Why User Intent Must be Top priority in a Design Marketing Strategy

Are you in the process of designing a digital marketing strategy but don’t know what should come first? Maybe you’re thinking that all it involves is backlinks to your sites or that merely ranking higher on search engines will do the trick. If this is the case, then you are making a grave mistake which could hinder the success of your digital marketing strategy. You should consider user intent first and foremost.

What does digital marketing strategy ACTUALLY involve?

Gone are the days when major search engines used to be only mechanical, robotic and mathematical. They delivered search requests to users but without satisfying them with relevant answers.

But since then, the standard of Google’s algorithm has improved significantly and focuses more on what users are searching for. This is why the search engine giant continually monitors user behaviour to gain more information about queries that people are making as well as how to deliver relevant content that answers their queries.

Any web page that shows up in SERPs – or Search Engine Results Pages – as a result of domain authority or backlinks but does not deliver relevant information – as a result of shallow or plagiarised content – will be de-ranked, irrespective of other signals. This is why user intent continues increase in popularity in any SEO strategy of any organisation that wants to make an impact with potential and existing customers. So if you don’t employ the concept of user intent in your marketing strategy, then you may be wasting your time and money online without any substantial profit.

What is user intent?

User intent is about the objective or goal that your users want to achieve whenever they type a phrase or term into any search engine. It is based on the context of search queries and keywords. Although this concept is not complicated it is difficult to determine accurately what your reader is looking for based on a simple search query.

There are three primary categories that you can use which will be helpful when designing your marketing strategy based on the intent of your users. When you accurately identify these categories, you will know how to address their specific needs and ensure they have a pleasant and rewarding experience on your website.

Information Seekers

The first category involves information seekers. They look for more information about your organisation, product or service, or how to get in touch with you.

Educational Users

The next group is the educational users. They are only interested in learning more about topics that are tailored to your industry. They may need answers to a problem they are facing.

Transactional Users

The last group consists of transactional users who are ready to subscribe to your newsletters, download anything you have or make a purchase. They visit your site with one clear intention in mind: to buy something. They are the most important group of website visitors and you must ensure that the process is as seamless as possible.

User intent matters a lot as it is the primary component that converts visitors to your website to customers and this is considered as a psychological challenge. Therefore, identifying a user’s intent must be paramount in your marketing strategy.

You can identify – and understand – the intent of users by following the steps outlined below:

• Keeping tabs on the search tool on your website
• Monitoring keywords used in Bing or Google to find your site (for paid keywords only)
• Tracking the links clicked in e-mail newsletters
• Tracking visits to your product or service pages

Use data obtained from the Users Flow Report in Google Analytics which serves as a graphic representation of the routes users followed to your website. It begins from the source, through numerous pages as well as the point where they exit your site.

User intent is crucial to the future of SEO strategy so it’s up to you to find more information about your users so that you can keep up. Want to know the ins and out of SEO strategy and how to implement this in your business? Sign up to the Digital Marketing School’s SEO Course today and see what the magical world of SEO has to offer!

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