Navigational Search Intent

Definition

Navigational search intent refers to search queries where the user intends to navigate to a particular website or webpage that they already have in mind. The intent is to find that specific site rather than find information or make a purchase.

Navigational Search Intent Relevance For SEO

Optimizing for navigational search intent is important for SEO because it helps ensure that your site appears prominently when users search for your brand name or specific pages on your site. If your site does not rank well for branded and site-specific queries, it indicates issues that need to be addressed.

By optimizing title tags, URLs, internal links and overall site architecture for branded and deep-page queries, you make it easier for search engines to understand relevancy for those terms and provide the most useful results. This helps build authority and recognition for your brand over time.

Navigational Search Intent Best Practices for SEO

• Include Brand Name Prominently On-Site: Place brand name in title tags, headers, content, etc. Make it clear to search engines exactly what your brand name is.
• Optimize Page Titles For Key Pages: Identify key site pages that should rank for branded queries and optimize title tags accordingly, such as “Contact Us – [Brand]”.
• Use Descriptive URLs: URLs like example.com/contact-us are more optimized for “brand contact us” searches than vague URLs.
• Link Internally Using Descriptive Anchor Text: Links between internal pages should use descriptive anchor text, not generic terms like “click here”, to indicate relevancy.
• Provide XML Sitemap: Submit an XML sitemap to ensure search engines can easily crawl all pages on site, including deep pages.
• Implement 301 Redirects Properly: If pages get removed or changed URLs, use proper 301 redirects so search engines and users can find the new locations.