Search Engine Results Page (SERP) presents your results generated by the search engine. In other words, it is responsible for showing the listing of results that matches closely to your searched keyword.
Did you know that there are two main components of SERP?
Two main components of SERP:
Additionally, there are other components of SERP called Rich Snippets that further enhances your searched keyword:
- News/ Social Media/ Knowledge Graph/ Carousel Snippet
- Review Snippet Feature Snippet
- An Instant Answer Snippet
- Product, Recipe, and Image Snippet
- Event Snippet
- Scientific Database Snippet
- Local Pack
- Featured Snippet
- Software Application Snippet
How does SERP work?
Let’s say that you want to find funny cats to lighten up your mood. Next thing to do is type the keyword (“funny cats”) in a search bar to get what you want.
Each SERP is unique because the results page will differ depending on the individual’s behavior:
- Browser’s history
- Geographic location
- Language
- Nearby Services
- background Information
- Interests on Social Media
Even if two people typed in the same keyword (“coffee”) to look up information, their SERPs will vary from each other.
1. Organic SERP results
Organic SERP is defined by results generated by your search engine’s algorithm.
The searches that are higher up on the search results have scored well on a search engine’s algorithmic test. As you go down the result list, the searches become less relevant to the query. Hence, the top 3 results contain the most relevant and useful information related to your searched keyword.
Due to this, many companies hire Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialists to ensure that their website will make it to the top of the list.
Good content, reliability, social media, advertising, backlinks, keywords, and more are taken into consideration when determining which results get to be on the first page of your SERP.
Here’s a video we made for you to easily understand how Organic SERP works:
Example: Organic SERP results page
This following example demonstrates an organic SERP results page. The keyword (“dogs”) was typed into the Google search engine. The top 3 results that you see are the organic SERP page results for this keyword.
2. Paid/ Sponsored SERP results
Paid/ sponsored SERP are the results that have been funded to be on display for digital marketing purposes. It is also known as Pay Per Click (PPC), as the search engine calculates the number of clicks made within a time frame and charges the advertising company accordingly.
Many companies use paid SERP results to increase their market value. Google Adwords are one of the primary examples of paid SERP results and is widely used by companies to promote their products. Just like organic SERP results, paid SERP relies on good SEO.
Example: Paid SERP results page
The following example above illustrates a paid SERP results page. The top 3 ads that you see on the keyword (“MBA programs”) are all paid advertisements invested by the following providers.
These ads focus on bringing in potential customers to a company. Paid SERPS carry captivating content to grab user’s attention.
Other components of SERP: Rich Snippets
Currently, there are additional features on Google such as Rich Snippets (showing search results that include: product, recipe, review, event, software application, video, news article, science datasets, instant answer, knowledge graphs, carousel, local pack, images, tweet, featured video, featured snippet) available improve their user experience. These snippets are created so that people can have the answers even faster.
Knowing how to categorize various types of content using Structured Data Testing Pool (SDTP) allows search engines like Google to recognize your website better.
News / Social Media / Knowledge Graph / Carousel Snippet Example
The image above highlights a few number of news articles, knowledge graph, and social media posts related to Justin Trudeau. Carousel allows the user to expand on the list of news articles, videos, social media, or more from the keyword search.
Review Snippet Example
Google’s SERP provides reviews for various companies, restaurants, retail stores, products, and more for users to view. The example above displays a review snippet feature of The Coding Bull.
Users can view our amazing 5 star ratings (from a total of 41 votes), and a brief introduction describing what we do.
Instant Answer Snippet Example
Instant Answer (a.k.a answer box) provides a direct answer to a question gathered from the organic results.
Product / Recipe / Image Snippet Example
This example displays a product, recipe, and image to provide information about the searched keyword (“chicken pot pies”). Users can view the ratings of this recipe, baking time, amount of calories, image, and product before clicking on the link.
Event Snippet Example
Google’s SERP can show a list of upcoming performance dates for a particular event when an user looks up for a concert, festival, parties, and any other events.
Scientific Database Snippet Example
Providing search engines with a structure markup improves data discovery. It allows users to find scientific database information easily.
Local Pack Snippet Example
A local pack shows the top 3 results for businesses by displaying their reviews, location, and operation hours based from the searched keyword.
Featured Snippet Example
A featured snippet shows a summary of the keyword result, page title, URL, and link to the page.
In this example, our client — Image Optometry — has their blog featured on Google SERP!
Featured Video Snippet Example
A featured video shows the best video that answers the searched keyword.
Software Application Snippet Example
Software application displays a company’s app in better details. Ratings, votes, and web page are available for users to view.
Conclusion
We invested time to write this blog so business owners like yourself can know a bit more about SERP. SERP is a fundamental term in the SEO (search engine optimization) world.
Stay tune for part 2 to see how having rich snippets on SERP can boost your business’s revenue.
Meanwhile, take a look at our “Basic Technical Elements You Need To Know To Enhance SEO Performance,” to understand you can have Google Rich Snippets for your websites.
