A navigational keyword is a search someone types when they already know where they want to go, such as “Royal Mail tracking”, “HMRC login” or “Barclays online banking”. The searcher is using Google as a shortcut to a particular website or page rather than looking for information or weighing up options.
How navigational keywords work
Search intent is usually grouped into four broad types: informational, navigational, commercial and transactional. Navigational queries nearly always contain a brand, product or organisation name, sometimes with a page type attached: “[brand] contact”, “[brand] opening hours”, “[brand] careers”, “[brand] login”.
Google handles these queries differently. It knows most people want one site, so the official site normally takes the top organic position, often with sitelinks beneath it pointing to the main sections. For a local business, a navigational search may show the business’s profile panel with phone number, reviews and directions, answering the query without a click.
Not every query containing a brand is navigational. “Is Octopus Energy any good” is research, and “Dyson V15 price” is commercial. The test is whether the searcher is trying to reach a destination they already know.
Why it matters
For your own business, navigational searches come from people who already know you: past customers, someone who saw your van, a friend’s recommendation. You should own that result. If a directory, a review site, a competitor’s ad or an out-of-date address sits above you, some of those warm visitors will drift elsewhere or fail to find your number.
They matter for planning too. For a small business it is usually pointless to target another company’s navigational terms with content. Someone searching “Screwfix Croydon” wants Screwfix, and a blog post about tool shops in Croydon will not change their mind. Keyword tools often show large volumes for brand names, which makes a list look more promising than it is; spotting and removing these terms keeps a keyword plan honest.
The number of navigational searches for your own name is also a useful measure of brand demand. Watching it in Search Console over months shows whether offline marketing, PR or word of mouth is getting more people to look you up.
Common mistakes
- Treating competitor brand terms as opportunities. They inflate forecasts and rarely turn into organic visits.
- Neglecting your own brand result. A homepage title without the business name, a structure so unclear that no sitelinks appear, or an unclaimed Google Business Profile.
- Assuming every brand search is navigational. Branded keywords such as “[brand] reviews” or “[brand] vs [competitor]” come from people still deciding, and they need a page that helps them decide, not just the homepage.
- Missing obvious pages. If people search “[your brand] prices” or “[your brand] careers” and no clear page exists, they land somewhere generic and give up.
How to act on it
Search your business name in a private window on a phone and on a desktop. Check that your site appears first, that the title and description make sense, that your Google Business Profile is accurate and that nothing misleading sits above you. Then open Search Console’s Performance report, filter for queries containing your brand (including common misspellings) and note which pages they land on. If people regularly add “prices”, “contact” or “reviews” to your name, make sure a clear page answers each.
When building a keyword plan, tag navigational terms separately and keep competitor brands out of your content targets. Matching each query to the right intent is the first step of my keyword research service, and the wider set of intent types is explained under search intent.