One TRUE Test To Discover User Intent

You know the importance of understanding user intent. Google’s new Search Generative Experience has made it clear — content that reflects search intent and offers excellent user experience is rewarded with high SERP placement, featured snippets and zero-click AI highlights in Google question banks.

So how do you truly discover the user intent behind your selected keyword? How do you build digital content that doesn’t just earn the click, but rewards the click?

CopyDash uses a 4-point system to measure how well content reflects user intent. It’s the TRUE Test that drives reader engagement, increases SERP rankings, and drives an average time on page that nearly quadruples the industry average.

• The TRUE test of whether your content reflects user intent comes down to producing trustworthy, resonant, unique, expert-driven copy.
• Reader engagement is more important than raw SERP analytics. Don’t just get the click — reward the click. Measure your success in time on page and internal clicks.
• Invest time in adding expertise to your digital content. Don’t just regurgitate content from other sites. Conduct authoritative interviews to get quotes and transformative data.

Schedule a chat with our founder about applying the TRUE test to your new and existing content — it takes less than 90 seconds!

The TRUE Test of Content Visibility

The key to search engine visibility lies in a mastery of user intent. Google SGE (Search Generative Experience) makes you responsible to deliver relevant, helpful content to readers — thoughtful, valuable content is rewarded with featured snippets and zero click results.

At CopyDash, we believe in a 4-point system of analyzing user intent to create engaging branded content that improves user experience. Here’s our TRUE Test for content visibility:

• Trustworthiness: Is your content trustworthy? Have you fact-checked your data?
• Resonance: Does your content reflect the pain points of its readers? Are you offering tangible advice to address their search query?
• Uniqueness: Is your content unique? Are you offering readers net new information?
• Expertise: Is your content backed by research, either through personal expertise or the authority of a reliable source? 

The TRUE Test Rewards Your Readers With Valuable Content

Each of the 4 standards established by the CopyDash TRUE Test creates a foundation for exceptional content that passes Google’s increasingly rigorous standards for quality.

Content must be proven trustworthy through social proof — the days of counting raw numbers of clicks are long gone. Engagement metrics, like time on page and social shares, are far more valuable to your long-term analytics.

Increase reader engagement with resonant copy. There’s nothing worse than “wasting a click” on a link that doesn’t answer the core reason for your search. It’s not enough to earn a click with a clickbait title — you must earn retention with thoughtful information that directly addresses the primary needs of your audience.

Your pages, posts and articles must offer unique, net new content. After all, you’re hiring a copywriter, not a copy-and-paste-writer. Give the reader something new to learn, study or consider. Reward their attention!

Offer expertise within your digital content. Your reader’s time is precious — you must invest more time in the quality of your material than they invest in reading it. Go the extra mile! Request expert interviews to obtain proprietary quotes and data points. 

In properly analyzing and reflecting the search intent of your audience, it’s all about rewarding the click.

Is your SEO agency following best practices? Read our 10 Commandments for Ethical SEO Agencies and find out.

4 Easy Ways to Reflect User Intent and Reward The Click

Your reader must feel rewarded for choosing to click your link and read your content. This applies to both new and returning visitors!

New site visitors must immediately understand that your content has singular value. Returning visitors must feel a sense of pride in coming back — your content operates on the same principle of brand loyalty as buying a car or visiting your favorite pizzeria.

It’s vital you outperform your SERP competitors and exceed your readers’ expectations. So how do you go beyond earning the click, and truly reward your reader’s investment of time and attention?

Here are 4 great ways to show a commitment to fulfilling user intent:

1. Prove you understand the reason why they searched — quickly.

The first 100 words of your content piece are crucial. You must engage the reader by immediately explaining 3 things:

1. You know their primary search intent;
2. You understand the information they want; and
3. You can deliver the answers without an endless scroll.

Reward their click in your intro by simply reflecting the reason for their search query. It’s the equivalent of telling your reader, “Hey, I see you. Let’s get this done without a hassle.”

2. Don’t overwrite. Just answer the question.

The more time and space an article spends trying to prove its credibility, the less I believe the author knows what they’re talking about.

If you know why the reader is there, just answer their question.

Zero-click search results, like Google featured snippets and AI responses, are as important in gaining brand credibility and awareness as a click-thru to your website. There’s a reason why these featured snippets are short — people want to use a short keyword prompt to get a clear, concise answer.

So if they trust you with a click, get to the point. If you have more to say, spend that time and those words after you’ve proven your value.

3. Use internal links when appropriate — and only when appropriate.

Add internal passing links in your blog post, article or webpage when they pass all 3 of these tests:

1. Does the content you’re linking to improve user experience?
2. Is the content you’re linking to relevant to the current topic?
3. Will the reader actually benefit from this new information?

The quickest way to crush reader trust is by forcing a call to action or a link to unrelated content. Don’t drive an informational searcher to a transactional page. Their search intent indicates they aren’t ready to make a purchase, and they don’t want to go there.

4. Understand that search intent isn’t static.

The quest to understand and reflect user search intent doesn’t have an endpoint. For many keywords and search terms, the intent behind user search changes with current events.

Recent example: In November 2019, Google searches for “Wuhan” reflected an interest in local culture and education at Wuhan University. The outbreak of COVID-19 meant the same search term had a far different meaning just one month later.

As search terms (and the intent behind them) evolve, SEO experts and content development agencies like CopyDash revisit existing articles for quality assurance. 

It’s smart to look at your existing content and see if it can be re-optimized to better reflect the current questions driving search to those pages.

Good Content Agencies Understand Search Intent

CopyDash hires industry-specific copywriters and content developers for each client. Does it cut into our bottom line? Sure. But the value it adds to the work we deliver our clients is immeasurable.

A good content marketing agency understands the needs of its client brands. A great agency goes further and understands the user intent of its clients’ customers.

The result: trustworthy, resonant, unique and expert-driven content that leverages high reader engagement into SEO success. Our commitment to high UX content is the reason why readers spend nearly 4x longer reading CopyDash content than the industry average.

Don’t settle for earning the click — reward your reader’s time and attention by reflecting the reason they showed up.

We’d love to reward your click! Set up a free chat with our founder to talk about your content goals — it takes less than 90 seconds!