Lots of businesses publish content regularly and see very little come of it. The writing might be perfectly good. The problem is usually that it doesn’t match what people searching for that topic actually want. Matching search intent is what makes content rank.
That match has a name: search intent. It’s the reason behind a search, and Google puts a lot of effort into working it out. If your page answers a different question from the one the searcher had, it’s unlikely to rank, however many times it mentions the keyword.
The encouraging part is that Google shows you what it thinks the intent is. You just have to look.
The main types of search intent
SEO people usually group searches into a few broad types. The labels matter less than the idea:
- Informational: the person wants to learn something. “How often should a boiler be serviced”.
- Commercial investigation: they’re weighing options. “Best accounting software for sole traders”, “air source heat pump vs gas boiler”.
- Transactional: they’re ready to buy or book. “Book MOT Wallasey”, “buy oak worktops”.
- Brand searches: they want a specific site or business. “Ignite Creative contact”.
- Local: they want something nearby, often without typing a location, such as “dentist open Saturday”.
Many searches are mixed, and intent can change over time. That’s why the most reliable guide isn’t a label. It’s the results page.
Read the results before you write
Before writing anything, search your target phrase in a private browser window and study the first page. Ask:
- What kind of pages rank? Service pages, blog guides, product listings, videos, directories, forums?
- What format do they take? Step-by-step guides, lists, comparisons, calculators, short answers?
- How deep do they go? Quick answers or detailed explainers?
- What angle do they share? Are they aimed at beginners, homeowners, trade buyers? Are they recent?
- What else is on the page? A map pack suggests local intent. A “People also ask” box shows related questions you should probably answer.
If every result is a how-to guide and you’re planning a sales page, rethink. If every result is a local business service page and you’re planning a 2,000-word essay, the same applies.
Google has already told you what kind of page it wants to show for a search. Your job is to make a better version of that page, not a different one.
Better, not just longer
Matching search intent gets you into consideration. Being genuinely more useful is what helps you compete. “Better” rarely means more words. It usually means:
- First-hand experience. What you’ve seen doing the work, the mistakes customers make, what actually happens on site. This is the one thing generic content can’t copy.
- Answering the next question. If someone asks how much a loft conversion costs, they’ll also want to know what affects the cost and how long it takes.
- Getting to the point. Answer the main question early, then expand. Nobody wants three paragraphs of preamble.
- Clear structure. Descriptive headings, short paragraphs and lists where they help, so people can scan.
- Being specific to your market. UK regulations, UK pricing factors, local conditions. A lot of what ranks is written for a US audience, which gives UK businesses an opening.
Connecting content to your services
Informational content rarely produces an enquiry directly, and that’s fine. Its job is to be found by people earlier in the process and to show you know your subject. But it should always give readers a sensible next step.
A guide to “how long does a kitchen fitting take” should link naturally to your kitchen fitting service page. A comparison of two heating systems should point to the page for whichever you install. Without these links, you’re publishing helpful content and hoping people find their own way to your services. Most won’t.
Before you write your next article
Common intent mistakes
- Writing blog posts for transactional phrases like “plumber Crosby”, which should be a service page.
- Stuffing sales copy into informational guides until they stop being helpful.
- Writing about what you want to say rather than what people ask.
- Targeting several unrelated questions in one post, so it’s the best answer to none of them.
- Publishing and forgetting. Check whether posts are getting impressions in Search Console, and update the ones that nearly rank.
A simple brief for your next article
Before anyone writes, fill in five lines:
- The main search phrase, and who’s typing it.
- What they’re trying to achieve.
- What the current top results do well, and what they miss.
- What you can add from your own experience.
- Which service page it should link to.
If you can’t fill in line four, consider whether you’re the right business to write it.
Want help planning content?
Our SEO content service starts with this kind of search intent research, then writes articles and pages in your voice that are built to be useful first. It sits within our wider SEO approach, so the content connects to the pages that bring in work.
