If you own and operate a business website, you would probably like to appear in the SERPs. For those who understand SEO and SEM, appearing in the SERPs is vital to any business’ online success.
What are SERPs?
SERPs stands for Search Engine Results Pages. SERPs can be defined as those web pages which are displayed by search engines as a result of a person’s search query. Thus, SERPs are really just a list of relevant search results, that are organized in order of relevance and importance. SERPs can continually change as search engines update their algorithms and index new content.
What Comprises SERPs?
There are numerous components of SERPs. We will outline five of those below.
Organic Results
Organic search results can be described as the main listings in the SERPs, which are not paid ads. Organic search results are dictated by the search engine’s algorithm. And the algorithm must make assessments based on relevance, importance, content quality, user engagement and backlinks.
Paid Ads
When it is unlikely that a business’ website will appear as an organic result, paid ads can be a viable alternative. Paid ads (PPC or pay-per-click) are those results for which website owners agree to pay a search engine, to gain better visibility within the SERPs.
How Do Paid Ads Work?
In a nutshell, when users enter a search query, this triggers the search engine to display the paid ads based on the advertisers’ targeted keywords, in the relevant SERPs. When a user clicks on a paid ad, the advertiser (website/business owner) is then charged by the search engine for that click.
How Can I Tell if the SERPs Contains Paid Ads?
Paid ads are denoted in Google’s SERPs as “Sponsored”. These ads typically appear either at the beginning or end of the SERPs.
Besides PPC ads, Google offers another type of paid ad called Google Guaranteed. You may see these ads appear at the top of the SERPs for industries such as HVAC Repair, Plumbing, etc. These ads can easily be identified by the “Sponsored” moniker above them, as well as the green check mark “badge” with the words “Google Guaranteed” to the right. Google guaranteed ads also display the average review star rating as well as a brief description and the phone number.
Featured Snippets
Featured snippets are immediate answers to search queries, forgoing the need to click on a link to visit a website. A featured snippet will appear at the top of SERPs and enables people to find answers to their questions quickly.
Rich Snippets
Rich snippets are search results which appear in the SERPs that feature supplementary information or data. This can include product or company reviews, events, instructional videos, etc. Rich snippets are supposed to make search results more informative and engaging.
Local Results
Local results are a part of SERPs that shows when a user’s query includes a location or is relevant to local businesses or services. This type of result usually includes a map, contact information and reviews.
Significance of SERPs
As you can see, SERPs encompass many different types of search related information which must be considered, when formulating an effective SEO and SEM strategy. Thus, when a website appears at the top of SERPs, this can translate into increased traffic, sales and improved brand awareness.
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