Behind every search is one of four wants: to learn something, to choose between options, to buy, or to reach a site the person already knows. Google tells you which one it believes by what it puts in the top ten, and the page that wins is the page that matches that want. The best article on the internet does not rank where Google is showing shops.
The shape of the results
I call what Google shows for a keyword 'the result shape'. Each of the four wants has one. Learn gets guides, how-to videos and forum threads. Choose gets roundups, comparisons and reviews. Buy gets shops, category pages and sometimes a map. Go gets the brand's own site at the top and nothing else matters. (Fixing something, "espresso machine leaking water", is learning with urgency. Same shape, less patience.)
The rule: match the shape before you write a word, because a page in the wrong shape does not rank however good it is. The consequence is useful in both directions. The five-minute check decides the format of your page, and it also tells you when an article cannot win at all. In SEO land a results page full of shops is not "hard". It is the wrong shape, and that is a different problem.
| Want | What they are after | Result shape | Espresso example | Your page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Learn | An explanation or a how-to | Guides, videos, forum threads | "how to descale an espresso machine" | A how-to, steps first |
| Choose | Help deciding | Roundups, comparisons, reviews | "best espresso machine under 500" | A comparison with a recommendation |
| Buy | A place to buy it | Shops, category pages, a map | "espresso machine deals" | A category or product page. Never an article |
| Go | A site they already know | That site | Your shop's name | Your home page. Do not chase other people's names |
Three espresso searches, three shapes. Search "how to descale an espresso machine": guides and videos, with a forum thread or two. Learn. Search "best espresso machine under 500": roundups and reviews. Choose. Search "espresso machine deals": shops and price listings. Buy. The first two get an article, in the shape you saw. The third gets a category page on your shop, or nothing. Writing a guide called "Espresso machine deals explained" would be hours spent on a page Google has no slot for.
Worked example: reading the shape for three keywords
The five-minute check
- Search the keyword in a private window. Your own history colours the results otherwise.
- Sort the ten results into the four shapes and count. Guide, roundup, shop, brand. It takes a minute.
- If seven or more are one shape, that is the intent. Build that shape and nothing else.
- If the shape is shops or a brand's own site, do not write an article. Build a product or category page if you sell the thing, or drop the keyword.
- If forum threads fill the page, Google wants first-hand experience. A polished guide will not satisfy it. Write from your own experience, in the first person, or skip it.
- If the shapes are mixed, follow positions one to three. Answer the second want in one section of the same page.
- Write the shape next to the keyword. It decides the page in step 4, and it tells you which keywords to drop before the map.
When you need this, and when you don't
You need the check for every keyword before it becomes a page. Once per keyword is enough; shapes change slowly, so a check holds for a year or so.
You don't need it for keywords you already rank for. Google has told you the shape by ranking you. Spend the five minutes on the next page instead.
Next
- Next page: The four-filter check before you write a page. Shape is one of the four filters. The other three take another ten minutes.
- The free What Ranks Here tool does this check for you: it reads the results for a keyword and tells you whether an article, a shop page or first-hand experience is what Google wants there.
- SitePerfector reads the shape for every keyword in the map, roughly 40,000 results per niche: SERP analysis.