The groups SEO (search engine optimisation) writers use
We read an Ahrefs article on search types on 9 October 2026. It was published on 4 March 2021. It calls three groups the traditional ones, and says some SEO professionals add a fourth.
- Informational: the person wants to learn something.
- Navigational: the person wants to reach a particular website.
- Transactional: the person wants to buy something but has not chosen where.
- Commercial investigation: the person is comparing options before deciding. This is the fourth group some professionals add.
These labels come from SEO writers. We have not tied them to a Google source, so treat them as a handy way to think, not as a rule. Ahrefs itself says three groups are no longer enough to plan a page.
A made-up example
A tile shop in Jaipur looks at four searches.
- How to choose bathroom tiles: informational. A guide suits it.
- Vitrified vs ceramic tiles: commercial investigation. A comparison page suits it.
- Tile shop in Jaipur: transactional and local. A shop page with an address and phone number suits it. See local SEO.
- The shop's own name: navigational. The home page is the answer.
How to check the intent of a search
Ahrefs suggests looking at the pages that already rank and noting three things: the content type, the content format and the content angle.
Our advice is to do this by hand. If the top results are all how-to guides, a product page may be a poor fit for that search. Search the phrase, open the first few results and ask what each page gives the visitor. Look also at the other things on the results page, called SERP features.
Why it matters for your business
When a page matches the intent, the visitor finds what they came for. When it does not, they leave. That affects your conversion rate and your ad money. Paid search ads need the same care, because you pay when people click.
Common mistakes
- Sending an informational search to a sales page.
- Trying to serve every intent on one page.
- Guessing from the keyword alone and never looking at the results.
Related terms
- Keyword research: finding the words people type.
- SERP (search engine results page): the page of results Google shows after a search.
- SERP features: extras on the results page, such as boxes and lists.
- Content cluster: a group of linked pages on one topic.
- Conversion rate: the share of visitors who buy, call or fill a form.
To plan pages around real searches, see our keyword research guide. If you want help, see our SEO work.
Sources
- Ahrefs, "3 Types of Searches and How to Target Them" (ahrefs.com/blog/types-of-search/), published 4 March 2021, read 9 October 2026.
