What is an Informational Query?
An informational query is a term to describe the search queries used by visitors looking to learn more about something. It is used by visitors looking to gather facts, uncover explanations, or seek details about a topic.
Google Search Quality Raters Guidelines refer to informational queries as “know” queries. These are queries used by visitors looking to explore a topic. For example, ‘Barack Obama,’ ‘New York City,’ and ‘retirement planning.’
Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines also define a category of know queries called “know simple” queries. These are informational queries used by visitors seeking factual and specific information about something. For example, ‘How tall is Barack Obama’ and ‘New York City population 2022.’
Informational query is one of the four types of search queries. The other three are:
- Transactional queries
- Navigational queries
- Commercial queries
Informational queries could sound like questions. For example, ‘What is yoga’ and ‘Why is yoga good for health.’ However, this is not always so, as they may not include the words that identify them as questions. For example, ‘yoga’ and ‘health benefits of yoga.’
Informational keywords are less competitive than navigational, transactional, and commercial keywords. This means they are typically easier to rank for. Bloggers with low website authority are usually encouraged to rank for long-tail informational keywords until they can rank for more competitive ones.
Importance of Informational Queries
Informational queries are a great way to establish yourself as an authority within a niche or topic.
Informational queries on their own do not generate a sale. They are also less likely to get you a lot of conversions but are a great way to introduce your brand to visitors.
Visitors who use informational keywords are likely researching a topic and seeking more information about it. When they arrive at your site, they may use your internal links and sidebar to navigate to other related content.
The more pages they visit, the higher the likelihood of remembering your site. This increases your brand presence. It also increases the chances that the visitor will end up on a sales or landing page, purchase your product or service, or sign up for your newsletter.
Visitors may also remember your site when it shows up in future searches. If your site also contains ads or affiliate links, you may generate revenue when visitors view the ads on the pages or click the pay-per-click (PPC) ads or affiliate links.
How to Find Informational Keywords
You will find informational keywords during your keyword research. Some keyword research tools have options to find informational keywords. In many cases, however, informational keywords will include the five w’s and one h. That is:
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
- How
For example:
- What is SEO
- How to bake a cake
- Why is yoga important
However, Google deals with search intent and not keywords. So, it will still identify informational queries, even if they do not include the five w’s and one h. For example:
- Visitors who search for ‘What is SEO’ may search for ‘SEO’
- Visitors who search for ‘How to bake a cake’ may search for ‘Cake recipe’
- Visitors who search for ‘Why is yoga important’ may search for ‘Importance of yoga’
Informational keywords may also contain modifiers that indicate the visitor seeks specific information:
- Best
- Top
- Tips
- Guide
- Advise
- Reviews
- Guide
- Ideas
- How-to
- Tutorial
- Definition
- Advantages
- Step-by-step
- Comparison
- Features
- Benefits
- Example
- Strategies
In all, if you want to confirm what sort of topic Google returns for a search query, enter the query or keyword into Google and see what type of content popups. For example, ‘bake vanilla cake’ returns a search results page that leads to multiple recipes. This is an informational query.
