What are the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs)?

Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are Google 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. You type something to Google, and the SERP is what you get back.

The two most important categories are paid results and organic results. The paid results are from advertisers bidding on keywords via Google Ads. The organic results are determined by Google’s algorithm, most relevant results for a given search.

Organic Search Results :

The organic results are determined by Google’s complex algorithm, which has 200+ ranking signals. Google algorithm have publicly confirmed a few key ranking factors, including ;

• Number of websites linking to a specific page (Backlinks)
• Keywords you use on your page
• Site loading speed
• Brand presence and trust signals

Paid Search Results :

Paid search results are marked with a small “Ad” icon in the top left corner. Usually, 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.

Featured Snippets :

Featured Snippets are a short section of content pulled from a webpage or video. According to an industry study, 12% of all SERPs have a Featured Snippets.

Common types of Featured Snippets :

• 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

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.

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.

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 :

This option usually show up on the right side of the organic results. Most of this data is scraped from hand-picked sources like Wikipedia.

Local Packs :

Local Packs show up for local searches, like ‘book shop near me’. They can also appear when Google feels that a “normal” search needs a few local results.

Google Image Results :

Google will feature results from Google Images for keywords where images make sense.

Video Results :

These usually show up as a pack of 3 or 4 videos, with a carousel to see more. Most of video results are pulled from YouTube. It’s likely based partly on the keyword itself and their own split testing.

People Also Ask :

This is a new 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.  58% of Google’s results contain a people also ask SERP feature.

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.

Google Shopping Results :

Google Shopping Results (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.