Types of Searches Used in SEO

Types of Searches Used in SEO.
If you’ve been in the world of SEO for a while, then you’ll almost certainly know about the three types of searches: navigational, transactional, and informational.

These have been around for years, and there are hundreds of blog posts talking about them.

But how relevant are these three types of searches in 2021? And how exactly do you target them?

Types of Searches Used in SEO
What are navigational, informational, and transactional searches? Let’s begin by explaining the ‘traditional’ definitions of these search types:

Navigational Search
Navigational searches are where someone is looking for a specific website. For example, if someone types “netflix” into Google, that’s a navigational search because they’re almost certainly looking for Netflix’s homepage.

But navigational searches aren’t always just brand names. If someone searches for “iphone 12 amazon,” that’s also arguably a navigational search. Although the searcher is looking for a specific product, they’ve already decided where they’re going to buy it from—Amazon.

Here are a few more examples of navigational searches:

“apple”
“iphone”
“tv plus”
“apple education store”

Transactional Search
Transactional searches are where someone is looking to purchase something specific, but hasn’t yet decided where to buy it from. For example, if someone searches for “buy treadmill,” that’s a transactional search. It’s clear from their language that they’re looking to make a purchase. They’re not looking for information.

Here are a few more examples of transactional searches:

“buy iphone”
“refurbished macbook”
“macbook air charger”

Informational Search
Informational searches are where someone wants to find information. For example, if someone searches for “what is a meta tag in SEO” then that’s an informational search because they’re obviously looking for a definition.

Here are a few more examples of informational searches:

“best iphone”
“iphone 12 vs galaxy s20”
“iphone 12 review”
“how to back up iphone”

Historically, SEO professionals have looked for certain words or phrases in the query to infer the type of search. These are known as keyword modifiers. For example, if a query contains modifiers like “buy” or “purchase,” that’s almost certainly a transactional query.

Source: AHREFS Blog