2 Kinds of Search Mindsets you Must Understand

2 kinds of search mindsetsThere are different kinds of people all over the world. These people are searching in Google with an average of 5,000 searches per second and it’s not getting any less than that in the years to come. These people have 2 kinds of conversation running around their minds – the explicit and the implicit.

You go to Google’s homepage in order for you to look for something in the internet as Google sees the internet now. You type in the keywords that you think will get you what you’re looking for. You are given a long list of results based on what you entered as your search query. This is what searching in the internet is all about. This is how it’s done.

The Explicit Mindset

People who type in the search keywords in Google’s text area are thinking of something that they’re looking for. They try to put it in words. They think that those words will get Google to fetch that specific information they want and need.

What they just typed in is the result of an explicit conversation going through their minds.

“I want to know how to lose weight without having to go through a diet”

“Hmmm how should I type it out in Google?”

“Let’s try.. easy weight loss”

Will this person get what he or she wanted?

In a way, yes. This person will get how to easily lose weight but then it may involve diet too. Google cannot read minds. It can only follow what your mind has typed out in its text area.

Often the explicit mindset does not directly lead to what the person is looking for. Understanding the explicit mindset is key. Because once you understand the explicit mindset you can lead them to voicing out their implicit one.

The Implicit Mindset

Looking at the sample conversation above, you probably already have an idea of what the implicit mindset is all about. It’s about what your target market really wants. And you’re helping them voice it out and type it out on Google’s text area.

Understanding the implicit mindset can get you the traffic and customers that you really want. These people are the ones EXACTLY looking for you – if you get in that implicit conversation in their minds you can lead them towards you through search. How?

You can start with the explicit search query.

For example they type in: “Easy weight loss”

Easy weight loss query

Take this site for example. If you’re looking for weight loss wherein you can still eat a Burger King Whopper and Fries twice a day then this is not for you. As you can see in the picture Ad on the right side, it’s a diet approach to weight loss.

sample weight loss

Now this is what the implicit conversation in the person’s mind is looking for:

No diet approact

So what you can do is put up a site that will rank with the keywords “Easy weight loss” and then put up an ad there or a link that will lead them to a no-diet approach to weight loss. That way, you hit their explicit mindset and then lead them to their implicit mindset.

Getting the gist of it?

Good.

Understanding these two mindsets are a rare skill to behold and build. It doesn’t come naturally. It comes with your social interaction and experience with people around you – in the web, in your circle of friends and colleagues and in the customers around you.

How do you understand these mindsets?

Easy. Make yourself the customer – the one looking for your product, service, idea or whatever. And then it’ll be a no-brainer for you to keep up with your real customers with real explicit and implicit conversations in their minds.

Tips for Keeps: Try to understand the 2 mindsets of your target audience in your blog, forum, website, etc. Then work on that to build traffic and make it easy for them to find what they really want.

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Sean Si

About Sean

is a Filipino motivational speaker and a Leadership Speaker in the Philippines. He is the head honcho and editor-in-chief of SEO Hacker. He does SEO Services for companies in the Philippines and Abroad. Connect with him at Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Check out his new project, Aquascape Philippines.