How Does Google Use Different Types of Keywords? Distinguish Search Intent from Content Roles First

Based on the supplied SEO explainers, Google’s handling of different keywords can be understood in terms of search intent, location signals, and content relevance: a query may seek information, products, or a specific website, while local searches may also factor in the searcher’s location. Primary, secondary, and semantic keywords, meanwhile, are categories for planning page content. These classifications address different questions and should not be merged into a single framework, much less treated as fixed ranking rules published by Google.

Start with the purpose of the search, not just the length of the query

Semrush’s material groups search intent into four categories:

• Informational: Seeking knowledge or answers.
• Navigational: Looking for a specific website or page.
• Commercial: Comparing options before making a decision.
• Transactional: Ready to buy, book, or sign up.

Harris’s 2023 article uses three categories—informational, navigational, and transactional—without listing commercial intent separately. This distinction should be preserved rather than treating the two classifications as identical. Local, branded, and long-tail keywords represent another way of classifying queries; a single query can include both a location requirement and transactional intent.

Differences in intent may be reflected in the types of pages returned

In the 2023 article, Harris observed that results for “床墊” (“mattress”) were dominated by e-commerce pages, “床墊推薦” (“mattress recommendations”) returned a mix of product pages and articles, and “床墊 心得” (“mattress reviews”) brought up forums and articles. These were examples of search results at the time. They do not mean that these terms produce the same ordering today or that each term can address only one need.

For website planning, the key is whether a page’s content meets the searcher’s needs. Using “iPhone 15 心得” (“iPhone 15 reviews”) as an example, the author argues that a site with only product pages may find it harder to rank for informational queries and recommends creating articles or a blog. This is the author’s practical advice, not an official Google rule prohibiting product pages from ranking. Before making plans, it is still worth checking the current search results for the target terms.

Local keywords: explicit place names provide different signals

Semrush’s local search material distinguishes between explicit and implicit local keywords. “London locksmith” and “locksmith near me” contain direct location or proximity signals. For a search consisting only of “locksmith,” Google may infer a local need using the searcher’s location.

The same term therefore does not necessarily produce identical results for everyone. The material notes that searchers in different neighborhoods may see different local results, particularly for implicit local queries. When examining ranking differences, consider not only whether a page includes a place name, but also whether the searches were made from different locations.

Primary, secondary, and semantic keywords: organizing a page’s topic

Semrush’s content classification treats the primary keyword as the core query a page targets; secondary keywords are synonyms or more specific long-tail variations, while semantic keywords are related concepts. For example, a page about “how to make a smoothie bowl” might include related terms such as “blender” and “frozen fruit.”

This distinction focuses on how content conveys its topic. The material suggests that related terms can help search engines assess the connection between content and a query, and that secondary keywords may allow the same page to address more search terms. However, this does not mean that adding any individual term guarantees a ranking improvement.