Each SERP is unique. This applies to searches performed using the exact same competitive keywords and search queries, on the same search engine.
It is because almost all search engines personalize the results for their users based on key factors other than their search term, like the users location, browsing history, and social settings. Although two SERPs can look identical and have many of the exact same results, they will often contain subtle differences.
Google, Bing, and other search engines are constantly experimenting to improve the user experience. The Google SERPs today are very different from those of their predecessors, due to the rapid development and evolution of search technologies.
Organic Results
SERPs usually contain two types of results - organic and paid. Organic results are the listings of pages on the web that appear due to a search engines algorithm update (more about this in a moment).
Search engine optimization specialists, also known as SEO companies or digital marketing agencies, are experts in optimizing websites and web long-form content to achieve higher rankings in organic search results.
The knowledge graph is the box that appears on the right-hand side of the SERP (also known as the knowledge box).
The data is then displayed in a central place on the SERP. You can find a lot of Information on Abraham Lincoln in this example, including his date of birth and location, his height, when he was killed, his political affiliation,affiliation, and his childrens names.
As shown in the above example, some SERPs feature a significantly higher proportion of organic results. The different search intentions are the reason for this.
Internet searches can be divided into three main categories:
- Information
- Navigation
- Transactional
Informational searches aim to provide users with Information about a particular topic. For example, Abraham Lincoln.
Ads or paid results would not make sense on a SERP such as this one, since the search volume term "Abraham Lincoln", has a very low commercial intent. The vast majority of users of this search arent looking to purchase anything, so only Informational search results are shown on the SERP.
Navigational queries refer to searches that are used by users in order to find a particular website. It could be that a user is searching for a particular website or trying to find a website they cannot remember the URL of.
Finally, the most likely SERP results to appear are paid search results. Transactional searches are high commercial intent.
Search queries that lead to transactional SERPs can include terms such as "buy", and other words that indicate a strong desire to purchase.
Paying Results
Paid results are the results that advertisers have paid for. Paid results used to be almost exclusively small text ads displayed above or to the right of organic results.
Paid results are available in a variety of formats today, with dozens of options to suit the needs of advertisers.
The SERP above, which is a SERP that shows results for "lawnmowers," has all paid results except the map and the business listings below it.
PPC ads are the three large text ads that appear at the top (considered to be prime placement for advertisers). The two lower ads, both have an ad extension that allows prospective customers to directly navigate to certain pages on the websites.
Shopping ads are the image-based ads that appear on the right side of the page. This feature is offered by Google Ads and allows product Information from ecommerce retailers to be displayed along with other SERP results.
Shopping ads may contain Information such as user reviews, product availability, special offers, and more.
The star ratings are located directly below the destination URL. There are also two PPC ads that appear directly underneath the shopping ads.
This SERP only shows the map and the business listing. These arent explicitly paid results. This map will be displayed based on the users current location and include listings of local businesses that have created a free Google My Business listing.
Google My Business, a free online directory of businesses that helps local small businesses increase their visibility for searchers using geolocation - a feature that is particularly important on mobile devices- can be accessed by anyone.
Search Algorithms and Ranking Signals
The organic results are the listings that were indexed by a search engine, based on various factors. These signals are also called "ranking signals."
Googles search algorithm, for example, has hundreds of ranking criteria. While nobody outside Google knows what each one is, it is believed that some are more important than others.
The external link profile of a website - or the number of links from other sites that lead to a particular web page or website - used to be an important ranking factor. The internal link profile of a site is still important to some degree (which is why Wikipedia is so prominent in organic results for many queries), but search has advanced so rapidly that the search engine ranking signals once critical to the algorithm are now less significant.
This is a constant source of frustration for SEOs.
Want More Information About Our Services? Talk to Our Consultants!
Organic Listings Vs Paid Ads
Googles SERP displays both organic and paid listings in a similar way. Since they both can help boost search engine traffic to your website, you should create a strategy that incorporates them.
Paid Ads: The Advantages
Google displays paid ads above the search results. Usually, Google will display 4 ads for desktop computers and 3 ads for mobile optimization browsers.
Google has to determine which ads appear on the first page because there are usually more than four businesses competing for the same keyword.
Google takes several factors into account when making this decision: the amount of your bid, the quality of the content, and the relevance of the page that people are directed to after clicking on your ad.
Google will place you on the first page of search results if it determines that your website is more relevant and better than the competition.
Organic Listings Are Valuable
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a constantly evolving set of techniques you can use to improve your websites ranking on SERPs.
To get a high ranking organically, your site must be of a very high quality. However, the rules are not as explicit. Googles algorithm is always being tweaked to ensure the best possible results.
Its therefore important to be aware of any upcoming or new updates.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of optimizing web pages and websites for better visibility on search engine result pages.
