With the growing popularity of the search site "Google", of course website owners are competing to be able to create content that will attract Google users. A popular strategy for increasing the engagement of content on the internet is SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
So, of course, when discussing and studying SEO, you will come across the term SERP. But not many understand what SERP is and how it works.
Therefore, in this article, we will discuss SERP. Starting from what SERP is, SERP's relationship with SEO, SERP features, and how to optimize SERPs so that the content created can attract more internet visitors.
Before discussing more about SERP, you should first have a good understanding of basic SEO for beginners. You can also find articles about learning WordPress SEO for beginners on the Erzedka blog. Happy reading!
What do you Mean by SERP?
SERP (Search Engine Result Page) means "results from the search page". So in full, SERP is a web page that is presented to users when they search for certain keywords online on search engines, such as Google.
Internet users usually enter search queries (more often in the form of certain terms and phrases known as "keywords"), where the Google search engine will present the results obtained on the SERP of the keywords entered.
Each SERP displayed by Google is unique. Even though the keywords entered into search engines by some people are the same, it is possible that the results that appear on the SERP are different for each of these people. This is because the SERP has an algorithm to display search results based on the user's location, browsing history, and social settings.
Two SERPs may appear identical, and contain many of the same results, but still often display dissimilar differences. For example, if you enter the keyword “Christiano Ronaldo” in a search engine, maybe the SERPs that appear are articles about Christiano Ronaldo in Indonesian. Whereas other people who are in America will get a SERP in the form of articles in English even though they include the same keyword, namely "Christiano Ronaldo".
Is SEO and SERP the Same thing?
SEO and SERP are of course closely related to each other. The main goal of SEO optimization is so that the content created can rank at the top of the SERP. In short, SEO is a free way for your website to appear in the SERP.
However, it should also be noted that not all SERPs are considered important for SEO. Because based on data obtained in 2019, the first page of SERPs gets an average CTR (clicks divided by impressions) of 31.7%. Meanwhile, the second SERP page only gets an average CTR of 0.78%.
That is why only the first page of the SERP is considered important for SEO. Most people are reluctant to explore the SERP until the second page or more and only check the Google SERP on the first page. They more often find the keywords they are looking for in the top positions of organic search results.
What are the Different Types of SERPs?
There are two types of SERP displays that need to be known and understood. The two views are organic results and paid results. In the discussion below, we will comprehensively discuss these two displays. Please pay attention, yes!
1. Organic Results
It is the results of organic search that are influenced by SEO. In order for your content to appear in organic search results on Google, it is necessary to optimize parts of SEO, such as Meta Tags (which consist of meta title, URL and meta description). The image below shows organic search results for the keyword pudding recipe that appears on Google SERP.
a. Meta Titles
Meta Title is the title that appears at the top of the search results. Meta Title is very important to increase traffic from the content created. This is because the Meta Title acts as an image to inform the overall contents of the content to visitors.
b. URLs
The URL that is displayed on the SERP is part of the URL or website permalink that refers to the content that is created.
c. Meta Description
In short, Meta Description is a summary of the entire content created. Meta Description usually contains two to three sentences as an overview of the information that will be discussed in the content.
Indeed, quite complex strategies are needed to optimize the content that we create. This optimization aims to make content enter the top ranks of the SERPs in order to generate lots of traffic..
2. Paid Results
Using paid advertising is a powerful way to make your website appear on search results pages. The image below shows the paid results that appear on the SERP.
The easiest way to distinguish organic results and paid results is from the image of the "ad" or "ad" icon in the SERP search results. Usually content that includes paid results will quickly occupy the top position of search results.
However, the drawback of paid results is that the content they display doesn't last long on Google's SERP. Meanwhile, content that appears in organic results has a longer shelf life in Google's SERP.
What is a SERP Feature?
By utilizing and optimizing the features on the SERP, you can make your website appear in the top position of Google search results. The SERP features themselves are quite a lot. More details will be discussed through the explanation below. Please pay attention, yes!
1. Knowledge Graph
Often when you enter certain keywords (usually in the form of character names, regional names, or famous place names) in the Google search engine, a box will appear in the right corner of the SERP containing a summary of important information from the keywords entered.
In conclusion, a knowledge graph is a SERP feature that provides key information from keywords. For mobile devices (smartphones), the knowledge graph will appear at the top of the SERP. Whereas on desktop devices (laptops and computers), the knowledge graph will appear on the right side of your SERP screen.
Knowledge graphs have been used by Google since 2012 and have managed to attract a large number of visitors because they are able to provide short answers to the keywords entered. The data displayed on the knowledge graph is also guaranteed to be reliable and accurate because it is taken from professional sources, such as Wikipedia or other official websites.
2. Featured Snippets
Surely many of you are familiar with this one SERP feature. Featured snippets is a feature that displays snippets or excerpts of content belonging to one of the websites with the most complete and relevant information for the keywords entered. Often, featured snippets will occupy the top of the SERP, so many call this feature Google's "Ranking #0".
In general, the most featured snippets appear in list, paragraph, and table formats. However, it is not uncommon for featured snippets in the video format to appear on Google's SERP.
A few tips and tricks so that your website can appear in the featured snippets, then the website must occupy the top five positions on Google's SERP. To be able to occupy the top five positions in the SERP, apart from presenting complete and neat content, you can also do On-Page SEO optimization.
So, want to know how to guide to implementing on-page SEO so that the website can top the SERP? Don't worry because Erzedka has a complete guide here: On-Page SEO Optimization Guide.
3. Rich Snippets
Rich Snippets is an additional version of organic search where in addition to displaying information from keywords on your website, ratings and reviews from the website are also displayed.
By displaying rich snippets, visitors will be more interested in opening your website than other websites that also appear on the SERP.
4. Knowledge Cards
This feature is almost similar to a knowledge graph, which contains brief information about the keywords entered. The difference is that this feature usually answers keywords in the form of questions and appears at the top of the SERP.
5. Image Packs
Since most humans are visual creatures, the image packs feature is one of the most useful SERP features. Image Packs displays a collection of images in the form of thumbnails from various websites related to the keywords entered.
All images displayed in the image packs feature are managed by Google Images. And if we click on one of these images, it will lead to a website that provides that image.
6. Top Stories
Top Stories presents three or more headlines in the form of the latest and best articles for the keywords entered. The main news that is displayed is in the form of the article title, website name, image, and the time of release of the article. If your content can be included in the top stories, of course it will really help increase traffic and users from the website.
7. People Also Ask
SERP has a unique feature, namely "people also ask" or people also ask. This feature contains a collection of questions that are frequently asked by users regarding certain keywords. This feature section will also display short answers sourced from certain websites.
8. Sitelinks
Sitelinks are a SERP feature that displays the most popular pages on your website. The sitelink feature is very useful for increasing CTR, product awareness, and increasing traffic and business sales.
Conclusion
If SEO is very important to increase visitors from the content or articles that you create, then SERP is no less important. This is because SERP and SEO are closely related to each other.
SERPs are web pages presented to users when they search for certain keywords online on a search engine, such as Google. The search results that appear on the SERP have two types, namely organic results and paid results.
Apart from that, SERP has several main features, including knowledge graphs, knowledge cards, featured snippets, rich snippets, image packs, top stories, people also ask, and sitelinks.
A few tips and tricks so that your website can rank at the top of the Google SERP is to do research on the keywords you want to write, understand search intent, write content and articles with more than 1000 words, place keywords in URLs, titles and article paragraphs, use meta title and description, as well as include a backlink in the article.