Understanding User Intent and Content Silos

UNDERSTANDING
SEARCH INTENT &
CONTENT SILOS
Presented by Rebecca Gill
April 20, 2016
iThemes Training

3
Search intent simply refers to a human’s
intentions when performing a search.
Search intent sounds scary.
It becomes even scarier when you throw in
terms like semantic search, which is another
way of saying search intent.
Don’t be intimidated. The concept isn’t that
hard.
You just need to think like Google.
UNDERSTANDING SEARCH INTENT
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright © 2016, All Rights Reserved

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Understanding what the user expected to
receive for a given search phrase is search
intent.
When a user searches in Google for “hot dog”
what does he really mean?
Did he mean a dog that is hot from the sun?
Or did he really want results that pertained to
the food hot dog?
CONSIDER THE PHRASE “HOT DOG”

5
There is a BIG difference between a hot dog you
eat and a hot dog that is panting from warm
weather.
Google considers a number of user intent factors
when deciding what content to deliver for a given
search phrase.
INTENT
MATTERS
In today’s world of SEO, search engines are
smart and they care about what the user wants
and expects to see in search results.
OR

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1. A game played in North America with an oval
ball on a field marked out as a gridiron. British
term for soccer.
2. A ball used in football, either oval (as in
American football) or round (as in soccer),
typically made of leather or plastic.
LOCATION
MATTERS
Question: What does football means in search?
Answer: It depends on your physical location.
OR

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NAVIGATIONAL
Navigational searches are performed with the intent of
going directly to a specific website. These are specific
searches for a company, website, or person.
EX: Facebook, Oprah, The White House
COMMERCIAL
Investigational searches are inquiries that lead up to a
purchase and help a buyer find information. These
searches could be consumer or business related.
EX: Person Injury Lawyer, Yoga studios
INFORMATIONAL
This is the largest category and typically represents people
looking for quick answers like recipes, game times, weather,
or even the cure to an ailment or illness.
EX: Brownie Recipe, Chicago Weather, Rash on Head
TRANSACTIONAL
These searches are largely for purchases or completing a
specific task such as receiving a quote or signing up for a
service.
EX: Car Insurance Quotes, GQ Magazine Subscriptions
DIFFERENT TYPES OF SEARCH INTENT
1 2
3 4
Intent makes a huge difference in today’s SEO, so while this is entirely boring it is still very important.

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WHY
SEARCH
INTENT
MATTERS TO
WEBSITE
OWNERS
Many years ago we used to be able to manipulate
search results because search intent was not as
important. By manipulate we mean reach for phrases
that are outside our core focus area.
In today’s world of SEO, it is much more difficult to
stretch for keywords and phrases that don’t directly
relate to your website, content, or offering.
The reason for this is Google is smart. Google is fairly
good at understanding what the user wants and will
make sure the results in search match up closely to
this want.

9
SEARCH
INTENT
EXAMPLE
This list of SERP results is for a Google search for
the phrase Genesis Developer.

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WHO SHOULD
BE ON PAGE
ONE?
People/agencies that are Genesis developers.
Informational articles.

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Freelance Developer
Home Page
Bill Erickson
Agency of Developers
Home Page
BYLT
Freelancer Developer
Home Page
Carrie Dils
Informational Blog Post
Web Savvy Marketing
Informational Blog Post
Bourn Creative
Which listings
don’t belong based
on the user’s
actual intent?

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THE
TAKEAWAY
ON
UNDERSTANDING
USER
INTENT
Before planning your website’s site map, you need to
think through the users’ search intent and consider
how it relates to your planned content.
Don’t stretch for a keyword phrase that doesn’t match
closely to your content and/or the nature of your
website.
Use keywords that relate closely to who you are,
what you do, and what you offer.

