What is search intent?
Search intent is what someone wants to accomplish with a query: learn a process, compare options, find a place or make a purchase.
“How to make pour-over coffee” suggests a need for water ratios, temperature and brewing steps. “Pour-over kettle price” suggests comparison of products and budgets. Both mention coffee, but they need different answers.
Use intent to decide what the page must contain
A page answering a how-to question should give steps a reader can follow. A history of coffee may be interesting, but it leaves that practical request unresolved.
Before writing, name the decision or task the page will support. Then inspect whether the existing search results page contains tutorials, product listings, maps or other formats. That inspection supplies clues, rather than a guarantee about every searcher's purpose.
A query is evidence of a possible need, not access to a person's thoughts. Language, location and other context can affect how a search system interprets it. Keep that uncertainty visible when a query could plausibly mean more than one thing.
Sources and scope
Source-language entry records a source check on 2026-09-22. This adaptation preserves that provenance and does not represent a new audit of the cited pages.