One key element of effective SEO services is having an understanding of how Google decides what the user wants to see when making a search. SEO specialists are continuously studying the way search engines interpret user intent and how this information is applied to the SERPs for each query.
SEO consulting experts have thus far determined that user data, from the initial query to previous search history, is applied in a number of overlapping ways.
SERPs and Multiple User Intent
Considering the fact that words and phrases can have multiple meanings, SEO services find that Google lists the most popular definitions of these search terms first. There may be multiple results of definitions listed on a page; however, generally the one that corresponds with most people’s searches will be on top, whether or not this was the one searched for.
SEO specialists know that there are other ways in which the algorithm determines intent and fine-tunes specific results. All of this information must be taken into account when you are marketing to reach the most audiences and attain a higher pagerank.
User Signals Win Over Links
High-quality links to and from websites have been a marketing mainstay that SEO consulting professionals strive for in order to generate more authority for web pages. While links do provide authority, Google does not apply authority over user intent.
In other words, even though an authoritative page may have many high-quality links, if the page does not seem to match intent, it will not receive more consideration. Intent comes first, then authority.
Popular User Intent Affects Search Results
In addition to giving greater consideration to the meaning the search engine determines users are searching for, SEO specialists find that Google also displays the most popular content within that definition. Content popularity seems to be determined according to what most people in a certain demographic are searching for.
This is why popular brands commonly are pushed to the top of the SERPs even though a consumer may be looking for a less popular brand or a different definition altogether. This is also part of the way in which content for the featured snippet is chosen.
Content Types Based on Popularity
As audiences have paid more and more attention to video content, Google has definitely taken notice. This can be noted in how a search can bring up links to video content before webpage content based on intent parameters.
SEO services find that popular video content that fits a searcher’s other specifications is making it higher up the SERPs when the algorithm determines the audience prefers video over standard text content.
Click Data Matters
In conjunction with all of these other methods, SEO consulting experts confirm that online clicks also help the algorithm develop an image of a visitor and what they might possibly be looking for when making a search. Search history and data from other pages a searcher interacts with all help to build a specific search results page that is designed to give them the specific answers they want.
Based on what is discussed above, SEO specialists suggest that achieving a high pagerank with Google’s thinking search algorithm requires that you have an understanding of user intent so that your company markets to consumers for this intent. The SERPs are no longer displayed in terms of which page has the best onsite optimization.
SEO consulting professionals must use standard optimization methods while combining them with user intent. In doing so, SEO services will see pages being served to the most interested and highest quality audiences who are most likely to interact with your website!
