What is a Navigational Search Query?

Written by Melissa Rae Brown, edited by Chima Mmeje

September 2024

​​A navigational search query is a search query with the intent of finding a specific website or page they want to visit. For example, if someone types "Spotify" into Google, that’s a navigational search query. This is because the searcher is trying to find Spotify’s website instead of entering a URL in the browser or using a bookmark.

For example, imagine you’re on a road trip, and you know where you want to go. You have the address, but you need directions to get there. That’s what a navigational search query is like to a search engine. It’s when a user knows the website, brand, or page they want to visit, and they search for the exact name or something very close to it. They aren’t browsing or exploring—they have a specific destination in mind.

Navigational queries are important to users because they provide a shortcut to typing a URL address into the browser, and they’re important to brands because they signal strong brand recognition. Let’s dig a little deeper.

For users

Navigational queries make life easier for users. Instead of typing out a long, sometimes hard-to-remember URL, users often find it easier to enter the brand or website name into a search engine.

Sometimes, the brand’s domain isn’t so obvious. For example, the domain name for the brand Peloton is actually onepeloton.com (as of 2024, peloton.com belongs to a drilling and well data software company).

Whether the user is in a hurry or just used to letting search engines do the heavy lifting, navigational queries are the default search for millions of people.

For brands

Navigational queries are ideal for brands because they signal brand awareness and loyalty. When someone searches directly for your brand name, it’s a clear sign they know you, trust you, and want to engage with your site. It’s the online equivalent of a customer walking straight into your store, passing all your competitors. This is powerful and prevalent, as you can see from Keyword Explorer’s Monthly Volume of the keyword “peloton” below.

According to reports, Google classifies this type of query as a “go query,” and has even reduced the total number of results on the first page to seven results for navigational queries. This led to a 5.5% reduction in overall organic first-page listings.

If you’re not optimizing for navigational queries, you might miss out on branded traffic. Or worse, if your competitors are savvy and are targeting your branded keywords (yes, that’s a thing), they might swoop in and steal the traffic right out from under you—even if someone is searching for you. That’s why it’s crucial to make sure your site is the first thing people see when they search for you.

Navigational queries aren’t one-size-fits-all. Let’s break down the three main types:

Brand search

A brand search is the bread and butter of navigational queries. When someone types in your brand name, they’re showing a clear search intent to visit your website, platform, or location. It’s like when someone says they want to go to “Starbucks” instead of just looking for a coffee shop. They’re not just after coffee; they want Starbucks coffee.

We know brands matter in the real world and online, but it can be difficult to understand the relationship between a brand's value and search results. Luckily, you can measure your brand’s strength with Brand Authority™, a Moz metric that gives you insights into the authority of your brand, your competitive landscape, and potential growth opportunities.

You can check your Brand Authority in the Moz Domain Overview tool (you’ll just need a free Moz Community account to get started). Enter your domain, and you’ll get your company’s Brand Authority score.

Why is this important?

A strong Brand Authority means that when users perform brand searches, they’re doing so because they already know and trust your brand. It’s a sign that your marketing efforts are paying off and that your brand is becoming a go-to resource in your industry. When people actively search for your brand, it indicates that you’ve established a solid presence in their minds, which directly correlates with the volume of brand searches.

Product searches

Product searches are a bit more specific. Instead of searching for the brand, users are looking for a particular product that your brand offers. If someone searches “iphone” or “macbook air,” they’re honing in on that exact product. They know what they want, and they’re looking for the fastest way to get there.

When users know the exact product they’re looking for, they often rely on exact match searches, where they enter specific product titles or model numbers, such as “Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum.”

For businesses, this means that effectively optimizing your product pages is crucial. When someone is searching for a specific product that your brand offers, you want to make sure that your page is the one they find—quickly and easily.

Category Searches

Category searches are a broader form of navigational query. Here, users might not have a specific product in mind, but they’re looking for a particular category of products or services from a brand they know. For example, if someone searches for “patagonia backpacks” or “dyson humidifiers,” they’re zeroing in on a specific category within a brand they trust.

Optimizing your category pages can help you capture these users who have a clear idea of what they want but might still be open to exploring their options. It’s about guiding them within your brand’s ecosystem to find exactly what they need.

