Classification of search queries

In order to understand how to pick queries first of all we need to find out what they are. Let's start with a brief typology of direct searches. We will adhere to the one of the most common classifications, namely:

• Informational;
• Navigational;
• Transactional;
• Mixed;
• General.

Now a little more about each type.

Informational queries. They are a curiosity in the purest form. In fact all queries are an attempt to find some information. However in this sense informational queries surpass all others. People who ask them crave only encyclopedic knowledge. For example:

• How to cook cactus?
• Where to celebrate the end of the world?
• When did the US declare its independence?
• What is the hadron collider?

Such queries are great for promotion of informational resources (news, reference, etc.).

Navigational queries. They usually mean searching of certain sites, the particular web resource on the Internet. As a rule navigational queries contain part of its name or domain name. They look like this:

• Wikipedia;
• The White House blog;
• Barack Obama blog;
• SEOmoz news.
• Generally such queries are the result of wide fame or authority of this or that site. In a sense they can be an indirect indicator of the popularity of the web resource.

Transactional queries. There are queries which based on some actions.

For example:

• Buy Tefal iron;
• Register domain .US;
• Order a pizza;
• Rent an apartment.

This type of queries are best suited to the commercial segment promotion. Most of them are sites that provide users certain products or services. For example if you are owner of the online store, you definitely should pay close attention to queries that contain the word "buy", and if you are providing food delivery, you should choose key phrases with "order."

Mixed queries. This type of search queries includes the phrases that combine the features of several categories listed previously. For example, transactional and navigational, informational and navigational, etc.

Examples:

• Buy in eBay;
• How to register .south.am domain;
• Download from Dailymotion.
• Where is the best sushi in Las Vegas?

Such queries are quite versatile. All their possible combinations can be used in practically any promotion strategy.

General queries. This type is difficult to attribute to any specific category. In addition general queries are usually quite ambiguous. Examples:

• Phone;
• Mountain skiing;
• Clothes;
• Shrimps.

Everything is similar to the demands of mixed type. Depending on your goals the project topic and sphere of your business you can determine the best option to use general queries.

Multimedia queries. In addition to all the above one more conventional group of search queries should be noted. It's multimediaqueries. The emergence of this group of search queries is related to explosive growth of number and variety of multimedia content in the network. Depending on the purpose of the search users are accustomed to divide content into different categories. For example:

• Porsche photos;
• The Hobbit: an unexpected journey;
• Clip by Lady Gaga;
• New iPad photos.

Such queries are ideal when it's necessary to promote content and thematic projects, i.e. sites dedicated to a specific topic, issue, containing information of certain character (photos, videos, articles, etc.).

Using this classification you can focus on the most appropriate for you group of queries depending on the type of project and chosen strategy.