Unlocking the Power of Keywords: Exploring the Different Types for SEO Success
When it comes to SEO keywords, understanding their different categories based on search intent can greatly impact your SEO strategy. Let’s delve into the various types of Keywords and their associated search intents:
- Informational Keywords: Seeking Knowledge
Informational keywords are used by searchers who are looking for specific information. - Navigational Keywords: Finding a Specific Destination
Navigational keywords are employed when users are searching for a specific website, webpage or online destination. - Commercial Keywords: Exploring Brands and Products
Commercial keywords are utilised by searchers who are in the exploration phase, seeking to gather information about brands, products or services. - Transactional Keywords: Taking Action
Transactional keywords indicate that searchers are ready to take a specific action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a service or downloading an app. - Apart from these intent-based keyword categories, other important types exist within SEO. Local keywords, for example, are used to find nearby products or services, while long-tail keywords are highly specific search terms that target niche audiences.
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- Analyse SEO keywords based on intent is particularly valuable as it allows you to understand how to compete effectively on search engine results pages.
- By determining the search intent behind a keyword, you can ascertain whether a user intends to make a prompt purchase, conduct further research or simply gather information.
Now, let’s delve deeper into different types of keywords in SEO to gain a comprehensive understanding of their significance in optimising your SEO efforts.
Learn More: What is SEO Keyword Research & Why Should You Do That?
Informational Google SEO keywords serve as search queries used by individuals seeking to acquire knowledge or learn something new. These types of keywords often take the form of questions, beginning with words like “what,” “why,” or “how.”
For instance, consider the following examples of informational keywords:
- Coffee calories
- National coffee day
- What is the difference between cold brew and iced coffee
Keywords Strategies
- When conducting an informational search, users are often looking for quick answers and relevant information. Google’s search results commonly include featured snippets, which provide concise answers to these queries.
- Let’s take a look at an example of a featured snippet for the informational keyword “what is the difference between cold brew and iced coffee”: Informational keywords typically signify that users are at the top of the marketing funnel, in the early stages of their buying journey. Consequently, they may be less inclined to take immediate action, such as making a purchase.
- While the conversion rate for informational content tends to be lower, it plays a crucial role in building brand awareness and establishing authority within a specific niche.
Learn More: What are Keyword and Why is it Important?
Exploring Navigational Keywords: Guiding Users to Specific Sites or Pages
Navigational keywords are utilised by searchers with the intention of finding a particular website or webpage. When individuals enter a brand name or website address into a search engine, they are conducting a navigational search.
Consider the following examples of navigational keywords:
- YouTube
- Traffic Radius blog
- Where is Angelino’s Coffee located
Keywords Strategies:
- Users performing navigational searches already have prior knowledge of the company or brand and are specifically seeking the correct website or physical location to access their desired products or services.
- For well-known and popular brands or websites, navigational keywords can serve as valuable sources of organic traffic. It is important to naturally rank highly for these keywords that include your brand name, ensuring that users can easily locate your online presence.
- By optimising your website and brand visibility, you can enhance your chances of appearing prominently in search engine results when users conduct navigational searches. This visibility fosters convenience for your audience and reinforces brand recognition, ultimately driving more targeted traffic to your site.
Learn More: How to Increase Organic Traffic?
Understanding Commercial Keywords: Exploring Brands, Products and Services
Commercial keywords are utilised by individuals who are actively researching specific brands, products or services. These keywords indicate an intent to check reviews, compare options or seek out discounts before making a purchasing decision.
Consider the following examples of commercial keywords:
- Free coffee
- Dunkin iced coffee Flavors
- Peet’s cold brew vs Starbucks cold brew
Keywords Strategies
- Make a commercial keywords list and employ the keywords to express your interest in engaging in commercial activities or making a purchase soon. These keywords present an opportunity to reach high-quality prospects who are closer to the buying stage.
- To effectively target commercial keywords, you can create various types of content such as comparison articles, listicles, reviews or how-to guides, depending on the specific keyword and the intent behind it.
- By optimising your content and website for commercial keywords, you can attract and engage potential customers who are actively seeking information and considering their options. This strategic approach helps you capture the attention of valuable prospects and guide them towards making informed purchasing decisions.
Understanding Transactional Keywords: Unveiling Strong Intent to Take Action
Transactional keywords represent the strongest intent to buy or take immediate action. These keywords indicate that users are actively seeking to make a purchase or engage in a specific activity in the near future.
