The page that appears on a search engine after a user enters a search query. In addition to organic search results, search engine results pages (SERPs) usually include paid search and PPC (pay-per-click) ads. Thanks to search engine optimization (SEO), ranking position on a SERP can be very competitive, as users are more likely to click on the results at the top of the page. With the launch of schema markup, SERPs are becoming much more complex to try and predict user needs.
More than 90% of customer traffic goes to websites that rank on the first page of Google search results. If your website isn’t there yet, don’t worry. There are strategies you can use to improve your ranking, but first you need to understand what search engine results pages are and how they rank results.
What is a search engine results page?
A search engine results page, or SERP (Search Engine Result Pages), is the page you see after performing a search on Google, Yahoo, or any other search engine. The design of each search engine’s SERP is different, but since Google is the most popular, with a market share of more than 80%, we’ll focus on its features and algorithms.
What are the different types of research?
The SERP features displayed after a search depend on the search query you make. Searches typically fall into one of three categories: browsing, informational, or transactional.
Navigation queries
Navigation queries occur when someone is searching for a particular website, but not typing in the full URL of the site. Unless the user is looking for you, it can be difficult to appear on the first page of these results. To take advantage of navigation queries for your site, consider buying ads for the keywords you want to rank for, such as your business name.
Informational queries
A user makes an informational query when they want to know something, such as basic facts about a topic or how to perform a certain task. The user usually doesn’t try to make a purchase, but the correct content often directs them to a specific brand. That’s why it’s important to create relevant content that meets the wants, needs, and interests of your target audience.
Adding multimedia content to your site can be a particularly effective way to generate traffic with informational queries. Here are some common examples to consider.
- An instructional video that includes references to your product or service
- The instructive blog post with helpful tips for your audience
- A shareable infographic
- A downloadable guide or white paper
Transactional queries
People make transactional queries when they’re thinking about buying something, such as a particular product or item, from a broad category. Transactional queries have the most earning potential, so keywords tend to have a lot of bids for pay-per-click points. This means that in addition to the organic search results of their transactional queries, users will also see relevant paid results.
Paid ads are popular among businesses, because they are effective; according to research by online advertising group WordStream, nearly 65% of clicks on transactional SERPs happen on paid ads.
Paid Advertising & Organic Listings
Paid and organic listings are very similar on a Google SERP. Since both can help you drive more traffic to your site, your strategy should include both.
The Advantage of Paid Ads
Google puts paid ads at the top of the search results page, usually showing four ads on a desktop computer and three on a mobile browser. There are typically more than four businesses that rely on the same search keyword, so Google also needs to determine which ads will appear on the first page of results.
To make this decision, Google takes into account several factors: the amount of the bid, the quality of the page that people are directed to when they click on your ad, the quality of the ad itself, and the relevance to search. If Google concludes that your site is better and more relevant than the competition, you’ll appear on the first page.
The Value of Organic Listings
Organic listings earn their place through search engine optimization (SEO), an evolving set of techniques that you can use to help your site rank higher on the SERPs. As with paid ads, you need to have a high-quality site to get a good organic ranking. The rules, however, are less explicit. Google is constantly tweaking its algorithm to provide the best results, so it’s important to be aware of any existing or upcoming updates.
What are the features of a SERP?
Today, the SERP is more visually diverse than in years past. In addition to generic search results that simply display the site name and metadata, searches can also feature images, purchase suggestions, tweets, or knowledge cards. Each feature typically falls into one of the following categories:
- Knowledge graph features:Â They appear in a panel or box on the SERP, often on the right-hand side.
- Rich snippets:Â Add extra images to a result, such as stars in product reviews or photos in news results.
- Paid results:Â You can buy them by bidding on relevant keywords. Paid results have a wording at the top indicating that the result is an ad.
- Universal results:Â These are special results that appear alongside organic results.
Below is a list of features you might see on a SERP. If you want the page to appear as a specific feature, think about how you might overhaul and reorganize the site to do so.
Google Ads
Google Ads, formerly known as Google AdWords, most often appear at the top or bottom of the SERP. It’s easier to put an ad at the bottom of the page, but at the top, you’ll get more views.
To get to the top of the SERP, you need a high-quality site and, sometimes, a high pay-per-click offer, depending on how competitive your keywords are. While being able to get an ad at the top takes more effort and often a higher price, it has one significant benefit: people will see your ad before any organic search results.
Featured snippets
The featured snippet appears on the SERP in a separate box from the list of search results. It catches the eye because it shows the content of the site that includes the applicable keywords of the search. If users find the information you see useful, they’ll be more likely to click on that link.
