

What are High-Intent Keywords? | Top Floor Marketing
What Are High Intent Keywords and Why Are They Important for SEO?
A company’s main purpose is to sell. There’s no debate about it. Companies need profit. No matter what kind of marketing strategy they use, it must be tailored to drive sales. The ultimate goal is to have a great ROI, that’s why local, international, B2B, B2C, and other types of businesses use online marketing techniques like SEO and PPC to boost their sales.
When it comes to SEO, driving sales is a slower process. Initial results (like traffic increases) are usually expected in 4-6 months or more depending on several factors like competition, niche, and the state of a website. The pillar of SEO strategy is derived by content. That content needs to serve the intent of a specific keyword, and that intent is determined by a user’s needs and pain points. So, when developing content for businesses, we — as SEO experts — have to take search intent into consideration now more than ever, especially with the rise of AI snippets.
Ultimately though, SEO attempts to organically search for leads for companies by developing landing pages, product descriptions, and blog posts showcasing expertise and trustworthiness. In order to do that, we must know what a consumer wants and how that company can provide a solution, service, or product that will provide that need. That’s where high intent keywords come in.
So, what are high intent keywords? Simply explained, high intent keywords are phrases, usually long tailed, that have the potential for high conversion rates, like direct purchases, phone calls, contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, and more. In this article, we will talk more in depth about the importance of these keywords, how to identify them, the difference between low and high intent keywords, and how to optimize for them.
Without further ado, let’s dive into this crucial part of Search Engine Optimization.



What are High Intent Keywords?
High intent keywords are keywords and phrases targeting customers at the bottom of the marketing funnel. These consumers are ready to make a purchase and are looking for an immediate solution to their buying needs.
These people are more likely to type very specific queries on search engines that include words like “buy”, “purchase”, “price”, “best”, “near me”, and others.
Keywords with high intent are transactional or commercial. We’ve talked about the importance of search intent before, where we broke down the types of search intent based on user searches and needs and how it’s evolved over time. These queries are very specific, long-tail, and are much easier to rank for than keywords with lower search intents.


Examples of High Intent Keywords
Identifying high intent keywords during the research process is simple. Like we mentioned, they’re usually phrases that include words like “buy” and “purchase”. Users are looking to buy immediately or find product comparisons to make a buying decision. Some examples of these keywords include:
- “Buy Sabrina Carpenter vinyls at record store”
- “Affordable wedding planner in Joshua Tree”
- “Organic meal delivery in Miami”
- “Purchase certified refurbished iPhones”
- “Emergency professional cleaning service near me”
It’s important to note that high intent keywords aren’t only important for SEO, but are crucial for PPC strategies. We’ll talk more about how to target these keywords organically later in this article.




Low Intent vs. High Intent Keywords
Before we talk about the difference between low intent and high intent keywords, it’s important to illustrate what low intent means.
Low intent keywords are used by people further up in the marketing funnel or the buying process. They’re usually intended for providing information and cover broader topics to engage with customers and gain their trust. Of course, low intent keywords are as important as high intent keywords, but they’re not used to drive sales. They focus on other important aspects of online marketing like better user experience, trust, and discovery.
For example, if “Buy Taylor Swift vinyls at a record store” is a high intent keyword, a record store with an online shop can use a low intent keyword for a blog post or listicle with their professional opinions about Taylor Swift’s latest albums, or an article comparing vinyls with CDs.
So, the keyword “cd vs vinyl” has a lower intent than “buy Taylor Swift vinyl.” Lower intent keywords have more monthly traffic, but are much harder to rank for. Here’s an example directly from SE Ranking’s keyword research tool:


The low intent keyword “cd vs. vinyl” has about 1,900 monthly clicks, but a high difficulty that makes it more challenging to rank for and has an informational intent. This means users are looking for information about this topic.


The high intent keyword “buy Taylor Swift vinyl” has only 30 searches per month, but it’s much easier to rank for and has a transactional intent. Customers are more likely to purchase when finding results for this query.


