Serps Software
SERP 101: All About Search Engine Results Pages
There are millions of pages on the web, but none are more important to digital marketers than search engine results pages, or SERPs.
Search engine optimization specialists and PPC advertisers alike vie for the same precious real estate in the most prominent parts of the SERPs, but competition is fierce and technological developments in search mean it’s more important than ever for digital marketers to know how search works and what they can do to maximize their visibility.
Page one of the SERP is where you want to be!
Search Engine Results Pages: What They Are and How They Work
Search engine results pages are web pages served to users when they search for something online using a search engine, such as Google. The user enters their search query (often using specific terms and phrases known as keywords), upon which the search engine presents them with a SERP.
Every SERP is unique, even for search queries performed on the same search engine using the same keywords or search queries. This is because virtually all search engines customize the experience for their users by presenting results based on a wide range of factors beyond their search terms, such as the user’s physical location, browsing history, and social settings. Two SERPs may appear identical, and contain many of the same results, but will often feature subtle differences.
The appearance of search engine results pages is constantly in flux due to experiments conducted by Google, Bing, and other search engine providers to offer their users a more intuitive, responsive experience. This, combined with emerging and rapidly developing technologies in the search space, mean that the SERPs of today differ greatly in appearance from their older predecessors.
Organic Results
SERPs typically contain two types of content – “organic” results and paid results. Organic results are listings of web pages that appear as a result of the search engine’s algorithm (more on this shortly). Search engine optimization professionals, commonly known as SEOs, specialize in optimizing web content and websites to rank more highly in organic search results.
In the following figure, the highlighted results are all organic results:
Organic results on the SERP
The box on the right side of this SERP is known as the Knowledge Graph (also sometimes called the Knowledge Box). This is a feature that Google introduced in 2012 that pulls data to commonly asked questions from sources across the web to provide concise answers to questions in one central location on the SERP. In this case, you can see a wide range of information about Abraham Lincoln, such as the date and place of his birth, his height, the date on which he was assassinated, his political affiliation, and the names of his children – many of which facts have their own links to the relevant pages.
Some SERPs will feature significantly more organic results than others, such as the example above. This is due to the differing intent of various searches. There are three primary types of Internet search:
Informational
Navigational
Transactional
Informational searches are those in which the user hopes to find information on a given topic, such as Abraham Lincoln. It wouldn’t make much sense to place ads or other types of paid results on a SERP like this, as the search query “Abraham Lincoln” has very low commercial intent; the vast majority of searchers using this search query are not looking to buy something, and as such only informational results are displayed on the SERP.
Navigational queries are those in which the user hopes to locate a specific website through their search. This may be the case for individuals searching for a specific website, trying to locate a website whose URL they can no longer remember, or another type of navigational objective.
Finally, transactional searches are those in which paid results are most likely to be displayed on the SERP. Transactional searches have high commercial intent, and search queries leading to transactional SERPs may include keywords such as “buy” and other terms that suggest a strong desire to make a purchase.
Find the best keywords to target for your business with our Free Keyword Tool.
Paid Results
In contrast to organic results, paid results are those that have been paid to be displayed by an advertiser. In the past, paid results were almost exclusively limited to small, text-based ads that were typically displayed above and to the right of the organic results. Today, however, paid results can take a wide range of forms, and there are dozens of advertising formats that cater to the needs of advertisers.
Some paid results on the Google SERP
In the example above (a SERP for the search query “lawnmowers”), all of the results on the SERP – with the exception of the map and business listing beneath it – are paid results. The three large text-based ads at the top of the SERP (considered prime positioning for advertisers) are typical PPC ads. Of those three ads, the lower two (for and) both feature ad extensions allowing prospective customers to navigate to specific pages on their websites directly from the ads.
The image-based ads on the right of the page are Shopping ads, a feature offered on the Google AdWords platform that allows ecommerce retailers’ product information to be displayed alongside other results on the SERP. Shopping ads can contain a wide range of information, such as product availability, user reviews, special offers, and more.
There are two additional PPC ads directly beneath the Shopping ads (as indicated by the yellow “Ads” flag above them) that also feature the user review ad extensions, indicated by the star ratings directly beneath the destination URL.
The map and business listing are the only results on this SERP that are not explicitly paid results. This map is shown based on a user’s location, and feature listings for local businesses that have set up their free Google My Business listing. Google My Business is a free directory of companies that can help smaller local businesses increase their visibility to searchers based on geolocation, a particularly important feature on mobile.