A site needs to be on the first page of search results to get a featured snippet, so getting there should be your top priority. At the same time, make sure that the content of the page is informative and that it includes all the keywords you want.
Picture Pack
When Google’s algorithm determines that visual information is particularly relevant to a search, the SERP will include a row of images and a clickthrough to a Google Images search.
Google uses a different algorithm for images than it does for written content, but following the following best practices can help search engines find and rank image content.
Be sure to use:
- Accurate and descriptive file names
- Image captions and alt text
- Relevant Surrounding Text
- An accurate and engaging page title
- A readable page URL
- Medium-sized and medium-weight rectangular photos (such as 16x9, 4x3, and square)
And if you can have the image embedded on other sites, you’ll get a better chance of appearing in the SERP’s image package.
In-depth articles
Google has launched in-depth articles to give visibility to longer pieces with evergreen content. They are not necessarily the most recent or up-to-date articles, but they present information that never goes out of style, and are often written by accredited authors or published by reputable journals.
In 2019, users began to notice that the in-depth articles box no longer appeared. According to Google, these articles have not disappeared and still receive great consideration, but they no longer have a separate section.
Knowledge Sheet
A knowledge card is a box on the SERP that shows selected facts about the topic being searched for, similar to a thumbnail Wikipedia page. Google extracts this data from a library of more than 3.5 billion data points.
This data is useful for inquiries because it provides not only the information requested, but also links that the user may not have considered initially. For example, in The Simpsons creator Matt Groening’s knowledge card, you might find links to the books he’s written and the IMDb profiles of the actors who voice the show.
Knowledge Panel
A knowledge panel is like a knowledge card, but more focused. A navigation search for a particular restaurant, for example, might return a knowledge panel that includes the restaurant’s address, phone number, website, and busiest visiting hours.
Local Package
A local package appears when someone enters a query with a location name, or when Google’s algorithm detects that a searched item is available nearby.
The local packet appears as a map with pins indicating activities that are potentially relevant to the search term. Below the map, Google lists the names, ratings, and contact information of the flagged businesses.
For example, searching for “pharmacies” might return a local package that shows the locations of pharmacies closest to you, as well as their contact information.
Local Teaser Pack
The local teaser pack is like the local pack, but it has more information about each activity. If you click on the photo next to a business name, you’ll be able to see details about what it sells.
News Panel
If a search yields results related to specific moments and/or recent news, they are shown in the news panel. Whether it’s a full-fledged news website or just a news section, you can submit your site to Google’s News Publisher Center. Google’s algorithm automatically crawls accepted pages, so the news panel is a great way to get views if you have the right kind of content.
Related Questions
For each search, there are a bunch of similar searches that use different words. Google often shows them on a SERP under the heading, “People Also Asked” or “Questions related to [search term].”
In recent years, the number of clicks on the results of “related questions” has increased. There is only one link per related question, and in order to give that place to your site, this must be on the first page of results for that related question. Once you get there, you can make some SEO changes to push Google to choose your site as the answer to “related questions.”
Reviews
Sometimes review data, shown as star ratings, will appear on a SERP after a transactional query. Obviously, results with 4 or 5 stars tend to get more clicks.
To access the Reviews feature, you must have Reviews with explicit star ratings posted on your website. Consider adding a plugin to your website that allows customers to share testimonials and provide a star rating to your business.
Purchase Results
Purchase results are shown on the SERP for many transactional queries. These results, typically shown at the top of the page or in the right-hand column, are limited to 8 per keyword, so there’s plenty of competition.
In addition to having high-quality images, remarkable item sales results, and competitive pricing, you need to bid high enough if you want your business to be featured in the purchase results.
A clarification: you can’t choose the keyword for the purchase results; Google Merchant Center does it for you.
Sitelinks
Sitelinks help users find specific pages within a site. For example, if you search for “change your Amazon password,” the sitelink feature shows a link to your Amazon account page nested below your primary Amazon URL.
Google’s web crawlers will collect sitelinks from your website, so be sure to structure your site with clear and relevant titles, such as “Products” or “Blog.” The more sitelinks you have, the easier it will be for visitors to navigate to the right page.
Tweet
Google has included tweets in some SERPs since 2015. Tweets aren’t always there (they appear more frequently when a topic is trending), but this feature can help encourage people to navigate to your Twitter feed.
Video
Google’s video results are shown if a site has embedded video content that is relevant to search. As with images, make sure that the description, surrounding text, and title of the video are accurate and descriptive.
One last thought
The more information you have about the SERP, the better you can create a strategy for your content and site design. Staying up-to-date on Google’s policies is crucial to keeping your site in a high ranking position. To learn more about Search Engine Optimization, read some information and tips about SEO in our article What is SEO.