you can see, this gives us some longer tail phrases which still have buyer intent. “Best non slippery yoga mat” for example might easily be someone looking to buy a Yoga mat, but the phrase is much longer and so you’ll more easily rank content for it.

Why Long Tail Keywords?

Longer tail keywords are good for bloggers because of two things:

  • They are less competitive so you’re more likely to have a chance to rank for them with your content
  • They are more specific. “Yoga mat” is very broad. You can waste time or marketing budget trying to sell the wrong kind of mat to someone. Whereas a longer tail phrase shows the person searches knows more clearly what they are wanting.

When you can find longer tail keywords which also have a good buyer intent, it’s worth creating content for the term. If you create content for everything in your niche, you can be spending a lot of time creating content for nothing!

Finding Keywords With Buyer Intent

To find keywords with buying intent you need to think about the search and ask yourself some questions. Does the search have a meaningful outcome? Will the person need to buy something? Does the search imply interest or the will to buy something? Many searches online are simply searches for free information, which can of course lead to a purchase too. But some stand out as a strong intent to buy. Review websites, for example are a great idea if you’re intending on selling something online.

Before someone finds a review website, they have the intent to buy something when they perform a Google search. So if you’re selling a specific product online, writing a review about it can be a good idea and attract the right audience.

A review is often something someone looks for when they are in the last stage of the buying cycle. Before this, they might look for information about a certain product, such as a portable heater. Once they are more ready to buy, they will look for a heater by brand and model. If they find your review, and it’s what they want, they are very likely to buy – using your affiliate link.