Also known as: User Intent, Keyword Intent, Query Intent
Search intent is the underlying goal behind a user's search query — the reason they typed it. SEO groups it into four types: informational (learning something), navigational (reaching a specific site), commercial (comparing before deciding), and transactional (ready to act or buy).
Getting intent right is what separates a page that ranks from one that does not. Google's core job is to satisfy the searcher, so it rewards pages whose format and depth match what most searchers of that query actually want.
For a Forex partner, intent maps cleanly onto the funnel. "What is a pip?" is informational — top of funnel. "IC Markets vs Pepperstone" is commercial — mid funnel. "Open live trading account" is transactional — bottom of funnel, and the highest converting.
A concrete example: two keywords can look similar but demand opposite content. "Forex trading" wants a broad educational guide, while "best forex broker with $10 minimum deposit" wants a filtered comparison table with signup links. Serving the wrong format sends users straight back to Google and tanks the page's rankings.
Google infers intent from the query wording and from aggregate click behavior — which results satisfied past searchers of that phrase. That is why the current top results are the clearest intent signal available: if the first page is all comparison tables, Google has decided the intent is commercial, and a lone essay will struggle to break in.
Partners reverse-engineer this. Before writing, you search the target keyword, read the top five results, and match their dominant format, depth, and angle — then aim to do it better. Intent also guides internal linking: informational pages should funnel readers toward commercial and transactional pages where the affiliate link lives.
Decide whether the keyword is informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional based on its wording and modifiers.
Search the keyword and inspect the top five results — their format reveals the intent Google is already rewarding.
Build the page type the intent demands: a guide for informational, a comparison table with signup links for commercial or transactional.
Internally link informational pages to your commercial and transactional pages so learning traffic flows toward conversion.
Why it matters for partnership: Matching content to intent is the biggest driver of affiliate conversion. Serve a registration-ready trader an educational essay and they bounce; serve a beginner a hard sell and they distrust you. Aligning page format with the trader's exact intent speeds them through the funnel and lifts commissions.
An affiliate targets "what is leverage in forex" (informational) with a clear beginner guide that ends by linking to their "best low-margin brokers" comparison page (commercial). The guide pulls readers from Google, and roughly 8% click through to the comparison page, where a Pepperstone RevShare link converts a share of them into funded accounts — the informational page feeds the commercial one.
| Intent | Example query | Content that ranks |
|---|---|---|
| Informational | "what is a pip" | Educational guide or explainer |
| Navigational | "eToro login" | Brand's own page or a redirect helper |
| Commercial | "best MT5 broker 2026" | Comparison table with pros and cons |
| Transactional | "open forex demo account" | Direct signup-focused landing page |
Before writing anything, search your target keyword and copy the dominant format of the top five results — if they are all comparison tables, an essay will not rank no matter how good it is.
Hard-selling a broker on an informational keyword — readers seeking basic education are not ready to fund accounts and the aggressive pitch drives them away and raises bounce rate.
Look for modifiers such as 'best', 'review', 'compare', 'bonus', or 'vs' in the phrase — they signal the user is evaluating options and close to a decision.
Yes. Ambiguous queries like 'forex trading' carry mixed intent, so Google often shows a blend of guides, tools, and broker pages. Check the SERP to see which intent dominates.
Transactional and commercial keywords convert best because those users are ready to act, but they are more competitive. Informational content builds the audience that later converts.
No. A healthy site mixes informational content to build authority and traffic with commercial and transactional pages that carry the affiliate links, linked together so traffic flows downstream.
It can. Seasonality, news, and product launches shift what searchers want, and Google adjusts the SERP accordingly, so periodically re-checking intent for key pages is worthwhile.
A keyword is the literal phrase typed; intent is the goal behind it. Two different keywords can share one intent, and the same keyword can hide competing intents.