Creating an effective SEO strategy is often a challenging endeavor even for a seasoned social media consultant. This is especially true if you’re not sure about the nature of users’ intent. When planning your content, you may be inclined to rank for high-volume keywords with the hope of driving as much traffic as possible to your site. While this seems like a good idea in theory, it may not be your best bet in practice. Tuning into the three main types of user queries can revolutionize your SEO results. Here, we share insight to help you understand user intent so that you can achieve the best results.
Understanding Google’s Search Quality Ranking Guidelines
Google ranks sites based on their ability to meet the needs of users. Your primary goal when crafting an SEO strategy should be to provide valuable information in response to a user’s query. Google’s search quality ranking guidelines consist of the following:
- Fully Meets (FullyM): This rating category fully satisfies the needs of users. They won’t need to explore any further results after clicking.
- Highly Meets (HM): Although this result is beneficial for most users, some may prefer to continue exploring other options.
- Moderately Meets (MM): These results may be somewhat helpful for users, but most will likely choose to continue searching.
- Slightly Meets (SM): This type of result usually isn’t very helpful. Although there’s a connection between the query and content, it’s not strong enough to satisfy a need.
- Fails to Meet (FailsM): Content that completely fails to meet user expectations will always result in the need to explore further results.
If you’re wondering how to best meet the needs of users, your company or social media consultant will need to have an understanding of the three main types of queries. These include do-know-go categories, which we outline below:
- Do: These types of queries are transactional. The user is looking to take action, such as purchasing a new vehicle or hiring a contractor to remodel their home.
- Know: Users are looking for information with this type of search. For example, an individual who searches for “best coffee shops in Austin” is hoping to learn about top-rated options in a specific city.
- Go: These queries are navigational in nature. Someone who has forgotten the exact name of a site may type in something close in the hopes of finding the result they’re looking for.
When creating content and formulating your SEO strategy, keep these guidelines and query types in mind. You should strive to meet the needs of users, which may turn leads into buyers. Write for real people rather than search engines, and search engines will reward you in turn. If you’re not interested in pursuing the trial and error of SEO strategies, reach out to a social media consultant. Our team will work with you to formulate a tailored plan, so please get in touch with us when you’re ready to get started.