Human beings experience a wide range of emotions, and this can easily translate into what we search. With that in mind, I found myself recently wanting to dig in further into how users are actually feeling when they search.
What can we do with “emotions” in search?
Easy! Create better content that resonates with users’ needs and incentivizes higher click-through-rates for a start.
So how do we start?
Step 1: Determine Emotions For Certain Word Types
There are simple words that equate to different emotions that we can get started with:
- “vs” = Curiosity
- “damaging” = Anger
- “instant” = Urgent
Step 2: Figure Out The Audience Data You Want To Analyze
Not sure what to analyze? Here’s a list of sources to experiment with:
- PPC Search Query Report
- Reddit or Quora threads
- Online chat transcripts
- Google Search Console queries
- Google My Business queries
Step 3: Create a Custom Column or Conditional Column in Power BI
After you get your list together of some base words and emotions, create your custom column in Power BI that matches up with the text data column in your file.
To assess only a few words or emotions, you can use a conditional column instead.
If you don’t know how to do this, check out the Seer YouTube Channel or some of our blog posts about Power BI.
Step 4: Break Down The Emotions
Use this data to narrow down the terms that could be triggering your audience to perform (or NOT perform) specific actions. What emotions are driving them to search for something? In the example above, I analyzed Reddit comments and filtered down via the emotions to discern what made people unhappy or what information they needed more urgently.
This method is another great way to dig deeper into the WHY someone is searching for something, not just WHAT they’re searching for. This tactic can help with digging deeper into your overall brand content strategy as you delve deeper into audience needs.
Want to do more with your audience research?
Curious about how we use this data at Seer to inform our SEO recommendations? Give us a shout and contact us to learn more!