This can be achieved through various methods, including "on-page SEO" and "off-page techniques."
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is a set of best practices web content creators can use to make their high-quality content as discoverable as they possibly can.
The creation of page metadata (data regarding data), the use of static URLs for each page, including images, the inclusion and use of exact keywords within relevant headings, title tags and subtitles, as well as the use of clean HTML code are all part of this.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO is different from on-page SEO. It refers to strategies which affect the entire site. Off-page SEO techniques include link building strategies, exchange of blue inks, social bookmarking, and piece of content marketing.
They also include submissions to search engines and directories, as well as the creation and management of social media communities.
The full scope of SEO would be too large to cover here. However, you should know that SEO strategies is primarily focused on organic rankings.
While businesses may hire an SEO agency or professional to do their SEO work for them, there is no financial exchange. The focus remains on ranking higher in organic search.
What Is The Serp System?
The SERPs have three types of pages:
- The spider crawled the pages and indexed them.
- Pages that have been manually entered into the search engine directory.
- Pages that appear due to paid inclusion.
The search engines examine these indexed pages and multimedia visual content when a user conducts a search using sophisticated algorithms and ranking indicators, or traits that promote favorable ranks.
The search engines then order the pages and link authority from the most relevant to the least relevant in the results. When presenting search results, SERPs take into account data like the searchers search history and location, as well as their search and browsing histories.
The search engine providers do not disclose how their algorithms are calculated, the ranking signals they use or how many.
There are some factors that we know, including:
- Number Backlinks: When determining the SERP ranking, it is important to consider how many external pages link to a specific page. The number of links pointing to a page indicates that the site is a trustworthy authority and has a lot of credibility.
- Number Relevant Keywords: Use of a comprehensive list of keywords that are relevant to a subject has a positive impact on ranking. This should not be mistaken with keyword stuffing which is not liked by search engines. Google Trends provides Information about the keywords and phrases that have been searched in the past.
- Organization: Google's algorithm, which we are most familiar with, favors simple pages that can be easily navigated and skimmed. It also prefers content that is written in simple language.
- User Experience: UX factors such as website loading speed, security, and ease-of-use are considered when ranking content on SERPs.
- Signals of trust Search engine algorithms also take into account cumulative data, such as the security, credibility, traffic, and backlinks of a site over time.
Read More: How Search Engines Work? How SEO Works?
What Are The SERP Features?
The SERP of today is visually more varied than in the past. Search results can return more than just the site name or metadata.
They may also include images, shopping suggestions and Tweets. Each feature falls into one of three categories:
- Knowledge Graphs: These are displayed in a box or panel on the SERP. They appear on the right side.
- Rich Snippets: These are extra visuals that can be added to a search result. For example, stars for product reviews and photos in the news results.
- Paid Results: These can be purchased by placing bids on keywords relevant to the ad. The top of the paid results will have a label indicating that it is an advertisement.
- Universal Results: These special results appear along with organic results.
Here is a list of the different features that you may see on a SERP. Think about reorganizing and revising your website to make it appear as a certain feature.
Google Ads
Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) are most commonly found at the top of or bottom SERP. You can get more views if you place your ad at the bottom of the SERP, but its easier if you put it on top.
To reach the top of SERP, you need a good site, and depending on the competition for the keywords, a higher pay-per click bid.
Although aiming for the top spot requires extra SEO effort and can cost more, it has a major benefit: people will see your ad ahead of any organic search results.
Snippets Featured
The featured snippet is displayed on the SERP as a separate box from the search results. The featured snippet is attractive because it shows content from a site that contains the relevant search keywords.
The link will be clicked more often if the Information displayed is useful.
To get the featured snippet, a site must be listed on the first search result page. Reaching this milestone is your number one priority.
While you wait, ensure that the content on your page is both informative and contains all the desired tail keywords.
Image Pack
Google Images will appear in the SERP when Googles algorithm deems visual Information to be relevant.
Googles algorithm for image search is different from that for written content. However, adhering the best practices below can help you optimize your image content for search engines.
Use:
- File names that are descriptive and accurate
- Alt text and image captions
- Relevant text surrounding the relevant paragraph
- A page title that is both accurate and compelling
- A readable page URL
- Squares, 16x9, and 4x3 are all examples of rectangular photos.
If you embed your image on other websites, you will have a better chance to appear in the SERP Image Pack.
Articles in Depth
Google has launched in-depth pieces to promote longer-form articles with evergreen content. These arent always the most recent or up-to-date articles, but feature Information that is timeless.
Theyre also often written by qualified authors or published by respected publications.
People began to notice in 2019 that the box for "in-depth articles" was no longer visible. Google says that these articles are still being prioritized and will continue to be.
However, they do not have their own section.
