When driving traffic to your site, one of the most important factors is targeting the people you want to use your services or products. The goal is to rank for keywords and phrases that people are searching for which lead to a good conversion or intended action. Commercial intent in keyword research is a major part of getting those folks to your website. Keywords and phrases can be broken down into three different types of commercial intent: navigational, informational and transactional.

1. Navigational – A common example of a navigational keyword query is a name brand or company name that is typed directly into the search field. Searchers already know where they want to go, but may not know the exact address of the website. There is usually only one right website, the searcher doesn’t need to dig through lots of pages to find what they are looking for.

2. Informational – Informational queries include people who are searching for information on a certain topic or specs on a product they are thinking about purchasing. Many searchers will perform informational queries on products for the features they want, reviews and where to find the best prices before either purchasing online or going to the physical store to purchase the product or service. The searches are not site specific and often include question words regarding "how" something works or "where" to find a desired service in the search phrases.

3. Transactional – While being the most sought after intentional search, the transactional query is the least common. It is also the last search that will happen in a process of purchasing a product or services. The searcher will have already done a myriad of informational and navigational queries to determine the product or service they wish to purchase. A transactional query doesn’t just apply to e-commerce websites, it can relate to any action you desire the searcher to take, be it sign up for a newsletter or join a community.

With your website in mind you can now determine which type of searches you are targeting. Is it an informational website, with product reviews or a navigational site behind a well known brand name or a website selling all the latest technological toys? It’s important to put yourself in the consumer’s shoes and look at sites with the three intentions in mind. If they’ve come to you through a navigational search there should be clear confirmation that they’ve arrived; this is generally done in the form of a well known logo. If they’ve come to you looking for information, the site should be authoritative and not covered in advertisements. The transactional searcher is more likely to welcome ads, as long as the content is relevant to their initial intention.

Often times an informational search can end up being a transactional search once the user is satisfied with the information that they were searching for. Many sites are successful using this plan; they have articles and reviews about products or services and include links to purchase related items. It is possible to build up user trust through this method; searchers may note the quality of your content and come to your site through navigational searches in the future. Use this power for good, because it can work in reverse; searchers are more likely to remember websites for a negative reason that pushes things down their throat when all they wanted is information.

At Amadeus Consulting, we take an all encompassing approach to search visibility; we pay close attention to the ultimate goals of your website to construct a Search Visibility and Conversion Rate Optimization solution that includes in-depth keyword research and audience analysis. Contact us if you are interested in learning more.