What are SERPs?
The abbreviation SERP comes from English and stands for Search Engine Result Page. In German: Search Results Page (primarily for search engines like Google and Bing). The term comes from Search Engine Optimization. Since the SERP is the first contact point of your site with the user, it is the focal point in SEO. The data from the page title and page description are compiled into search results (these are referred to in SEO terminology as snippets) and displayed on the SERPs that match the respective search query.
Search results are dynamic
The SERPs can also vary from user to user. Factors such as location, browser history, and device significantly influence which search results appear in the SERPs. Not every SERP for a search query is the same as another for the identical query. This is because search engines track the activities of users. So, someone who
Ranking position
The ranking position is determined by the algorithms of the search engines. The exact workings of these are not disclosed by the search engines. Thus, one wants to Manipulationen According to official statements, there are supposed to be around 200 different factors rund 200 verschiedene Faktoren quality of the content , high-quality, qualitativ hochwertige Backlinks as well as the skillful and user-oriented use of keywords/search queries. The weight assigned to the individual factors has not been explained by Google to this day. And to be precise, that’s a good thing – even if it may seem annoying for individual website operators. By not allowing Google to “show its cards,” the search results remain uncompromising and unmanipulable.
Nevertheless, it is meaningful and sustainable to engage in search engine optimization, because a ranking alone is not the path to success. The background for this is the click probability or the click shares on the search results pages. It can be considered proven that the the top positions (ranking 1 to 3) account for nearly 50% of all clicks.And it should also be clear that only about 10 – at most 20 percent of users go to pages 2 and beyond on Google, Bing & Co. Therefore, anyone who practices search engine optimization should always keep in mind that optimization must be done for the top positions in order to achieve success: The traffic!
The Snippets: Search Results
It would be too much to really list all the different forms of search results. And the endeavor can only fail, because it feels like every day new forms are added. Therefore, only a few of the common ones are mentioned here as representatives.
The paid search result
The two most well-known forms of snippets from paid search (SEA) are the text ad and the shopping ad:
- The text display works like the text snippet in SEO, except that the data here does not come from the respective page and its position is achieved through click price bids .
- In Search Engine Advertising, the text – within the framework of Google or Bing guidelines – can be written by oneself and thus determines for which search queries the ad should be displayed.
- Using cost-per-click bids, marketers then control the position to be displayed.
The shopping search result is assembled by the search engine based on the data provided by SEA. In this case, SEA supplies a data feed (a table) with the most important product data (e.g., price, name, image, etc.) to the search engine and also offers a click price here. Accordingly, the shopping search result is displayed.
The organic text ad
The text ad is fed with data from the ranking URL. Ideally, this has a page title and a page description and from this, the search engine builds the ad. Many more data points can be drawn from the search engine. Here, only date, author, ingredients, price, etc. are mentioned as options. Using the so-called Structured Data, which the website provides, the search result can be further enhanced. If the search engine finds no data or the search algorithm considers the provided data to be of little relevance, it may well be that the machine adds data from other parts of the website. This does not necessarily have to make sense, which is why it is important to always monitor this and adjust if necessary.
The featured snippet (position zero)
Primarily, Google has aimed to become a kind of answer machine. This means that some search queries are no longer answered with search results as above. For queries of this type, Google provides a textbox with an “answer”. The content has been algorithmically sourced from a specific (well-performing) page and presents the excerpt as a direct answer. Most of the time, you can find these “featured snippets” above the search results. For users, this is great, especially when it comes to simple questions (“How tall is the Cologne Cathedral?”). For the person, there is no further need to go to a page and painstakingly find the answer there.
For SEO, this means “less” traffic, as the click-through rate on this search result is lower than on position one. Football table, answer, questions from other users, hotel information… In fact, no one can influence the display of these formats. You can ensure that you adhere to the most important formalities and continuously optimize, but there is no guarantee here (as in all of SEO).
The Knowledge Graph – About Companies and Co.
Whether you search for a company’s brand or a well-known location, you will often encounter the so-called Knowledge Graph along the way. Here is the example of the “Eiffel Tower” – In most cases, these formats are only displayed when it is a very generic query or a clear brand or location query – Examples: “Cologne Cathedral”, “Bonn City Hall” or “Rhine Wonder”. For queries related to online shops that are linked to products, the feature is usually not displayed – Example: “Online shop name red shoes”.
For both the Featured Snippet and the Knowledge Graph, it is not mandatory that the summarized data comes from a single source. These can be compiled from Google My Business, Wikipedia, and many other sources.
Image & Video Search Results
Even though there are separate sections for image and video searches, image and/or video search results are often displayed on the regular search results page. It is determined by the search engine algorithm whether it is a meaningful addition to the search query or not. In the example “Bonn City Hall,” the images are used.
More search result forms on the SERPs
There are – as mentioned – countless forms, and more are added daily. Therefore, here are a few more well-known ones as examples:
- News/Headlines
- Similar Questions
- Twitter search results
- Local Results
- Film titles/TV series
Optimize SERPs with Rheinwunder
Do you want to improve your SERPs and need support? Then contact us! Would you like to learn more or have your team trained on this topic? Then check out our Analytics seminars .
