Search Engines & Performance
02 / Content & Search Intent
Key question
What are people really looking for?
Behind every search lies an intent: to know something, compare, buy, or find a place. Good content addresses this exact intent. If you write for people, you write for search engines too.
Learning objective: You will be able to find search terms, identify their intent, and plan and write content that answers questions clearly.
Write in your audience's language.
2.1 / Finding search terms
The language of your audience.
People rarely search using the terms that professionals use. They write “custom kitchen costs”, not “bespoke kitchen construction”. Three sources help you find them.
01
Conversations
What do customers ask on the phone? These questions are search terms.
02
Suggestions
Autocomplete and "People also ask" show what other people are searching for.
03
Data
Search Console shows which terms people are already using to find you.
One search term per page, not ten. Each page has a clear topic and answers the related questions.
One topic per page.
2.2 / Search intent
Learn, compare, buy, find.
The same words can have different intents. "Care for a wooden table" calls for a guide, while "buy a wooden table Basel" calls for an offer. The search engine displays the pages that match the intent. That is why sales copy rarely ranks for a "how-to" query.
The easiest test: enter the term and see what comes up at the top. Guides, shops, maps or videos? That's what the page you need looks like.
It's the thought that counts.
2.3 / Writing for Humans and Machines
Clear, concise, structured.
Answer the question right at the beginning, followed by details. Structure your content with subheadings that are themselves questions or statements. Specific details such as prices, dimensions, materials, and examples demonstrate expertise.
Show who is writing: real names, photos of your own projects, experience. Search engines value experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Copied or mass-produced, automatically generated content delivers little value and damages your reputation.
Answer first, details later.
Exercise
A guide article
Task: Plan and write an advice guide for the Holzwerk joinery.
STEP 1
Collect ten questions that customers ask and test them in the tool.
STEP 2
Choose an informative question, such as 'How do you look after a wooden tabletop?'.
STEP 3
Write a short response to start with, and structure the rest using three subheadings.
STEP 4
Add your own photos, a note about the offer, and a title with a description.
Evaluation: Does the first paragraph fully answer the question?