Informational intent describes a search in which the person wants to learn something, such as a definition, an explanation, or instructions. Keywords with this intent are informational keywords.
What do informational searches look like?
They often begin with words such as what, how, why or guide, and many are phrased as questions. Examples are “what is a canonical tag” or “how to speed up a website”. Semrush places them at the top of the marketing funnel.
In Broder’s 2002 taxonomy, informational queries are one of three classes next to navigational and transactional. Google’s rater guidelines name a “Know” category for similar queries, but the two schemes are not identical (assessment).
| Type | Characteristic | Example | Category in Google's rater guidelines | Origin of the label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short tail | short, broad term at the head of the demand curve; intent is often unclear | “coffee machine” | – | counterpart to the long tail; no clear first source |
| Mid tail | between the head and the long end of the curve; more specific than short tail, broader than long tail | “coffee machine with grinder” | – | no clear first source |
| Long tail | specific, rarely searched query, usually several words long | “coffee machine with grinder under 300 euros” | – | term from Chris Anderson, “The Long Tail”, Wired, October 2004 |
| Informational (this term) | find information on a topic | “how to descale a coffee machine” | Know, special case Know Simple | Broder 2002, “A taxonomy of web search” |
| Navigational | reach a specific website or page | “reddit login” | Website | Broder 2002, “A taxonomy of web search” |
| Transactional | perform an activity on the web, such as buying or downloading | “buy coffee machine” | Do | Broder 2002, “A taxonomy of web search” |
| Commercial investigation | consider a purchase and compare first | “best coffee machine” | no category of its own | industry usage; neither in Broder nor in the rater guidelines |
| Visit-in-person | go to a nearby place, such as a shop | “gas stations” | Visit-in-Person | Search Quality Rater Guidelines, section 12.7.4 |
No primary source defines the boundaries between short, mid and long tail, whether by word count or by search volume. The table therefore gives no thresholds; the characteristics of the three tail types are based on practical experience. Google said in 2019 that 15 percent of daily queries were ones it had never seen before. Mapping Broder's types to Know, Website and Do is an inference, not a Google statement. According to the rater guidelines, a query can have several intents, and the line between Know and Do is often blurry. Examples are chosen freely; “reddit login” and “gas stations” come from the guidelines. Sources: Google: Search Quality Rater Guidelines, Abschnitt 12.7 Understanding User Intent (Ausgabe 11.09.2025); Broder, A.: A taxonomy of web search. SIGIR Forum 36(2), 2002; Anderson, C.: The Long Tail. Wired, Oktober 2004; Google Blog: Understanding searches better than ever before (2019). Last checked: .
What does this mean for content?
The search results show what Google considers the right format. If guides, explanations and videos dominate, a product page will rarely fit. JumpFly points out that one question often leads to follow-up queries, which is why related questions from “People Also Ask” and topic clusters are used to plan content (secondary source).
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