Read More: Benefits of Search Engine Optimization for your business
Knowledge Card
Knowledge cards are boxes on SERPs that display selected facts about the topic searched, similar to miniature Wikipedia pages.
Google pulls the facts from its library of over 3.5 billion data points.
These cards are useful for searching Information because they not only provide the Information requested, but also other connections the user may not have thought of.
Knowledge Panel
A knowledge panel works like a knowledge-card, but is more specific. If you do a navigational search on a restaurant, a knowledge panel might be returned that contains the restaurants phone number, address, website and popular hours.
Local Pack
Local packs appear when a user enters a search with a location or when Googles algorithms determine that the item searched is nearby.
Local pack is a map that shows businesses relevant to your search. Google provides contact Information, reviews, and names of businesses marked on the map.
Searching "pharmacies", for example, might return a local pack that shows the nearest pharmacies and their contact details.
Local Teaser Packs
Local teaser packs are similar to the local packs, but they contain more Information on each business owner. You can find out more about a business by clicking on the photo.
News Box
If a search returns results that are time-specific or recent, news boxes will appear. You can submit your website to Google News Publisher Center, whether you have a news section or a complete news site.
Googles News Algorithm crawls all pages that are accepted, so the newsbox is an excellent way to increase views if your content is relevant.
Related Questions
There are many similar searches using different words for every search. Google displays them on SERPs under the heading "Questions Related to [search term]" or "People Also Ask".
The number of "related questions" clicks has increased in recent years. Only one broken link is available for each related question.
Your site must be listed on the first page for this related question to receive that blue link. You can then make content for SEO changes that will help Google select your website as a "related question" answer.
Review
After a transactional search, review data (displayed in the form of star ratings) may appear on a SERP. Results with four or five stars are more likely to be clicked.
You must explicitly blog post reviews on your site with ratings. Add a plugin that allows your customers to leave testimonials for your business and bounce rateOrganic Results.
Shopping Results
Many transactional queries return shopping results in the SERPs. The results are usually displayed at the top or right of the page.
There is plenty of competition.
You must also have high-quality pictures, sales figures that are impressive, and a competitive price if you wish to be represented in the search results.
Sitelinks
Sitelinks allow users to find specific pages on a website. Sitelinks, for example, would show a link under the Amazon URL to the account page of Amazon if you searched "change my Amazon Password".
Googles web crawlers can pick up sitelinks on your website. So, make sure to structure your site using clear and relevant headings like "Products", "Blog" etc.
The more links you have, the easier it is for your visitors to find where they are going.
Tweets
Since 2015, Google includes tweets within certain SERPs. The tweets may not always be present, but they are more likely to show up when a trending topic is being discussed.
This feature can encourage people to visit your Twitter page.
Video
Google will display video results if the site contains video content relevant to your search. Like with images, ensure that the meta title, description and surrounding text of your video is accurate and descriptive.
Want More Information About Our Services? Talk to Our Consultants!
Conclusion
To submit a query, use the Google search bar. The viewer will then be directed to a SERP that lists various components.
Not just 10 URLs with meta descriptions will be listed. This streamlined format is frequently used for the second page of contemporary SERPs. Added sections like a companys Twitter account, a section dubbed "top stories" that uses content from the News category, and a list of "related searches" are frequently found on the first page of a SERP.
Some websites use schema markup to enable samples of them to appear on SERPs. This enables capabilities beyond what is shown in the text blurb.
This feature is frequently used by websites that offer specific goods or services to show Information pertinent to customers, like prices and reviews, without requiring visitors to the site.
The specifics of the functionality and substance of the SERP snippets are beyond the scope of most web designers.
Although Google has automated systems that fill in the specific content, schema markup is a way to choose which of several frameworks should be used for a sites expanded snippets (or snippets). This can lead to abuse because it gives the site owner more control over what people using Google searches can see at a glance.
Google may take over a website that appears highly enough in the SERPs. To achieve this, the domain is given a "Sitelinks" section that prominently shows several of the most crucial URLs.
These links almost always point to the "About Us" and "Contact Us" pages because Googles systems assume that everyone searching for the website will be able to locate them. Website owners cannot swap out these connections for more "preferred" on-site URLs. understanding Google SERPs is essential for website owners looking to improve their online visibility and attract more traffic.
By optimizing their websites for the ranking factors that Google considers important, website owners can increase their chances of appearing on the first page of search results and reaching a larger audience. Additionally, website owners should be aware of the various elements that appear in Google SERPs, such as featured snippets and rich snippets, which can impact how their website is displayed to mobile users.
By staying up-to-date on changes to Googles algorithms and regularly monitoring their websites performance in search results, top online marketers can ensure that they are effectively leveraging Google SERPs to achieve their online goals.