Ranking Signals and Search Algorithms
Organic results are listings that have been indexed by the search engine based on a number of factors, also known as “ranking signals. ”
For example, the search algorithm used by Google features hundreds of ranking factors, and while nobody outside of Google knows precisely what they are, some are thought to be more important than others. In the past, the link profile of a site – the number of external links that link to a specific website or web page from other websites – was an important ranking signal. It still is to some extent (which is why Wikipedia ranks so prominently in organic results for so many queries), though search advances at such a rapid pace that ranking signals that were once crucial to the search algorithm may be less important today, a source of constant frustration to SEOs.
Search Engine Optimization
As its name implies, search engine optimization is the practice of optimizing websites and web pages for discovery in search engines and, as a result, more visible placement on search engine results pages. This is accomplished through a variety of means, from what is known as “on-page” SEO to “off-page” techniques.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO refers to best practices that web content creators and site owners can follow to ensure their content is as easily discoverable as possible. This includes the creation of detailed page metadata (data about data) for each page and elements such as images, the use of unique, static URLs, the inclusion of keywords in relevant headings and subheadings, and the use of clean HTML code, to name a few.
Off-Page SEO
Unlike on-page SEO techniques, off-page SEO refers to strategies that affect the site as a whole. Common off-page SEO techniques include link building and exchange, social bookmarking, content marketing, submissions to directories and search engine indexes, and the creation of online communities on social media.
Although the full scope of SEO is far too broad to cover comprehensively here, all you need to know is that SEO focuses primarily on achieving higher rankings from an organic perspective. Businesses may hire an agency or SEO professional to perform their SEO work, but beyond this investment, no money changes hands and all the emphasis is placed on ranking more highly in organic search.
PPC and Search Engine Results Pages
Unlike SEO, pay-per-click marketing focuses solely on the investment of advertising budget to achieve prominent positioning on search engine results pages. However, it’s not as simple as merely throwing more money at a campaign – advertisers must think strategically to achieve their goals.
Paid search functions as an auction. Advertisers bid on keywords that are relevant to their business that can trigger the display of their ads when users search for those terms. A wide range of factors determine where an ad will be shown on the SERP. Some ads might be displayed above the organic search results (such as the Lowe’s, Craftsman, and Husqvarna examples in the “lawnmowers” SERP example above), whereas others may be shown to the right of the organic results. Some advertisers choose to limit the display of their ads to mobile searches only, whereas others exclude mobile results altogether. Some ads feature extensions, and some do not.
Like SEO, paid search is a complex topic, but for now, just remember that paid search focuses on optimizing ads to be shown in as prominent a position on the SERP as possible.
Own the SERP with WordStream
Whether you’re hoping to optimize a PPC campaign for prime positioning or want to identify new opportunities for SEO through comprehensive keyword research, WordStream can help.
WordStream Advisor, our intuitive, centralized digital marketing management platform, makes online advertising easy. With full integration with Facebook Advertising, a suite of specialized keyword research and diagnostic tools, and intuitive, customized reporting, WordStream Advisor gives you everything you need to own the SERP and grow your business through digital marketing.
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Search Engine Results Page (SERP) – Mailchimp
More than 90% of consumer 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 help boost your ranking, but first, you have 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, is the page you see after entering a query into Google, Yahoo, or any other search engine. Each search engine’s SERP design is different, but since Google is the most popular—holding over 80% of the market share—we’ll focus on their features and algorithms.
What are the different types of search queries?
The SERP features that display after a search depend on the type of search query entered. Search queries typically fall into 1 of 3 categories: navigational, informational, or transactional.
Navigational queries
Navigational queries occur when someone is looking for a particular website but doesn’t type the site’s full URL. Unless the searcher is specifically looking for you, it can be difficult to reach the first page of these results. To take advantage of navigational queries for your site, consider buying ads for the keywords you want to rank for—like the name of your business, for instance.
Informational queries
A person makes an informational query when they want to learn something, like background facts on a topic or how to perform a certain task. The searcher isn’t usually looking to make a purchase, but the right content often drives them to a particular brand. That’s why it’s important to create relevant content that caters to the wants, needs, and interests of your target audience.
Adding multimedia content to your site can be a particularly effective way to generate traffic from informational queries. Here are some common examples to consider.
A how-to video that includes mentions of your product or service
An instructional blog post with helpful tips for your audience
A shareable infographic
A downloadable guide or whitepaper
Transactional queries
People make transactional queries when they’re thinking of buying something, like a particular product or an item from a broad category. Transactional queries have the most revenue potential, so keywords tend to have a lot of bids for pay-per-click spots. That means that in addition to the organic search results for their transactional queries, people will see relevant paid results, too.
Paid ads are popular among businesses because they’re effective; according to research by online advertising group WordStream, almost 65% of clicks on transactional SERPs happen on paid ads.