Why are High Intent Keywords Important?
The importance of high intent keywords relies on their ability to get conversions. At the end of the day, businesses are looking for a good return on investment (ROI), and HIKs can help companies achieve these with SEO. Sales are less linear online.
Targeting keywords with “buy”, “purchase”, “for sale” and other buy-oriented terms allows SEO experts to focus on producing better conversion rates by targeting customers with higher chances of purchasing. Businesses can connect with people using these keywords in their searches and have a better chance of turning those visitors into customers.
High intent keywords are also crucial for local SEO. These keywords often use location-specific terms that attract customers in a state, city, or town. The content approach is more targetted and specifically for customers looking to buy in area. For example, the term “landscaping services in Chalreston, SC” is a local, commercial long tail keywords with high search intent.
So, in summary, when you target high intent keywords you:
- Increase your chances of conversions by targeting commercial and transactional keywords for customers ready to make a purchase.
- Incrase your search visibility by targeting lower difficulty terms that are easier to rank for.
- Use content more effectively by matching the intent of users who are ready to buy a product or service.
- Incrase your SEO impact on a local level with location-specific terms like “buy shoes in Coppenhagen”.





How to Identify High Intent Keywords
Finding these keywords is not just about assuming what customers will look for to find a product or service. Research is necessary, and that includes keyword research tools like Semrush, SE Ranking, Ahrefs, and others. Understanding the audience you’re targeting is the most essential part of high intent keywords.
Let’s break it down below.
Understand Your Audience
Understanding your audience is probably the most important part of any marketing strategy, both digitially and traditionally. Knowing what a customer is looking for, why they need it, and how your product or service can help them will help you optimize high intent keywords to use on your website.




Perform Keyword Research
Keywords, keywords, keywords. Researching them is always one of the main pillars behind content-oriented marketing. Keyword research tools like SE Ranking (which we use at Top Floor Marketing) and others like Semrush and Ahrefs will provide valuable insights on trending keywords with search volume, difficulty, and CPC data.
Look for long tail keyword with lower competition, purchase-oriented phrases, and a higher CPC. This usually means they have a commercial or transactional intent. They are more costly to advertise in because they drive more conversions.
Analyze Your Competition
By using the tools mentioned above, you can analyze your competitor’s keyword strategy to identify high intent keywords in their content. Identify your top 5-10 competitors in SERP searches and analyze their list of keywords. You can do this on SE Ranking’s competitive research tool.
SE Ranking will provide you a list of organic keywords competitors are using and even provide data like new keywords and traffic cost. Even more importantly, filtering these keywords by commercial and transactional intent, volume, or difficulty is also possible and will provide you with a better idea for keywords with high intent.




Use Google’s People Also Search For
One overlooked way to look for keywords with high intent is using Google’s People Also Search For section. These terms are related keywords to a root search term or a low intent keyword that can be used to create content.
For example, lets type “Taylor Swift albums” on Google.
By scrolling to the bottom of the search result page, Google will show terms researched by other people. So taking some long tail keywords from this section and turning them into content is a hidden gold mine.
Use Buying Terms
One overlooked way to look for keywords with high intent is using Google’s People Also Search For section. These terms are related keywords to a root search term or a low intent keyword that can be used to create content.
For example, lets type “Taylor Swift albums” on Google.
By scrolling to the bottom of the search result page, Google will show terms researched by other people. So taking some long tail keywords from this section and turning them into content is a hidden gold mine.




Optimizing for High Intent Keywords
Not all high intent keywords can be implemented naturally in your content. While keywords like “buy Taylor Swift albums” can be used in meta titles, descriptions, and title tags, other phrases like “buy cat litter near me” cannot be implemented naturally in content.
To optimized for some of these keywords, it’s essential to understand the query, what it entails, and how to use it. Google is smart enough to know what ‘near me’ means, so using phrases involving city names and locations can boost both your organic search rankings and Google Business Profile placement.
If you want to show up for the term “buy cat litter near me” or “best cat litter near me”, writing landing pages or blog posts that include phrases like “We provide the best cat litter in the Los Angeles area” will help search engines understand the intent of your page and will likely make you rank for that term.
High Intent Keywords Are A Critical Element Of Any Successful Seo Strategy
By targeting these conversion-focused terms, businesses can connect with customers who are ready to take action—whether that’s making a purchase, booking a service, or reaching out for more information. High intent keywords help increase ROI, improve search visibility, and deliver results tailored to the specific needs of your target audience.
Start incorporating high intent keywords into your content today and see the difference they make in driving conversions and boosting your business. Need expert guidance? Contact Top Floor Marketing to learn how we can help optimize your website and unlock its full potential!