It is good your keyword, like “Brazilian Hair” is in demand but it only pays off when you understand what user intent is and how you can benefit from this insight when you design your website.

What search volume for hair extensions is not telling you

We are all focused on getting more visitors to our websites, the more the merrier, right? Too bad, but a high search volume is not always helping you. In fact, it can even hurt your ranking on Google when you have many visitors, but most of them bounce away.

There are many SEO tools for content marketing or online advertisement that will tell you the average number of visitors per month. You can get a list of keywords and the search volume for nearly every term relevant for your hair business. See the example of keywords for Brazilian Hair and the monthly search volume below:

• Brazilian hair laser removal: 14,800
• Brazilian hair removal laser: 9,900
• Brazilian for hair: 8,100
• Brazilian haircut: 8,100
• Brazilian hair: 8,100
• Brazilian hair removal laser cost: 2,900
• Brazilian hair bundles: 1,900
• Brazilian hair treatment: 1,900
• Brazilian hair removal: 1,900
• Brazilian hair curly: 1,600
• Brazilian hair curls: 1,600
• Brazilian hair straightener: 1,300
• Brazilian hair wigs: 880
• Brazilian hair blowout: 720
• Brazilian hair salon near me: 720

This list with keywords and volume shows already the different possible user intent of you visitors. They might be looking for laser removal, a salon, a blow out or Brazilian hair bundles. The intention goes from information about a price, finding a location, like salon information about a service the treatment or hair removal and products.

When you have many people searching with the intention for Brazilian hair removal landing on your site, they will bounce away. This will hurt your rankings for Brazilian Hair because Google finds people do not find what they are looking for. I recommend using Google Search to see what the search terms are people use to visit your site, and the algorithm of google connects them with a certain webpage of your hair webstore.

Okay, you have no reason to think people will look for hair removals on your site, but this small exercise is just an example of how a certain keyword has multiple intentions. Because the human brain is very complex, even the 8,100 people looking for Brazilian hair might have different intentions.

Do – Know – GO

All search intentions can be grouped into three:

DO
When a visitor performs a “do” query, they are looking to achieve a specific action, such as purchasing a specific product or booking a service. These are the kind of visitors you want to have on your hair store! Their intention is to buy Brazilian hair!

Know
A “know” query is an informational query, where the visitor is wanting to learn about a particular subject. This could be a newbie, interested to try a wig, but wants to learn more before she is buying one. She might scan your hair webstore for information about wigs, measurement, design, and other aspects she must consider. She might bounce away from your site when she only sees information for people who are ready to buy.

At the other hand, when you give her the impression you know what you are writing about, she might come back to buy hair from you.

GO
“Go” queries are typically brand or known entity queries, where a visitor is looking to go to a specific website or location. Even when your hair looks nice, she will not stay on your website because she wants to buy hair from a certain brand.

So, good to aim at a high number of visitors to your website, but a high search volume is no guarantee you will get rewarded. Google might even punish you when you receive too many visitors with another user intent, who bounce away and cause your webpage to have a high bounce rate.

The user intent explained by the customer journey

Know you understand your webpages might attract the wrong kind of visitors, people who have a different intention. At least another intention than you when designing the webpage. But even for people who are to be considered as your buyer persona, or ideal client, it is possible they have another intention. Let me explain.

When your ideal client, wants to purchase something they follow the customer journey.
The awareness stage, realizing you need a new hair style, or just a change in your life.
The consideration stage, time to compare hair of different vendors or different types of textures.
The Decision stage, now you compare conditions like price and time to delivery.

Here you already see the user intent depends on the stage of the customer journey. You see the kind of information needed in every stage is also different. For the same keyword!

Ideal client tells you her intention

I recommend starting any website design with the client, your buyer persona. This is the ideal client that will always buy from you because you know exactly what she is looking for. When well performed your study about your ideal client will give you insight in her demographics, her background, her communication preference, and her pain points. Imagine a buyer persona that prefers to follow celebrities and their hair. When she is scanning the web, she is looking for this combination.

But when on the red carpet one of the ladies shows up with an awesome new hair style, she might change her thoughts about hair in seconds. The intention of your ideal client is not fixed for the next following months. This intention can even change on the spot when she is scrolling your website.

This makes it important to keep your webpages fresh with information that provide user value and topical relevance to your business offering.

Focus on user intent customer when you design your website

Now you know user intent is more important than only a high search volume for a certain key word it is time to put that into action.

When you design your website start with your ideal client. Know your ideal client from inside out. It is not always easy to understand her needs but please do. The better image you have of her, the better the design of your website. You home page, what will be the most important landing page for your new visitors should focus only on the information that is relevant for your new visitor. What is she looking for? She wants to see hair in a setting that fits with how she wants to feel after the makeover. When she is into Vintage, make her comfortable with a design that has a ‘40- ‘50 look. When he prefers to wear wigs, like a real Diva, show on your home page he is not alone. For every niche on the hair market, you can create some focus on your hair store.

When you are interested in the design of a webstore following user intent, you are invited to contact me by WhatsApp +31 6 234 44 902 or the contact form for website design.