Glossary
Search intent is the goal behind a query: what the person actually wants to happen next. It is usually grouped as informational, navigational, commercial or transactional, and it determines which kind of page can rank at all.
If a query is informational, search engines have already decided that explanations rank; a product page will not win that result no matter how well it is optimised. The page type has to match the goal before anything else matters.
Informational queries want an explanation. Navigational queries want a specific destination. Commercial queries want to compare options before buying. Transactional queries want to act now. Many real queries sit between two of these, and the results page is the evidence of which one dominates.
Search the query and look at what is actually ranking: if the first page is entirely guides, that query is informational regardless of how commercial the words sound. This is also why keyword volume alone is a poor planning input: it says how many people search, not what they expect to find.
An informational page earns its place through assisted conversions and AI citations, not direct enquiries. Holding it to a lead target will get a useful page deleted for failing at a job it was never doing.
Search it and read the first page of results. The page types that rank are the search engine's own judgement about what people want. If guides rank, the intent is informational; if product and category pages rank, it is transactional.
Rarely well. A page that tries to explain a concept and sell a service usually does neither clearly enough to rank or convert. Separate pages that link to each other perform better than one page attempting both jobs.
Search intent is the goal behind a query: what the person actually wants to happen next. It is usually grouped as informational, navigational, commercial or transactional, and it determines which kind of page can rank at all.
