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Optimize for The Searchers Intention & Neural Matching

Many say that keyword research is one of the most important aspects of SEO

Wat is equally important is deciphering the searchers intention

Deciphering the searchers intention isn’t something that we do on page but is something that Google is always improving via AI and Neural Matching

I’ll leave it to you to find all the technical jargon about Neural Matching on Google

So what can we do to optimise for Searchers Intent and Neural Matching

1st you need to know why they are searching

Are they searching to find a certain website. It’s amazing how many people will type BBC in to a search bar rather than going direct to the bbc.co.uk website, the same thing happens with Amazon, BMW, Tesco, Ebay, etc.

Are they searching for information about a certain subject

Are they searching to buy a certain product

As I’ve said since my early days of optimising (early 2000’s) we should treat Google like a small child it may have amazing AI now but when it comes to the English language it’s still like a 7 year old.

What it’s really trying to improve on is, when a searcher searches for a word or a phrase it wants to know what the intention of the searcher actually is.

This may sound obvious to the mature human brain, but a search engine is more like a monosyllabic 5 year old and to optimise for it you need base content on your pages in a way a monosyllabic 5 year would expect BUT in a way that doesn’t read as though it has been written like that.

You also need to use words phrases properties based on intentions of your target keywords

A perfect example of this is Tradesmen, if you are a Plumber you would naturally assume that your number one keyword is Plumbers

With that in mind you need to think what is the intention of the person searching for Plumbers

Optimise for the Searchers Intention

Ignoring the obvious that they are searching for a Plumber 🙂

Chances are they are looking for a local plumber – Ensure you add locations to your website copy so it is clear where you are

They make be looking for the telephone number of a local plumber – Ensure you clearly display a local phone number

They make be looking for a domestic plumber

They may be searching for a commercial plumber

They may be searching for a boiler repair

They may have a leak

etc. etc.

Ok, a lot of people expand on search phrases now rather than simply searching for plumber, but a lot still use single words, and for both types of searcher it is equally important that your website copy and information is not just based on the Keyword but the intention of the searcher when entering the keyword.

This is all very simplistic, but hopefully demonstrates what I mean when I say Optimise for the Searchers Intention

Using the same plumber as an example

He has a page for boilers

He fits boilers, repairs boilers, sells boilers

Now if he fills the page with too much specks about the boiler Google may treat it as an information page and rank it higher when the searcher is searching for information, he may think this is great, I’m getting lots of traffic, but what if none of it converts

He edits the page, puts more information about services/locations/prices/ etc. He loses some of the information traffic but the traffic he is getting now converts when people need a boiler serviced or installed.

He edits the page again, this time has prices, choices of different boilers, buy now buttons, delivery info – He loses the traffic of people wanting boilers serviced or installed but the traffic he has is people wanting to buy a boiler

Now lets say he wants all 3 lots of traffic; people wanting information, people wanting servicing/repairs/installation, people wanting to buy a boiler

The Answer Optimize for The Searchers Intent

3 separate pages specifically set up for searcher intention but being careful about duplication and cannibalisation.

Optimize for The Searchers Intention

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