Paid ads versus organic listings
Paid and organic listings look very similar on a Google SERP. And since they can each help you boost traffic to your site, you should consider creating a strategy that includes both.
The advantage of paid ads
Google places paid ads at the top of the search results page, usually displaying 4 ads on a desktop computer and 3 on a mobile browser. There are typically more than 4 businesses vying for the same search keyword, however, so Google must also determine which ads land on the first page of results.
To make that decision, Google considers several factors: the bid amount, the quality of the page folks are taken to when they click your ad, the quality of the ad itself, and the relevance to the 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 ever-shifting set of techniques that you can use to help your site rank higher on 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 stay aware of any new or upcoming updates.
What are the features of a SERP?
Today’s SERP is more visually varied than it was in years past. In addition to generic search results that simply display the site name and metadata, searches can also return images, shopping suggestions, Tweets, or information cards. Each feature generally fits into one of the following categories:
Knowledge graph features: These appear in a panel or box on the SERP, often on the right-hand side.
Rich snippets: These add extra visuals to a result, like stars in product reviews or photos in news results.
Paid results: You can buy these by bidding on relevant keywords. Paid results will include a label at the top to specify that the result is an ad.
Universal results: These are special results that appear alongside organic ones.
Below is a list of the features you might see on a SERP. If you want your page to display as a specific feature, think about how you can revise and reorganize your site to achieve it.
Google Ads
Google Ads, formerly known as Google AdWords, most often appear at the top or bottom of the SERP. It’s easier to get an ad on the bottom of the page, but you’ll get more views at the top.
Reaching the top of the SERP requires a high-quality site and, sometimes, a high pay-per-click bid, depending on how competitive the keywords are. While striving for a top ad requires more effort and often a higher price, there’s a significant benefit, too: folks will see your ad before any organic search results.
Featured snippet
The featured snippet appears on the SERP in a box separate from the list of search results. It draws the eye because it displays content from the site that includes the applicable search keywords. If folks find the displayed information useful, they’ll be more likely to click on that link.
A site must already be on the first page of search results to get a featured snippet, so reaching that milestone should be your top priority. In the meantime, make sure the content of your page is informative and includes all of the desired keywords.
Image pack
When Google’s algorithm determines that visual information would be 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 for written content, but adhering to the following best practices can help search engines to find—and rank—your 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
Rectangular photos of moderate size and dimensions (think 16×9, 4×3, and squares)
And if you can get your image embedded on other sites, you’ll have an even better chance of appearing in the SERP image pack.
In-depth articles
Google launched in-depth articles to give visibility to longer-form pieces containing evergreen content. They aren’t necessarily the newest or most up-to-date articles, but they feature information that doesn’t age, and they’re often written by credentialed authors or published by reputable publications.
In 2019, people started to notice that the in-depth articles box didn’t appear anymore. According to Google, these articles haven’t gone away and still receive priority consideration, but they no longer have a separate section.
Knowledge card
A knowledge card is a box on the SERP that displays select facts about the searched topic, similar to a miniature Wikipedia page. Google pulls these facts from a library of more than 3. 5 billion data points.
They’re useful for informational queries because they provide not just the requested information, but also connections that the searcher may not have considered initially. For example, in the knowledge card for The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, you might see links to the books he’s written and to the IMDb profiles of the show’s voice actors.
Knowledge panel
A knowledge panel is like a knowledge card but more targeted. A navigational search for a specific restaurant, for example, might return a knowledge panel that includes the restaurant’s address, phone number, website, and popular visiting hours.
Local pack
A local pack appears when someone enters a query with a location name or when Google’s algorithm finds that a searched item is available nearby.
The local pack appears as a map with pins indicating businesses that are potentially relevant to the search term. Below the map, Google lists names, ratings, and contact information for the marked businesses.
For example, searching “pharmacies” might return a local pack showing the locations of the closest pharmacies to you along with their contact information.
Local teaser pack
The local teaser pack is like the local pack but has more information about each business. If you click on the photo next to a business’s name, you can view details about what it sells.
News box
News boxes pop up if a search yields time-specific results and/or recent news stories. Whether you run a full-blown news website or just have a section for news, you can submit your site to Google’s News Publisher Center. Google’s news algorithm automatically crawls accepted pages, so the news box is a great way to get views if you have the right kind of content.
For every search, there are a bunch of similar searches that use different words. Google often displays these on a SERP under the heading, “People also ask” or “Questions related to [search term]. ”
In recent years, the number of clicks on “related questions” results has been on the rise. There’s only one link per related question, and for your site to get that spot, it has to be on the first page of results for that related question. Once you’re there, you can make some SEO changes to help Google pick your site for a “related questions” answer.