To effectively target transactional keywords, businesses often use paid ads and optimise their product pages or other landing pages to facilitate immediate action on their websites.
Consider the following examples of transactional keywords:
- Buy crypto online
- Sandwich places near me that deliver
- Pickup truck for sale
Keywords Strategies:
- These keywords demonstrate that individuals have already progressed through the information-seeking phase, made a decision, and are now determined to take a specific action or make a purchase.
- Transactional keywords commonly include terms like “buy,” “subscribe,” or “for sale.” As a result, search engine results pages (SERPs) for these keywords often feature Google Shopping Ads. Due to their bottom-of-the-funnel positioning, transactional keywords are sometimes referred to as buyer keywords. They hold significant value when conducting keyword research and formulating SEO or PPC strategies.
- Transactional keywords provide a more precise description of a product or service, such as “neon blue unisex watch.” In contrast, more general keywords, like “men’s watches,” fall into the commercial category.
- By identifying and strategically targeting transactional keywords, businesses can capture the attention of users who are ready to take action, maximising their chances of conversions and facilitating the desired transactions.
Determining the Intent of Keywords: A Guide to Uncovering Search Intent
Identifying the intent behind different keywords can sometimes be challenging. For instance, when users search for “apple,” are they seeking information about the fruit or attempting to navigate to the technology brand’s website?
One effective method for understanding search intent is to analyse the search engine results pages (SERPs) to observe the types of results that Google displays.
Keywords Strategies:
- Take a look at the example below, where Google predominantly ranks information about the brand “Apple.” This indicates that the keyword “apple” is primarily a navigational search in the U.S.
- In certain cases, keywords can exhibit mixed intent, meaning there is a notable division in the desired results among searchers. For instance, the first page of Google’s results for “coffee beans” provides both commercial and informational outcomes.
- To quickly determine the type of search intent associated with keywords, you can rely on tools like Traffic Radius. By examining the “Intent” box or column in keyword-related reports, you can easily reference the intent type of each keyword.
The intent type is often abbreviated as follows:
I = Informational
N = Navigational
C = Commercial
T = Transactional
[Insert image highlighting the “Intent” box in a Keyword Magic Tool report.]
Traffic Radius determines the intent type of keywords by considering several factors, including:
- SERP features present in keyword search results, such as featured snippets
- The presence of specific words within the keyword that indicate the user’s intention, like “buy,” “address,” or “how”
- Whether the keyword is associated with a branded or non-branded query
What To Do?
- By leveraging tools like Traffic Radius and analysing search intent, you can gain valuable insights into keyword strategies and align your content and optimisation efforts accordingly.
- Understanding the intent behind keywords allows you to deliver more relevant and targeted results to users.
Leveraging Keyword Intent in Traffic Radius: A Comprehensive Guide
Discover three effective ways to use keyword intent in Traffic Radius for your SEO and content strategy:
Keywords Strategies:
- Check the Intent of Any Keyword (or List of Keywords)
- Traffic Radius’s Keyword Overview tool allows you to assess the intent of up to 100 keywords simultaneously. Simply enter a keyword or multiple keywords separated by commas and select your desired country. Click “Search” to generate the results.
- Examine the “Intent” column to understand the types of keywords you’re dealing with. It’s important to note that certain keywords may exhibit mixed intent, encompassing multiple categories. For a single keyword, refer to the “Intent” box instead.
For a deeper understanding of search intent, analyse the search engine results page (SERP) by clicking the “View SERP” button or icon.
Analyse a Competitor’s Keyword Intent Profile:
- Uncover the types of keywords your competitors are ranking for using Traffic Radius’s Domain Overview tool. Enter a competitor’s domain and select your country, then click “Search” to retrieve the results.
- Hover over the coloured bar in the “Keywords by intent” section to obtain a breakdown of keywords categorised by intent.
- This breakdown provides insights into the distribution of informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional keywords. Furthermore, it reveals the estimated organic visits per month driven by each intent category.
- Click on the blue number above the bar to access the “Positions” report within Traffic Radius’s Organic Research tool. This report showcases individual keywords, their associated search intent, and additional data like keyword volume (average monthly searches in the selected country).
- Use the “Intent” filter to refine the results and focus on specific intent categories of interest, such as informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional keywords. To gain further inspiration for your content strategy, examine your competitor’s top pages in the “Pages” tab. Start with the pages that generate the most organic traffic (according to Traffic Radius estimations).
By understanding which intent categories (e.g., informational, navigational, commercial, transactional) drive traffic to your competitor’s most valuable pages, you can derive valuable insights for your own content strategy.
