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Informational Intent
Informational intent describes search queries made by users seeking knowledge, explanations, or answers — such as "how does SEO work" or "what is a canonical tag." These queries dominate overall search volume and are best served by comprehensive, authoritative content like blog posts, guides, and FAQs.
Informational intent keywords are identified using SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool (with "Informational" intent filter), Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer intent classification, and Google's "People Also Ask" results. Content targeting informational queries is optimized with clear definitions, structured data (FAQ schema), and internal links to related topics.
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Commercial Intent
User queries that are made by users who intend to make a purchase but want to do research and obtain information beforehand are called queries with commercial intent.
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Navigational Intent
Queries of users who know what they are looking for and search for a helpful resource are called queries with navigational intent.
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Transactional Intent
User queries made with the aim of purchasing a product or service are called queries with transactional intent.
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User Intent (Search Intent)
The underlying purpose behind a search query — typically classified as informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional — and the primary signal modern search algorithms use to decide which page format to surface.