Reviews
Sometimes review data—displayed as star rankings—will appear on a SERP following a transactional query. Predictably, results with 4 or 5 stars tend to get more clicks.
To get into the reviews feature, you must have reviews with star ratings explicitly 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.
Shopping results
Shopping results appear in SERPs for many transactional queries. These results—typically presented 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, impressive sales results for the item, and competitive pricing, you must bid highly enough if you want your business represented in the shopping results.
The one caveat? You can’t choose your keyword for shopping results; Google Merchant Center does that for you.
Sitelinks
Sitelinks help users find specific pages within a site. For example, if you search for “change my Amazon password, ” the sitelinks feature would display a link to Amazon’s account page nested under the main Amazon URL.
Google’s web crawlers will pick out sitelinks from your website, so make sure you structure your site with clear and relevant headings, like “Products” or “Blog. ” The more sitelinks you get, the easier it will be for visitors to navigate to where they want to go.
Tweets
Google has included tweets in certain SERPs since 2015. Tweets aren’t always present (they’re most likely to appear when a topic is trending), but this feature can help encourage folks to navigate to your Twitter feed.
Video
Google video results appear if a site has embedded video content that’s relevant to the search. As with images, make sure the description, surrounding text, and title of your video are accurate and descriptive.
A final word
The more you know about SERPs, the better you can strategize your content and site design. Staying up-to-date with Google’s policies is key to keeping your site in shape to be highly ranked. To learn more about optimizing for search, read some information and tips about SEO in our What’s SEO article.
What Are SERPs and Why Are They Important for SEO …
Search Engine Results Pages (also known as “SERPs” or “SERP”) are Google’s response to a user’s search query. SERPs tend to include organic search results, paid Google Ads results, Featured Snippets, Knowledge Graphs and video results.
In other words:
You type (or say) something to Google. And the SERP is what you get back.
Even though Google now has dozens of SERP features that appear on the first page, the two most important categories are paid results and organic results.
The paid results are from advertisers bidding on keywords via Google Ads. Although Google Ads take ad relevancy into account, their placement essentially goes to the highest bidder.
The organic results are “earned” placements that are determined by Google’s algorithm to be the overall best, most relevant results for a given search.
Why Are SERPs Important for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
The SERPs determines how your site appears on Google’s first page.
For example, let’s say you rank your site on the first page of Google for the keyword “how to start a website”.
That’s great… until you see that SERP features push the #1 result to well below the fold.
Which means that, even if you crack page 1, you probably aren’t going to get many clicks.
On the other hand, the SERP for “link building” is much less busy.
It’s basically 10 blue links. Which means that your organic result has a good chance of getting clicked on.
There’s also another important factor to keep in mind when it comes to evaluating the SERPs: “no-click searches”.
According to Sparktoro, there are more “no-click searches” than ever before.
And these no-click searches are largely due to SERP features (especially Featured Snippets).
For example, let’s say you search for “when did Google start”.
Why would you click on any of the 10 blue links in the search results when you get your answer right there on the first page?
That’s why you want to target keywords that don’t have a ton of SERP features. That way, your result will stand out and get clicked on
With that, here are the elements of a typical Google SERP:
Organic Search Results
The organic results are determined by Google’s complex algorithm (which has 200+ ranking signals).
Even though Google’s algorithm is top secret, they have publicly confirmed a few key ranking factors, including:
Off-page SEO signals (the number of websites linking to a specific page. Also known as “backlinks”)
On-page SEO signals (the keywords you use on your page)
Site loading speed
Brand presence and trust signals
A standard organic search result snippet includes:
Page title (title tag)
Page URL
Meta description
Google sometimes adds features to specific organic snippets.
For example, if they consider a page’s published date important they’ll show that:
Or, for certain results, they’ll show “sitelinks” below the result.
Sitelinks link to sections of a page. Or to related pages on the same website.
And, when Schema is used on a page, Google will sometimes add review stars, images, and event info that turn a normal result into a “Rich Snippet”.
Paid Search Results
Paid search results are marked with a small “Ad” icon in the top left corner of their snippet.
According to Rank Ranger, ads appear on 51. 61% of page one SERPs.
And when ads do appear, there’s an average of 3. 10 ads per page.
And for really competitive, high-value search terms, Google will put ads at the bottom of the SERPs too.
Because ads appear at the top and bottom of the page, they can crowd out the organic results.
That said: I don’t recommend avoiding keywords that have lots of ads. Even though the ads will likely reduce your CTR, the fact that people are bidding on these terms show that the traffic is valuable.
