The Internet contains a whole sea of web pages with information so varied that we can find in them whatever we are looking for, however, at present, none of them is usually as important as the ‘results pages’ of the engines search , better known as SERP. Digital Marketing is essential for the progress of a business and nobody wants to be left behind.
Considering the above, technological developments in search mean that today it is more important than ever for specialists in the digital market to know how search works and what is precisely what they are looking for in order to enhance and maximize their visibility, after everything if they don’t see you they don’t buy anything. That is why this time we want to share everything we need to know about SERPs on Google.
Index( )
- What does it mean to have a position within the SERP?
- What is SERP used for in Marketing?
- What are featured snippets and how do they work?
- What are all the types of SERPs out there?
- Organic
- Payment
- What results can you see on the SERP?
- Video Results
- Picture pack
- Local search
- Jobs
- Featured places
- Movie or podcast result
What does it mean to have a position within the SERP?
Since the SERPs of a Google search determine how our site appears, (if we have one) on the first page of Google, for example, suppose we rank our site on the first page of Google under a good keyword that can be ‘ how to start a blogger ‘ , very well we are already part of a SERP and that is excellent until we begin to see that the SERP features are pushing the # 1 result well below the search bar, being in a place where it is barely seen in the first screen and we are still on page one, not being close to the fold, this translates into a few clicks.
It is there where the importance of having a but very good position within the SERP stands out, this position will imply that we are the best option, that we are the best and that is why we are first, in a few words we will receive more clicks, more visits and probably also more clients just because it is the first option or at least the one closest to the search engine bar.
What is SERP used for in Marketing?
The SERP is widely used in Marketing to provide our presence on the web, it is a way of telling the world that we are there and that we offer a product and the way it works is through a tactic of creating and distributing relevant content or related to the good that we offer, educating, entertaining and informing future clients about our services. The SERP seeks to increase our visibility on the internet , increase interaction with our brand, reduce the costs of acquiring a client, increase public trust and improve the after-sales experience.
What are featured snippets and how do they work?
The pieces featured are short text found at the top of search results on Google giving immediate response to the search query. The content that appears within these is automatically extracted from the web page in the Google index, these results can also be found within the ‘people also ask’ section or next to the knowledge graph information.
These formats are exposed when Google’s systems establish that this format will help to discover more easily, the subject of interest from the moment they can see the description of the page until when they click on the link to read its content is say that the main objective is to provide help service to users so that we can quickly finish our query by finding what we are looking for.
What are all the types of SERPs out there?
Given that the first Google results are generally the most relevant and are those results in which consumers place their complete trust since it has been proven that approximately 75% never go beyond the first page of results, the position It has become so important and necessary that it has been constantly growing within the digital sector. This growth has brought as a consequence a considerable increase in attention to disciplines such as ‘Search Engine Optimization’ or SEO that deals with the organic or free results shown in the search engine and ‘Search Engine Marketing’ or SEM that refers to paid results and offered on the SERP in the form of advertisements. We will describe both types of SERP below.
Organic
It consists of the web page listings that appear as a result of the search engine algorithm. Search engine optimization professionals known as SEO, specialize in optimizing web content in order to obtain a higher ranking in the results in organic SERPs, It should be noted that there will be times when certain SERPs will exhibit more organic results than others as an effect of crossing several searches.
These intersecting searches can be informative , such as those in which the user expects to find information on a certain topic such as that of a historical figure in which there would be no point in placing any paid SERPs as ads since the search ‘historical character’ has a low commercial intention, there are also those of browsing queries , which are searches in which the user expects to locate a particular website through a search, either because they have forgotten the URL or because of another type of navigation objective.
Finally, the third and last search that is part of the interaction whose results are sometimes more organic than others are transactional searches in which it is more likely that a paid SERP will be displayed due to its high commercial intention since they are used in these keywords such as ‘buy’ that show a strong desire to make a purchase.
Payment
Unlike the previous ones, as its name implies, they are those results paid for an advertiser to show; Long ago, these results were limited to small, mostly text-based ads that were displayed above and to the right of organic results, in most cases. However, today paid results can take a wide range of forms with dozens of ad formats to suit the needs of advertisers . If, for example, we search with the keyword ‘garden article’ we will notice that all SERP results with some exceptions are paid results.
We may also get to see a couple of big text-based ads at the top of the SERP, these are results often considered top ranking for advertisers among other easily visible ads when it comes to paid results.
What results can you see on the SERP?
When we make a query on Google, whether we want to buy something or to know about some specific topics, usually the search engine gives us ten pages as a result of the search, among which we can locate what we are looking for and depending on the keyword introduced we will find results with very varied contents, among which are those that we describe below.
Video Results
They are presented in the form of a business card and that can be moved from right to left like a carousel, it contains information regarding the author of the video, name of the web page that contains it, a previous image of this and the date it was published . These results have a higher level of visibility and we must say that the YouTube platform is the one that takes the lead in this type of search results on Google.
Picture pack
In general, these types of results are not shown in all searches, the subject of interest must be very popular or even relevant to the search result and the way in which they are presented is usually varied, sometimes it is presented as a Rectangle formed by 12 images at the beginning of the SERP while in others, it looks just like the video results, only without the information it provides and almost in the middle of the SERP.
Local search
Local search results usually have a map at the top, these results also contain relevant information for the user on three specific locations as long as said businesses are geographically notable for the search or query made. It can include pictures of the business, contact numbers and even the address and they are usually presented well above the first 10 organic results and only if the search contains geographic intentions such as ‘Pastry shops in the city’.
If the case is that the consultation is carried out by an electronic device, it is possible that the call icon will also be displayed as part of the information that will allow us to communicate in situ with the business of interest. By clicking on any of the local search results, the browser automatically directs us to the Google My Business card of the business in question where we will obtain all the information we need.
Jobs
When we are looking for jobs, the safest thing is that the keyword that comes to mind to consult in the search engine is ‘Jobs’, these SERP results are intended to facilitate the task by showing us information about the different jobs available, company name, logo, business name or place, date of the last job offer update, hours and salaries and if we enter by clicking on any of the opportunities offered, we will be able to see the requirements, as well as a web page in the that we can clarify any doubts. An excellent advantage to have these results.
Featured places
Obtaining results similar to Google Hotels , they are search results that show places of interest for users but not vertically but horizontally and that can be scrolled from right to left and vice versa, they are the results that are usually shown when the query contains a clear purpose of travel, placing the destination you can see places or sites of interest present there and as in the local search results, the information is obtained from Google My Business.
Movie or podcast result
These results appear on the screen when the keyword entered in the search engine matches the name of a movie available on Google Play or YouTube or it may also happen that it is available in both. By clicking on the link shown on the screen, we enter the platform where we are shown a brief summary of the film to arouse interest and decide whether to buy or rent it. If it is Podcast results, these are also displayed in a carousel heading the SERP and supplying us with data such as publication date, chapter title, duration and season.
