In short
- Search intent is what users want to get when they type a query: an answer, a comparison, a product or a specific site.
- In e-commerce, it determines the type of page that can rank: a category does not rank for a question, an article does not rank for a purchase query.
- The most reliable way to recognize it is to look at what Google already displays: products and categories, or articles and videos.
- Every intent has its own page and value: transactional goes to categories and facets, commercial to enriched categories or buying guides, informational to content.
Two queries can contain the same words and call for completely different pages. "160x200 fitted sheet" and "how to fold a fitted sheet" are about the same product, but the first one wants to buy and the second one wants to solve a problem. Understanding this difference means understanding search intent, and it is the foundation of all e-commerce SEO.
The four intents
| Intent | What the user wants | Examples | Page that answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transactional | Find and buy a product | "160x200 fitted sheet", "food for neutered cats" | Category, facet, product page |
| Commercial | Compare before buying | "best cordless stick vacuum", "stainless steel pan reviews" | Enriched category, buying guide, comparison |
| Informational | Get an answer | "how to season a stainless steel pan", "what size duvet for a 160 bed" | Article, guide, FAQ |
| Navigational | Reach a specific site | "my store fitted sheets", "my store order tracking" | Homepage, dedicated page |
In e-commerce, transactional intent is the one that pays off most directly, and it is the one your categories and facets must capture. We explain why, figures in hand, in our analysis of e-commerce SEO traffic.
How to recognize the intent of a query
Read the results page
The most reliable method is also the simplest: type the query into Google and look at what it displays. Google has already analyzed millions of behaviors to decide which type of page satisfies that search.
- Transactional intent: a product module, online store categories, product pages.
- Commercial intent: a mix of comparisons, review pages, categories and often a product module.
- Informational intent: articles, videos, "People also ask" and, increasingly, an AI Overview.
Our study of 599 French queries confirms it: a product module appears on 94% of transactional queries, an AI Overview on 70% of informational queries.
Spot the markers in the query
Some words are strong clues:
- informational: how, why, which, how much, difference, definition;
- commercial: best, comparison, review, test, versus;
- transactional: a product followed by attributes (size, material, color, brand), "cheap", "deal", "buy".
These markers do not replace reading Google: "what duvet for a 160x200 bed" is phrased as a question, but the results page often shows products. When in doubt, Google is right.
Look at the commercial value
The cost per click (CPC) paid by advertisers is another good indicator. Transactional queries almost always have a higher CPC than the related questions: $0.83 for "160x200 fitted sheet" against $0.11 for "how to fold a fitted sheet". Advertisers, who measure their sales to the cent, know which queries buy.
The principle: one intent, one page
Each type of page has its strengths. A category shows products, a facet a specific selection, an article a developed answer. Trying to make a single page do everything does not work:
- a category weighed down by a long article blurs its intent. Google has already warned against adding informational text to pages meant for users who want to buy;
- an article targeting a transactional query has little chance of ranking against your competitors' categories, and will convert poorly if it does;
- two pages targeting the same intent compete with each other: that is cannibalization.
The right architecture matches each group of queries with a page of the right type, then links those pages to one another: the article "how to choose your duvet size" points to the duvet categories by dimension, and the category points to the article for those who hesitate.
Apply the method to your catalog
- Export the queries your site gets impressions for in Google Search Console.
- Classify them by intent, using the markers above and, for the most important ones, a check in Google.
- Check which page ranks for each query. A transactional query captured by an article, or a question captured by a category, is an anomaly to fix.
- Create the missing pages: often facets for the transactional long tail.
- Align the tags: the title and meta description of each page must speak the language of the intent it targets.
How unblind handles intent
This page-by-page analysis is what unblind applies before writing anything:
- the type of each page is identified (category, facet, brand, internal search, comparison, buying guide, product page, homepage), because each calls for different tags and copy;
- the first paragraph of the copy must answer the visitor's goal and, on a category, make the offer and the next action visible; copy that merely describes the inventory is flagged during review;
- a buying guide gets a guide-style title ("How to choose..."), a category gets a category-style title;
- brand queries are separated from generic queries in the Search Console data analysis.
Frequently asked questions
What are the types of search intent?
Four are generally distinguished: informational (get an answer), commercial (compare before buying), transactional (buy or find a specific product) and navigational (reach a given site or brand).
How do you identify the intent of a query?
Type the query into Google and look at the first page: if it mostly shows store categories, product pages and a product module, the intent is transactional. If it shows articles, videos, related questions and an AI Overview, it is informational. Google has already done the analysis for you.
Can a page target several intents?
Rarely with success. A category weighed down by a long informational article blurs its intent, which Google has already flagged as a problem. Better to have one page per intent, linked to one another through internal links.