Characteristics of user information requests

[subornaakter24]

The success of the information search directly depends on the correspondence of the entered phrase to the results that the user wants to receive. If a woman wants to sew herself a new dress, but types only the word "dress", the robot gives her the following list of links:


a huge selection of dresses for any size;



summer dresses in the online store;



history of the appearance of dresses;



Movie stars who prefer classic style dresses.


Characteristics of user information requests

The top lines of the search results will be marketing list of senior homes occupied by offers from online stores, while sites dedicated to self-sewing, creating patterns, and so on, may be found on the third or fourth page, but only a very persistent user will get to them.

Despite the constant improvement of search algorithms, they are still unable to understand a person’s intentions from a single keyword. To simplify their work and obtain the most relevant results, they need to be given hints. Let’s try to enter “sew a dress” in the line.

Let's look at the search results:


how to sew a dress without a pattern;



how to sew a dress: tips for beginners;



how to sew a dress video tutorial.


In other words, the user is offered resources containing instructions and advice on sewing dresses, while sales sites are not in the list of links. The key phrase "how to sew a dress" implies a search for information, not commercial offers on a given topic.

Search results

At the first attempt, that is, using the word "dress", such a result was impossible, since the search bot could not determine the purpose of the request: what exactly is meant, the purchase of a dress, its sewing or the history of the suit. In response to such a spectral request, the system gives a variety of answers in the hope that one of the proposed options will satisfy the user.

An information request differs from a spectral request by having the following characteristics:


The presence of question words such as “how much”, “how”, “where”, “why”, etc. in the key phrase.



The name of the specific site is not specified.



Words like "reviews", "customer opinions", "recipes", "forum", "pros and cons", etc. can be used.



There is no binding to a specific region (geo-independence).


Examples of information requests:


Why do bears hibernate?



How to get a rich harvest of tomatoes?



Intermittent fasting: harm and benefit.



Asus smartphone reviews.


Read also!

"Website Visibility: A Key Indicator for Resource Promotion Analysis"
Read more
Searching for information queries has its own specifics, namely:


Greater depth of search results. In an effort to collect the most complete information on a topic of interest, the user studies not only the first page, but also goes to the following ones.



The search is not limited to one source: in order to obtain accurate information, several sites are analyzed at once, the data provided on them is compared. The user will most likely continue to view other resources, even if the first link contains a large informative article.



From the landing page that the user lands on from the search results list, you can go to two or three more nested pages, because the amount of information is too large to be presented on one web page.



The response to an information request can be received not only in the form of text materials, but also in the form of pictures or videos.



Some questions can be answered without visiting the site, as they are contained in special widgets. This concerns weather information, definitions of various concepts. In this way, the search engine satisfies users' needs for information on general topics.


Informational search phrases are divided into two types:


Simple. These are the already mentioned widgets, from which people receive brief, current (weather, exchange rates) or unchangeable information (interpretation of terms, decoding of abbreviations, meaning of units of measurement).



Complex. These include information data that requires a detailed, lengthy answer. To get acquainted with them, the user goes to landing pages with comprehensive text and media materials.