As its name implies, user intent tells us what a user is looking for when conducting a search query via a search engine. User intent takes into consideration the keywords used in search queries, but goes beyond them, trying to understand the context and the intention behind those words.

We can distinguish three main types of user intent: informational when the user is looking for information over a keyword, navigational when the visitor is trying to find a certain website, and transactional when the search query shows the user’s intention to purchase a product or perform a different type of transaction.