When you search for something on the web, you expect to find pages that are relevant and helpful for your query. But sometimes, you may come across pages that are not directly related to what you are looking for, yet they still satisfy your needs. How is that possible? And how do search engines measure the needs met rating of such pages?
Contents
What is Needs Met Rating?
Needs met rating is a metric that search engines use to evaluate how well a page meets the user’s information needs. It is based on the assumption that users have different types of needs when they search, such as:
- Navigational: The user wants to find a specific website or page.
- Informational: The user wants to learn more about a topic or answer a question.
- Transactional: The user wants to perform an action, such as buying a product, booking a service, or downloading a file.
- Exploratory: The user wants to discover new information or options related to a topic.
Search engines assign a needs met rating to each page based on how well it matches the user’s intent and provides useful and comprehensive information. The rating can range from Fully Meets (FM) to Fails to Meet (F) according to the following scale:
- Fully Meets (FM): The page fully meets the user’s information needs and provides high-quality content that is relevant, accurate, and complete. The user does not need to visit any other page to satisfy their query.
- Highly Meets (HM): The page highly meets the user’s information needs and provides high-quality content that is mostly relevant, accurate, and complete. The user may need to visit another page for some minor details or clarification, but not for essential information.
- Moderately Meets (MM): The page moderately meets the user’s information needs and provides medium-quality content that is somewhat relevant, accurate, and complete. The user may need to visit another page for some important information or clarification, but not for the main purpose of their query.
- Slightly Meets (SM): The page slightly meets the user’s information needs and provides low-quality content that is marginally relevant, accurate, and complete. The user may need to visit another page for most of the information or clarification they are looking for, but not for a completely different purpose.
- Fails to Meet (F): The page fails to meet the user’s information needs and provides poor-quality content that is irrelevant, inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading. The user needs to visit another page for a different purpose than their original query.
How Can a Page Have a High Needs Met Rating Even If It Is Not Related to the Topic of the Query?
A page can have a high needs met rating even if it is not related to the topic of the query if it satisfies one of the following conditions:
- The page matches the user’s intent better than the topic of the query: Sometimes, users may use vague or ambiguous terms in their queries that can have multiple meanings or interpretations. For example, if a user searches for “apple”, they could be looking for information about the fruit, the company, or the singer. In this case, a page that provides information about any of these topics could have a high needs met rating if it matches the user’s intent better than the other topics. For example, if the user is looking for nutritional facts about apples, a page that provides this information would have a higher needs met rating than a page that talks about Apple products or Apple music.
- The page provides additional or complementary information that is useful for the user: Sometimes, users may have secondary or related needs that are not explicitly stated in their queries but are implied by their context or situation. For example, if a user searches for “how to make pizza dough”, they may also be interested in learning how to make pizza sauce, cheese, toppings, or how to bake pizza. In this case, a page that provides additional or complementary information about these topics could have a high needs met rating if it is useful for the user and enhances their experience. For example, if the page includes recipes, tips, videos, or images of how to make pizza dough and other components of pizza, it would have a higher needs met rating than a page that only talks about how to make pizza dough.
- The page offers an alternative or better solution that meets the user’s needs: Sometimes, users may have unrealistic or unfeasible expectations from their queries that cannot be met by any existing page on the web. For example, if a user searches for “how to become rich overnight”, they may not find any credible or legitimate page that can answer their query. In this case, a page that offers an alternative or better solution that meets the user’s needs could have a high needs met rating if it is honest, realistic, and helpful. For example, if the page explains why becoming rich overnight is impossible and suggests some ways to improve one’s financial situation gradually, it would have a higher needs met rating than a page that promises a get-rich-quick scheme or a scam.
Conclusion
A page can have a high needs met rating even if it is not related to the topic of the query if it meets one of the three conditions mentioned above. However, this does not mean that any page that is not related to the topic of the query can have a high needs met rating. The page still needs to provide high-quality content that is relevant, accurate, and complete for the user’s intent and needs. Otherwise, the page may have a low or negative impact on the user’s satisfaction and trust. Therefore, it is important for webmasters and content creators to understand their target audience and their search behavior and create pages that meet their expectations and goals.
