Mapping Intent is the Compass For Your Content Strategy
Most electricians who choose to invest in content end up with a blog that is a bit of a random collection of articles, such as one article about safety switches, another one about “why hire a licensed electrician“, and so on, perhaps a seasonal tip for some summer electrical use. None of it connects. It doesn’t lead to anything. And none of its leads are connected. And the missing component 99.999% of the time is intent mapping, and once you get that, seo for electricians is no longer a black art and more like a machine with a purpose.
Customer intent is what someone is trying to do when they search Google. One word, three different intents. A person searching “switchboard” could be a homeowner, curious about what it is, a renovator looking for the cost of replacing one, or a facilities manager looking for a contractor. Three distinct users, three distinct search intents. If you create a page that tries to address the needs of all three, you’ll probably end up meeting the needs of none.
Four Types of Intent and How it Affects an Electrician’s Content
There are typically four types of search intent, and each of these affects how you write each page or each post. Informational intent is where people are seeking information – “why do my breakers keep going off“, “how does a switch work”, “what is the difference between single and three phase power”. They’re not ready to book. They are seeking information, perhaps are concerned, but they’re not ready to buy. You just need to address their question directly and in full, establish a bit of trust and make it easy for them to find your contact info if they need it.
Navigational search intent is when users are looking for a particular business or brand – “your business name reviews” or “[business name] contact”. This is generally more relevant when someone is already familiar with your brand, so it’s not so important to think about when planning content. But it’s good to be aware of it.
It gets interesting with commercial investigation. This is what a person has in mind when they’re looking to compare options. “Best electrician [suburb],” “electrician cost for switchboard upgrade,” “licensed vs unlicensed electrician risk” – these folks are near the point of hiring, and want to make sure they get a good deal. Blog articles that specifically answer these types of comparison questions (“real cost of electrician”, “what are the qualifications of an electrician”, “how to choose an electrician”) are targeting people at a pivotal point. They know they need an electrician. Now they’re deciding which one.
The most obvious is transactional intent. “Electrician [suburb] book now,” “emergency electrician available today,” “get switchboard upgrade quote”. They’re ready to act now. This is where your service pages, homepage and Google Business Profile come into play. There’s little content and a big call to action.
Mapping Your Content to the Customer Journey
Once you know the four types of intent, you can apply them to the customer journey and that’s your content strategy. That might seem complex, but it isn’t. The funnel can be divided into three broad stages – early, middle and late. Early-stage customers are searching informational queries. They have a problem that they know little about. Middle-stage customers are searching commercial investigation queries. They know they have a problem and they’re seeking to understand their choices. Late-stage customers are searching transactional queries. They’re about to call.
If your content plan just includes the late stage, you’re ceding the top and middle of the funnel to your competitors. All you’re doing is competing for the small number of people who know what they want and are looking for a local company. If you create content for the early and middle stages, you’re capturing people before they have made a decision – and then when they reach the late stage, they know about you.
How to Do Your Homework on Intent
The easiest way to find out what intent is behind a keyword is to Google it and see what comes up. Google has done the intent research. If it shows mostly blog pages and FAQ pages, that’s informational intent. If it returns mostly service pages and Google Business Profile listings, the intent is transactional. If you create the type of content that Google says your audience wants, that’s one of the highest return on investment (ROI) things you can do, and it doesn’t cost you more than a few minutes of looking.
Google Autocomplete and “People Also Ask” are free intent research. Each autocomplete suggestion represents a real search term and searcher’s intent. Each “People Also Ask” question is a piece of content waiting to be created. If you spend an hour doing this for your main services, you’ll have more content ideas than you know what to do with.
Don’t neglect forums and community groups. People asking questions about their wiring in local Facebook groups or community subreddits are showing raw, unfiltered intent in their own words, no optimisation. As you read the questions, you can see exactly what people are concerned about, and in their own words, which is often different to how you might word it.
Content Depth and Intent Depth
Not all content should be a 1000-word article. Transactional content should be short and to-the-point – the user knows what they want, and doesn’t need a full review of the literature before booking a job. But informational content needs substance. Google knows that a shallow answer to an informational question gets beaten by a comprehensive answer, because it’s assessing how much of a question a piece of content answers.
The ideal length for most informational electrical content is 600-1200 words, though it varies based on what can and should be said on the topic. Don’t write it longer to meet a goal. Don’t seek to write less just because you’re bored. Write until you’ve answered the question, then stop. That focus – saying what needs to be said, and nothing more – is what generates the kind of content that gets ranked, and the kind of content that converts, which is the only kind we want to create.