Let’s take a look at some real-world examples to see how navigational queries work:

Blue Apron meal kits

• When someone types this into a search engine, they’re specifically looking for meal kits offered by Blue Apron. The user is clear about wanting meal kits from Blue Apron and is using the search engine to navigate directly to that category on the brand’s site.

Madewell

• This user is looking to visit the Madewell website, likely to browse or purchase from the brand’s clothing and accessories selection. This query shows intent to go straight to Madewell’s site, demonstrating brand recognition and loyalty.

Amazon Prime Video

• This user is seeking direct access to Amazon’s streaming service, bypassing any other video platforms..

REI hiking gear

• This query shows a user looking for hiking gear specifically from REI, indicating they trust REI’s selection and expertise. This makes it a category-specific navigational query.

Whole Foods near me

• This searcher is looking to find the closest Whole Foods location to them. The query is directly focused on locating a specific brand’s store.

Each of these examples reflects a user’s clear intent to navigate directly to a specific brand, product, or category, making them prime examples of navigational search queries.

If you want to get the most out of navigational queries, you need to make sure your website is easy to find when people search for you. Here’s how you can optimize your site to capture this traffic:

1. Use your brand name

Make sure your brand name is prominently featured on key pages like your home page, category and product pages, about page, and contact page. Consistently using your brand name helps search engines associate your site with navigational searches.

Discover how people are searching your brand with a keyword research tool like Moz’s Keyword Explorer. Sign up or log in to Moz, and head to Keyword Suggestions.

Enter your brand, and you’ll receive a list of related keywords. Next to the Search Intent column, click on the menu (3 dots), click Filter, and from the dropdown menu, select Navigational.

If you don’t have existing content targeting these branded searches, it’s a good idea to either optimize existing pages or create new content around these keywords.

Next, make sure your brand name is easy to find on your website, in your URLs, and throughout your content. This helps search engines associate your site with your brand, making it more likely that you’ll show up in searches for your brand name.

2. Use navigational keywords in your metadata

Include your brand name and other navigational keywords in your title tags, URL slug, meta descriptions, and header tags. This makes it easier for search engines to match your site to navigational queries, and more importantly, for users to find you on SERPs.

3. Add navigational keywords in your titles and subheadings

Don’t rely solely on metadata. Make sure your navigational keywords are also in the visible text on your pages, especially in titles and subheadings. This reinforces your relevance for navigational queries.

4. Get mentions and backlinks on authoritative websites

The more your brand is mentioned and linked to on trusted sites, the more search engines will see your site as the go-to source for navigational queries. Aim to get backlinks to your brand from industry blogs, news sites, and other high-authority platforms.

You can discover backlink opportunities by using a link tool such as Link Explorer. In Link Intersect, a feature within Link Explorer, you’ll discover sites that are linking to your competitors, but not to you.

Sign up or log in to Moz, and head to Link Intersect. Enter your domain, subdomain, or exact page, and up to 5 competitors’ domains, subdomains, or exact pages, and click Find Opportunities.

Scroll down, and you’ll see a list of domains that are linking to your competitors, but not to you. Click on the arrow in the right column to view the Top referring page.

This is an easy and effective way to explore your competitors’ backlink profile, and gives you some helpful ideas about which sites you may want to reach out to when performing your link building outreach.

Yes! Navigational queries are just one of four types of search intent. There are also informational queries, transactional queries, and commercial queries, each serving a different purpose.

• Informational search queries: These are used by users looking to learn something. They typically start with words like "how to," "what is," or "best ways to."

• Commercial search queries: These are used by users who are researching products or services but haven’t decided to make a purchase yet. They’re often comparisons or product reviews.

• Transactional search queries: These indicate that a user is ready to take action, whether it’s buying, signing up, or booking.

Each type of query requires its own search engine optimization strategy, but together they can help you capture traffic at every stage of the user journey.

Navigational search queries are a powerful tool to win at search, but only if you take control of them. By optimizing your site to rank for these queries, you’re ensuring that when people search for you, they find you—not your competitors. Don’t let someone else steal your spotlight; make sure your site is the first thing users see when they type in your brand, product, or category.