What does a search for “best laptop” tell us about Google?

What do you think someone is looking for when they search “best laptop” on Google?

No. It’s not a trick question.

You’d be right if you are thinking something along the lines of, “they are looking for the best laptop.”

But, what’s the intention behind the intention?

I mean, who is it that is searching this, and why are they searching this term?

• Is it a college student?
• Is it a grandma?
• Is it a grandma searching for a laptop for her college student?

You get the idea. It’s incredibly important to think about context; all the different types of people that would search any given keyword, including where, in time and space, they might be when they search.

Why should you do this?

• You’ll come up with new angles on old content, which Google loves.
• You’ll end up developing much more relevant, helpful content.
• You’ll have a better chance of getting that page to rank.

Check out the #1 organic result on Google for “best laptop” on Google:

The screenshot above is the first couple of paragraphs of the page.

As you can see, right away, they offer the reader an opportunity to get more specific with three categories of laptops (gaming, business, inexpensive).

The rest of the article does a great job of offering an overview of what the best laptops are today, but this breaks it down early to get people the help they need faster.

Secondly, you’ve got the Cyber Monday 2020 section on the page that was added within the last month (Google loves fresh content, especially on an ever-evolving topic like laptops).

Someone looking for “best laptops” in February vs November has a completely different selection of products and pricing options. Without that section and link, I don’t think this page would be sitting at position #1.

So what does it mean?

It means you need to think more and care more about the context of your buyer, then take action.

That might be taking a look at your bigger topics and creating more specific subtopics:

At Avalanche, we don’t just write about SEO processes. We write about SEO processes for manufacturers, dentists, therapists, landscapers, SaaS, insurance agencies… you get the idea.