User Intent (Search Intent)

"Nike" and "buy Nike shoes online" and "are Nike shoes durable" are all searches about Nike. But the person behind each one wants completely different things — a brand lookup, a purchase, a review. Serving them the same page is a mistake.

Search intent is the category of what the searcher wants. Google's algorithm is essentially a giant intent classifier, and the pages that rank are the ones that match the intent best — not necessarily the pages with the best content.

Informational — "how to", "what is", "why does"
Answer the question, teach something.

Navigational — brand name, product name, specific URLs
Help them find the thing they already know.

Commercial investigation — "best X", "X vs Y", "X review"
Compare options, help them choose.

Transactional — "buy X", "X discount", "X checkout"
Sell, convert, close the deal.

A single keyword can span two categories. "Landing page builder" is partially informational (what tools exist?) and partially commercial (which should I pick?). The top-ranking pages usually serve both.

I can write the most comprehensive, well-researched article on "best running shoes 2026" — but if the top 10 results are all list articles with product cards, and I publish a single-product review, I'll never rank. Google's algorithm has learned that the people searching "best running shoes" want a list, not a review.

Before writing a page targeting a keyword, search it. Look at the top 5 results. What format are they? Listicles? Guides? Comparison tables? Your page should probably be the same format, but done better.