In fact, I usually specifically target terms with lots of ads and a high “commercial intent”. Sure, I may not get as many clicks. But the clicks that I do get are that much more valuable.
Featured Snippets
Featured Snippets are a short section of content pulled from a webpage or video.
Here’s an example:
According to an industry study by Ahrefs, 12% of all SERPs have a Featured Snippet.
Common types of Featured Snippets include:
FAQ: A short paragraph in response to “What is” and “Who is” types of searches
Bulleted List: For rankings and “best of” lists
Numbered List: Used for instructions, DIY, recipes, ordered tasks
Tables: a visual display of dates, prices, rates… or any data presented in a table
Although most Featured Snippets contain text…
… has started to add “Video Featured Snippets” to the results.
Featured Snippets are both a threat and an opportunity.
Featured Snippets are a threat because they almost always show up at the very top of the SERPs. Which pushes the organic results down the page.
In fact, Featured Snippets appear so high on Google’s first page that many people refer to the Featured Snippet spot as “Position #0”.
Featured Snippets are an opportunity because YOUR content can show up inside of a Featured Snippet.
And when it does, you can find yourself with a super high organic CTR.
For example, my site currently ranks in the Featured Snippet box for “link building tools”.
And, according to the Google Search Console, it’s one of the main reasons that my CTR is 8. 3%.
Direct Answer Box
18% of search results have “Direct Answers”, which are a direct answer to a specific question.
The answers that Google spits out are considered public domain. So, unlike a Featured Snippet, they don’t credit a source or link to the answer.
Knowledge Graph and Knowledge Panel
Knowledge Graphs and panels usually show up on the right side of the organic results.
They’re basically “baseball card” stats for a company or important person.
Most of this data is scraped from hand-picked sources (like Wikipedia and Crunchbase).
Local Packs
Local Packs show up for local searches, like “comic book store Boston” and “comic book store near me”.
They can also appear when Google feels that a “normal” search needs a few local results. For example, if you search for “plumber”, Google knows that you’re probably looking for a plumber nearby.
Google Image Results
Google will feature results from Google Images for keywords where images make sense, like “cute cats” or “blue cars”.
Video Results
These usually show up as a pack of 3 videos… with a carousel to see more.
88% of video results are pulled from YouTube.
It’s not known exactly how Google decides which results should have a video. But it’s likely based partly on the keyword itself and their own split testing.
For example, someone searching for “how to paint a garage” probably wants to see a video. Which is why Google shows a video carousel for that term.
People Also Ask
This is a new-ish feature that Google usually inserts in the middle of the SERP.
And when you click on one, it expands out with an answer to that question.
According to Moz, 58% of Google’s results contain a People Also Ask SERP feature.
Pro Tip: The People Also Ask section is GREAT for content topic ideas.
For example, when you search for “keyword research”, you get a list of these questions related to that term.
All of these are GREAT questions to answer in the form of blog posts, videos and podcasts.
Twitter Results
Here’s where Google pulls the latest tweets from a specific Twitter account.
For example, when you search for SEMrush, it shows their Twitter account… with links to their last 3 tweets.
Top Stories
These are links to news articles about a specific topic.
Contrary to popular belief, Top Stories don’t only show up when you search for trending keywords.
For example, take a keyword like “weight loss”. The search volume for this term is pretty stable. Yet, when you search for “Weight Loss”, there is always a Top Stories section in the SERPs.
Note: Unlike most of the other SERP features on this list, your site has to be Google News approved to get in the Top Stories section.
Google Shopping Results
Google Shopping Results (also known as “Product Listing Ads”) are results that appear for keywords around a specific product.
Even though most Google Shopping Results are ads, they feature select organic results too.
Because most Google Shopping Results appear at the very top of the page… even above traditional ads.
Learn More
SERP Features Glossary: A giant list of (updated) SERP features that Google currently uses.
How to Appear in Google’s Answer Boxes: A practical and clear video from Moz on getting your site inside of the coveted “#0” Featured Snippet spot.
Frequently Asked Questions about serps software
What does SERPs stand for?
The page that a search engine returns after a user submits a search query. In addition to organic search results, search engine results pages (SERPs) usually include paid search and pay-per-click (PPC) ads.
What do SERPs include?
SERPs tend to include organic search results, paid Google Ads results, Featured Snippets, Knowledge Graphs and video results. In other words: You type (or say) something to Google. And the SERP is what you get back.
What is SERP and how does it work?
A SERP is a non-qualified retirement plan offered to executives as a long term incentive. Unlike in a 401(k) or other qualified plan, SERPs offer no immediate tax advantages to the company or the executive. When the benefits are paid, the company deducts them as a business expense.
