What is search intent?
What the person typing a search actually wants: to learn, to compare, to buy, or to find a specific place. A page that matches the intent ranks; one that matches only the words does not.
Two searches can use almost the same words and want completely different things. “SEO” on its own might be someone trying to learn what it is. “SEO agency Dublin” is someone looking to hire one. Search intent is the difference between them.
It is usually split into four kinds. Informational, when someone wants to learn something. Navigational, when they want a particular website. Commercial, when they are comparing options. Transactional, when they are ready to buy or book.
The easiest way to read the intent behind a search is to look at what Google already shows for it. If the first page is all guides, Google believes people want to learn. If it is all service pages and map listings, they want to hire. A page that fights the intent rarely ranks, however well it is written, because it is answering a question the searcher did not ask.
It is also why a page explaining a term and a page selling the service can sit side by side without competing. They are answering two different people.
Search that compounds, run by people who show their work.
Strategy, technical, content, links and local, planned together and reported against the numbers your business cares about.