Throughout the history of language, words have changed meaning over time. For information retrieval systems like search engines, it’s important to reflect these changes in the results they serve to their users. Sometimes words or phrases can have a dual meaning, especially if they are names or brands. Ahrefs made an interesting list of phrases that have changed meaning over time and how Google has adapted the results as a consequence. Different words can also have different intents depending on the time of year they are queried. For example, the term “flowers” in the week before Valentine’s Day is more likely to have a commercial intent of someone wanting to buy flowers, versus someone querying it on a random day in the middle of January.
One thing worth noting is that intent may shift much more subtly than you might imagine. Fashion and apparel retailers are particularly susceptible to intent shift because intent can alter based on wider trends and user engagement data. Here’s an example of how this occurred in the wild: a page that was ranking top 10 in the US for the trophy term “bikini sets” suddenly dropped out of the top 100 altogether. This pattern was repeated in the UK SERPs also.
Above: the ranking for “bikini sets” drops from #8 to outside the top 100
For context, there were no content, technical or link changes made to the page. What happened was that Google reinterpreted the site’s bikini collection against what it understood its users most wanted to see. Worth noting also that the bikini collection was mainly micro-style small bikinis in a very specific Y2K style – in other words they were not considered mainstream enough to compete on a generic, high-traffic term like “bikini sets”. Another point worth noting was that other high volume keywords also dropped, so it was not one query that was impacted.
How can I tell if a page has been impacted by query intent shift?
If you suspect that query intent has shifted and it’s impacting one of your category or product pages, one of the best ways to understand if this is true is to Google the term and look at (a) who is in the top 10 and (b) what products (or in the fashion case, product styles) are being served. Ask yourself: does my product match who is being returned in the top 10 and on Google images? If the answer is “no” then this may explain why your rankings have dropped. Worth noting this only really applies to dramatic falls, not what could be considered within normal day-to-day fluctuation.
A further point worth mentioning is that query intent can vary from country to country. Take the examples below, which are from the same site.
Above you can see the ranking in the US for “camo pants” suddenly drop from ranking #6 to outside the top 100.
Unlike in the US example, from December onwards, the ranking remained stable in the UK – with the same product range exactly.
The same keyword ranks top three in the UK but dropped out of the top 100 in the US – with the exact same collection of products. This is because the query is interpreted differently in the US – “camo pants” are much more associated with hunting, the military and functional use, whereas in the UK they are considered more of a fashion item. This change of emphasis is reflected in the rankings in the UK and the US.
What action can I take?
The first thing to note is that you may not get your rankings back for the term(s) that have been impacted unless you change your product range so it aligns with what Google now perceives to be relevant. That said, one thing you should definitely do is ensure you optimise the page for the terms which best represent what you’re selling. In the example above, although the ranking for “bikini sets” dropped, the ranking for “micro bikini” actually rose, as that query was a far better match than the generic term “bikini sets.” The advantage of this is that the latter cohort of terms is much more likely to convert, as they are better matched to the product range than generic terms. So whilst page traffic may drop, this could be offset by more targeted, better converting traffic coming through to the page.
A final action you can take following a query intent shift is to explore and exploit other areas of the buying journey, such as users who are researching the product. Sticking with the bikini example, you could create a series of blog posts on “how to choose a bikini or a guide to various styles” etc and attract new visitors that way. Although these will not be end-of-funnel, ready-to-buy users, they should still be of value, as you can then direct them to category or product pages from the blog. This kind of content will also strengthen your category pages overall, helping bolster performance in organic and indeed AI-search as you create topical authority.
Intent shifts can be jarring for anyone working in SEO, particularly because of the dramatic falls in ranking that can occur. However, as shown above, there can be upsides in terms of better-quality traffic coming through which ultimately will result in a better conversion rate and user experience
