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Query Sequences and Query Paths - Importance & How to Research ✨ MLforSEO Newsletter #005
Published 4 days ago • 3 min read
Understanding Search Behavior: Query Sequences and Query Paths
Plus, practical ways to research them during keyword research
Hi 👋🏻
Have you ever stopped to consider how your multiple searches in a single session—or even across different days—are connected? Search engines like Google are constantly analyzing these connections to better understand user intent and improve the results you see. This is where the concepts of query sequence and query path come into play.
What is a Query Sequence?
A query sequence is simply the series or order of different search queries you perform during a single search session. Every search you make sends data to Google. When you perform multiple searches in a session, Google analyzes how close those searches are semantically.
If searches are found to be related semantically, structurally, or thematically, they are grouped into an "established sequence".
If a query appears unrelated to the previous ones, the search engine may start a new sequence.
When Google detects patterns—many people performing the same query sequence—they use this information to further tie the phrases as semantically-related and enrich the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
This analysis can lead to the introduction of SERP features like Related searches, People Also Ask, People Also Search For, and People Search Next, as these features indicate queries that are semantically related in terms of topic, intent, and session context.
What is a Query Path?
The query path is a broader concept. It's comprised of different search queries or query sequences that a searcher performs until they either satisfy their intent or exhaust their interest in a given topic. This path can occur in a single search session or across multiple sessions.
Individual queries and query sequences can both be components of a query path. A path can be straightforward and completed quickly, containing sequential or non-sequential queries. Conversely, it might contain entirely separate queries without sequences.
Search engines may use this information to broaden a searcher's knowledge, introduce them to semantically related terms, or prompt the discovery of new topics. The aim is often to keep the user on the SERP for longer, allowing for more ad exposure.
A query path is highly personalized and dependent on several factors that influence the search experience and results shown:
Location
Query semantics (can narrow or expand results)
User content preference
User demographics and previous knowledge
Past user history and session context
Watch the video on our YouTube channel to learn some of the key strategies on researching these elements to improve your content, including:
✨ Identifying semantically-proximate queries via fuzzy matching via query distance calculations ✨ Reverse-engineering the SERP to identify where Google shows sequential SERP features, and utilise Autocomplete for added insights ✨ Combining an entity and n-gram analysis research for a set of keywords to identify pattern searches ✨ Conducting user research to identify patterns in expressions and search styles that you can map to personas ✨ Reverse-engineering the SERP on different social media platforms to pin-point cross-platform search Query Paths
We're hard at work on the updates to this course - two new modules are in development, to be released in November. ✨
An exciting update - we're working with Beatrice Gamba to finalise a module, titled: Entity-based Brand Authority Building in the LLM Era. Take a look at a sneak peak of what it will include:
This course features 🔥 10+ hours of content, with a ton of practical exercises, tools, checklists, scripts, and more. We cover dozens of patents to show you exactly what you need at the keyword research phase to ensure you create meaningful content.
✨ Use code COMMUNITY30 for 30% off at checkout - that's our little thank you for being part of the MLforSEO community
Launched a curated list of ai/ml newsletters for marketers
We have started building a complete list of all AI/ML-focused newsletters for digital marketing and organic search experts, heavily invested in AI/ML. We hope this lists helps individuals discover resources to learn from on topics like AI/ML, automations, workflows, scripts, tools, news, research and more.
AI/ML news and concepts, demystified. SEO and digital marketing automations shared regularly, as well as updates from the world of the MLforSEO platform and Academy✨