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Think back to your last visit to a library – you know
before Kindles and iPads existed. How did the library
staff help you find books of interest?
They grouped content into sections such as fiction or
nonfiction. Well, guess? That is a content silo, but the
old school kind.
WHAT IS A
CONTENT SILO?
A content silo (or SEO silo) is a method of
grouping related content together to establish
the website’s keyword-based topical areas or
themes.

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CONTENT SILOS
ARE IMPORTANT
TO BOTH
SEO AND USABILITY

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Barnes and Noble groups content into subject matter
areas so you can easily find what you are looking
for when you visit their website or physical store.
SILO EXAMPLE

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SUBJECT
MATTER
AREAS
FOR
BOOKS
Architecture & Photography
Bibles & Christianity
Biography
Business
Cookbooks
Food & Wine
Fiction
Graphic Novels & Comics
Diet
Health & Fitness
History
Mystery & Crime
Religion
Romance
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Self-Help & Relationships
Sports
Thrillers
Westerns

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While most people would
assume the company does this
for ease of use for their
buyers, they also do this for
search engines.

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Content silos help search engines because just like the
human visitor, search engines need to have a good
understanding of your website’s content.
Search engines want to know what your website is about,
how it is structured, and where content is located.
Content silos help with this effort by providing a set of
structure to content that mimics that of old-school index
cards at the library.
ORGANIZATION
MATTERS

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Content silos help provide relevance. Keyword relevancy (or
the level of importance) is based on the page’s content as
well as the relevance of the entire website.
If I want to rank for the term SEO, it would be much easier for
me if I had a section of content in my website about SEO
related topics and not just one page. Having topical content
helps support the website’s overall authority and thus an
individual page’s rank.
RELEVANCE
MATTERS

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It is easier for search engines
to find and deliver relevant
content when it is focused
and organized around topics.

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SITE MAP EXAMPLES
Small Yoga Studio Large Blog or Directory Site

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EXAMPLES
OF
CONTENT
SILO
URL
STRUCTURES
Examples of the Yoga website:
http://www.yogabliss.com/studios/new-york/
http://www.yogabliss.com/studios/chicago/
http://www.yogabliss.com/studios/dallas/
http://www.yogabliss.com/studios/orlando/
http://www.yogabliss.com/classes/yoga-rx/
http://www.yogabliss.com/classes/pilates/
http://www.yogabliss.com/classes/vinyasa/
http://www.yogabliss.com/classes/hot-yoga/
Examples of the Vegas blog:
http://www.vegasbaby.com/hotels/mgm-grand/
http://www.vegasbaby.com/hotels/bellagio/
http://www.vegasbaby.com/hotels/wynn/
http://www.vegasbaby.com/hotels/venetian/
http://www.vegasbaby.com/hotels/luxor/
http://www.vegasbaby.com/shows/cirque-de-soleil/
http://www.vegasbaby.com/shows/david-copperfield/
http://www.vegasbaby.com/shows/elton-john/
http://www.vegasbaby.com/shows/blue-man-group/
http://www.vegasbaby.com/shows/carrot-top/

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Before you consider any content silos for your website or
blog, you need to do a thorough review of your existing
content and future content with both being guided by
keyword research.
Remember – the data of keyword research will help
guide you down a path that will produce tangible results.
DATA
MATTERS
Spend time on research, evaluation, and planning
before you make any changes to your site structure or
content.

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 Keyword research
 Existing content structure or hierarchically
 Future content needs
 Places where content silos can exist: pages, blog
categories, blog tags, product categories, product
tags, custom post types, custom taxonomies
 Places where you can reinforce that structure: menus,
breadcrumbs, links, URL structure
 Creation of 301 redirects for use in URL structure
updates
DATA POINTS TO
REMEMBER

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Anyone have any questions?
LET’S CHAT

BARIDIK
STEVENSON
Founder of Web Savvy Marketing
Instructor at DIYSEOcourses.com
@rebeccagill on Twitter
REBECCA GILL
Coupon: LOVEiTHEMES
Discount: 25%
Expires: April 30, 2016

Understanding User Intent and Content Silos

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