FAQS
How to optimise for different types of keywords?
Informational Keywords:
- Create comprehensive and informative content that answers the searcher’s questions.
- Use descriptive headings, subheadings, and bullet points to make the content scannable and easy to read.
- Incorporate relevant keywords naturally throughout the content.
- Include visuals like images, infographics or videos to enhance the user experience.
- Optimise meta tags (title tag and meta description) with informative and enticing snippets to attract clicks from search engine users.
Navigational Keywords:
- Ensure your website is easily navigable and user-friendly.
- Optimise your website structure and internal linking to make it simple for users to find specific pages.
- Use clear and descriptive anchor text for internal links.
- Optimise meta tags with brand-related keywords to increase visibility for branded searches.
- Consider running paid search ads targeting your brand keywords to secure top positions on search engine results pages.
Commercial Keywords:
- Create compelling product or service descriptions highlighting unique features and benefits.
- Include persuasive calls-to-action (CTAs) to encourage users to take the desired action.
- Optimise product pages with relevant keywords, including product names, descriptions and specifications.
- Display customer reviews and ratings to build trust and credibility.
- Implement schema markup to enhance the visibility and presentation of your products in search results.
Transactional Keywords:
- Optimise landing pages to streamline the conversion process and make it easy for users to act.
- Clearly display pricing, offers, and discounts to entice users.
- Use persuasive and action-oriented CTAs to guide users towards the desired action.
- Simplify the checkout process and provide multiple secure payment options.
- Monitor and optimise your website’s loading speed to ensure a smooth user experience.
What To Do?
Analyse search results, understand your target audience and continuously monitoring performance metrics can help refine your optimisation strategy over time.
What are the considerations I need to keep in mind while deciding which types of keywords to prioritise?
- Focus on keywords that align with your business, products, or services. Ensure that the keywords you target are relevant to your target audience’s needs and search intent.
- Evaluate the search volume and popularity of keywords within each category. High-volume keywords generally indicate a larger potential audience, but they may also come with higher competition. Consider striking a balance between search volume and competitiveness.
- Assess the conversion potential of different keyword types. Transactional keywords often have a higher likelihood of converting into leads or sales since they indicate strong purchase intent. Prioritise targeting keywords that align with your conversion goals.
- Analyse the level of competition for keywords in each category. Highly competitive keywords may be challenging to rank for, especially if you’re a small business or just starting out. Consider targeting a mix of less competitive keywords to gain initial traction while gradually expanding to more competitive ones.
- Understand the intent behind each keyword category and determine how well it aligns with your content and offerings. If your website primarily focuses on providing information and educating users, informational keywords may be more relevant. On the other hand, if your goal is to drive immediate sales, transactional keywords might be a higher priority.
- Consider the resources available to you for keyword research, content creation, and optimisation. Determine if you have the capacity to target and optimise for multiple keyword types effectively or if it’s more strategic to focus on specific categories.
The ideal approach is often a balanced one, incorporating a mix of different keyword types based on your business goals, target audience and available resources.
Learn More: Ultimate Guide to SEO Content Creation!
What is the process of tracking my rankings for different keywords?
- Google Search Console:
- Access your Google Search Console account.
- Click on “Performance” and then “Search results.”
- Check the box next to “Average position” to focus on rankings.
- Scroll down to the “QUERIES” table to view your keyword rankings and position data for the selected time.
- Traffic Radius’s Position Tracking Tool:
- Utilise Traffic Radius’s Position Tracking tool for more comprehensive tracking and insights.
- Set up your project by entering the keywords, URLs, locations, and devices you want to monitor.
- Once set up, navigate to the “Overview” tab within the tool.
- Scroll down to the “Rankings Overview” table to see your keyword rankings and related data.
What To Do?
Use tools like Traffic Radius’s Position Tracking to get more detailed information and track rankings across multiple search engines, track competitor rankings and access additional metrics and features for deeper analysis.
What is SEO meta keywords?
SEO meta keywords are a type of meta tag that was traditionally used in the HTML code of webpages. Their purpose was to provide search engines with a list of keywords relevant to the webpage’s content, aiming to improve its visibility in search results.
In today’s SEO landscape, search engines primarily rely on other factors to determine a webpage’s ranking. These factors include the quality and relevance of the page’s content, the presence of backlinks from reputable sources, user engagement metrics and the overall authority of the website. Although meta keywords no longer directly impact SEO, they may still have some relevance in specific cases.
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