A Holistic Overview of Search Terms and Their Utility on SEO Ground

Do you know that tons of search queries are being fed to Google’s search bar every day? Getting to know what people are actually searching for is a significant and key factor of SEO.

So, don’t you think that you must know about the detailed function of search terms? What are they? How do they work? And how can you use them for the betterment of your website? 

Let’s figure them out.

What Are Search Terms?

Just think of the last thing you have Googled about! That is a search term. Even a word that you have spoken using the voice assistant of Google is a search term.

So,

“SEARCH TERMS are fed in the SEARCH BAR of SEARCH ENGINE to SEARCH THE INFORMATION that you are looking for.”

It can be a word, a combination of words, a question, an expression, an affirmation, or a phrase; all come under the category of search terms. 

Irrespective of whether they are structured or unstructured, relevant or irrelevant, broken or perfectly affixed, technically separated or assembled, commonly searched words or unorthodox terminologies, search terms can owe an infinite version on Google. 

Now, digital folks, especially amateurs, often confuse search terms with keywords. 

But are they the same? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

A search term can be anything that the users type on the search bar of Google, but a keyword is a particular term that you specifically target to rank for. 

For eg. 

1. “Best IT companies in the US”
2. “Top software companies in the US”
3. “US IT companies”
4. “IT companies in the US”

All these are sort of target keywords. 

However, there can be search phrases like: 

1. “companies software people”
2. “US software bodies”
3. “Where is IT in the US?” etc.

Now, all these terms can never be keywords, but they can be consciously or mistakenly searched with. Thus, they are “search terms” in Google.

So, you can formulate a theory that “ALL KEYWORDS ARE SEARCH TERMS, BUT ALL SEARCH TERMS ARE NOT KEYWORDS.” 

Organic Search Term Vs Paid Search Term

The basic difference between organic search terms and paid search terms is that organic search relies on the unpaid ranking of SERP, while paid search counts on the paid ranking. 

Organic search produces gradual and natural results without any cost, while in paid search, you have to pay the charges for appearing in the quick upper hand of the SERP algorithm. 

Thus, organic Google search words establish brand value and attract the correct website visitors. Meanwhile, paid search has high buying intent that forces a high return on investment (ROI).

How Would You Define the Intent for Search Terms? 

After you know about the requirements and vitality of search terms, you must learn about their intent.

So, what is search intent? 

It is basically the purpose of an online search. 

The reason you go to Google and feed a search term defines the intent of your search term. 

Maybe you are looking for an answer. Maybe you want to buy a product. Maybe you need to give feedback. And it is even possible that you just want to know about something. 

So, all these purposes define the intent of the Google search words.

Well, now that we are talking about search intent, let’s bifurcate them into their four major categories. 

Informational 

In this intent, the users are looking for some information about a particular topic. It could be an answer, a solution, a hack, an opinion, or a technique to do something.

Eg.

1. How do you fix the running tap?
2. Donald Trump birthday
3. Best short stories of Ruskin Bond

Commercial 

Here, the user is looking forward to buying something. He may or may not initiate the transaction, but he definitely has an urge in the back of his mind.

Eg.

1. Best hotels in Chicago
2. iPhone vs Google Pixel
3. When is the next poetry concert of Rupi Kaur? 

Transactional

Here, the user has made up his mind that he is going to buy the product or services.

Eg.

1. Buy iPhone 14 Pro Max
2. Second-hand Nissan Rogue for sale in cars24.com
3. Black Friday home decor coupon in zoutons.com

Navigational

Here the user is trying to get to a particular web address. This may be any website, e-commerce platform, job portals, shopping forums, etc.

Eg.

1. LinkedIn Login 
2. Instagram Login
3. Neilpatel Blogs

Significance of Search Terms in Online Marketing

So, first, understand this: search terms are the terminologies used by users to search for particular information. Thus, they can be effectively used to optimize a website organically or structure a paid campaign strategically. 

But how?

Let’s elaborate on this discussion!

For SEO

You can potentially use Google search terms to optimize your content organically and fetch better results. They are the core vitals of organic search engine optimization if used strategically. 

Well, do you know how to find them? 

You can use the RankWatch search console to get it done. 

With this exceptionally capable tool, you can get insights on millions of search queries that can improve your site’s rank on Google. 

Based on this data, you can also find keywords that can bring an optimum amount of impressions, clicks, and CTR to your website. You just have to download the data and use it for the SEO elevation of your brand. So, to search Google terms, the RankWatch search console is the best that you can have in your bucket. 

For PPC

For PPC campaigns, the searched terms would make you understand your customers well and strategize the format accordingly. 

Let’s say you are making a PPC campaign for a local food business in Chicago. The respective targeted keywords are “local food near me,” “traditional food of Chicago,” “local food center of Chicago,” and so on. 

Thus, Google search terms play an impactful role in structuring your PPC advertising campaigns.

Further, the keyword research section of RankWatch can also help you in an equally effective manner. 

Here, you get insights on the estimated search volume and CPC value of each keyword organically falling into the competition. This data will assist you in strategizing your PPC campaign with the highest possibility of market success. 

Multiple Ways to Identify & Search Google Terms

So now that we have learned about Google search terms and their impact on online marketing, let’s accelerate forward with the procedures for identifying the searched terms.

Let’s understand the “know-how” of searching Google terms for your business. 

Research Well

Research should be the first step to identifying the keywords and searching Google terms. The more you research a topic, the better your visibility on multiple relatable searched words will be. You can initiate the search manually on Google or via digital tools and Know the terms to search in Google.  

Use Tool 

A feasible research tool can enable you to identify and search Google terms for the next SEO campaign. To make more informed decisions, you can use the AI-driven free SEO keyword research tool of RankWatch.

Login to your RankWatch account, or you can even take a 14-day free trial. Go to the keyword research section, feed the respective keyword in the given column, and click on the explore option. 

Instantly, you will get insights like keyword difficulty, CPC, competition, search volume trend, geographical distribution, organic keyword suggestions, paid keyword suggestions, question-based keyword suggestions, keyword grouping, and much more.

All this data will help you determine the Google search terms that would hold the maximum proximity to your brand. So, don’t fail to use this outstandingly beneficial tool of RankWatch in case you plan to fetch the search term for your website. 

Google Search Console

As we discussed above, the Google search console is a key factor in figuring out the search term for a domain. 

With Google Search Console, you can also find high-impression keywords and low-hanging fruit keywords that are closely related to the useful search terms of your website. So, which terms to search in Google? GSC answers the question!

However, the RankWatch search console can be more effective in this case as it offers you an infinite number of search queries, unlike the Google search console, which is limited to up to a thousand. 

Conclusion

Well, this is all about searched terms, types of searched terms, categories of search intent, the significance of searched terms in digital marketing, and multiple ways to identify and use the searched terms for your marketing campaigns. 

You also got to know about the beneficial availability of an internet marketing platform like RankWatch regarding the identification and utility of Google search terms. 

Hope this blog is useful to you and has offered you all the necessary insights.

Cheers!