In the case with most things, search queries can be broken down to more definite categories. Typically the queries can be defined in one of three major sectors based upon the desired result of the user’s search. The categories we’ll focus on are navigational, informational, and transactional searches.
Navigational Queries
A Navigation Query is fairly straight forward; the user knows a specific location where he intends on arriving. These could be searches for a company or brand name. If the user wishes to find the corporate website for your company, odds are that he will search your company’s name with the intention of navigating towards your site. (Ex. John Doe Construction Ltd.)
Informational Queries
These searches are performed with no predetermined destination or source in mind. The user has a question or topic of interest and is in search of information to satisfy their needs. The user’s query reflects this search for specific information with a general topic being ran through the engine. The results of the search may come from any variety of sources and the final destination is not of as much concern to the person performing the search, as the information contained within it. (Ex. poker strategies)
Transactional Queries
When a person types in Surround Sound Speakers there is a pretty good chance that they are in the market to buy them, but it is likely that the intention of this search is to research a future purchase. They likely don’t know exactly what it is they want to buy yet. This particular search is an example of what can be further defined as an Initial Transactional Query, and this session of searching can evolve in stages throughout the user’s research process as a number of separate queries being submitted to the engine. To expand upon this concept, here are some further examples of Transactional Queries which may occur further down the line.
