Navigational Request
A navigational request is a request with the intention of finding a specific website.
Example
An example would be a user who wants to access YouTube using the Google search, instead of typing the URL or using a bookmark. In fact, the two terms “Facebook” and “YouTube” are often searched and are both regarded as navigational searches.
As a matter of fact, there aren’t many opportunities to catch navigational requests, unless the website with the appropriate brand is yours. Thus, true navigational searches are conducted with very clear intentions, in other words, the user is seeking a specific website and if you’re not that brand, you have no relevance for the user in this case. As a result, Google has reduced the number of search results per result list from 10 to 7 in various brand name searches. This constitutes a reduction of 5.5% of all organic result listings on the first page.
Note: Some queries only look like they are navigational searches, when in reality they are actually not. A person googling for “Facebook” might as well be looking for information or news about the company.
Useful tip
Make sure that your site appears first in the search results for search requests for your own brand. Ideally, your site would appear in first place on the paid results and the organic results listings. For Google, a brand is very important because brand websites appear trustworthy and are rarely considered spam. Brand keywords not only bring in traffic, but also result in conversions. In many cases it is worthwhile to run AdWords in this case.