The evolution of internet has changed consumer behavior drastically. With the ease of internet accessibility, more and more people are switching to Google for researching their products and services before buying.
Page Contents:
Google Search Statistics
Some of the astounding facts related to Google search results are as follows:
- 70% consumers do purchasing research online even before the sales conversation. (Impact)
- 3.5 billion Google searches are made every day. (Internet Live Stats)
- The volume of Google searches grows by roughly 10% every year. (Internet Live Stats)
- Search is the number one traffic source to blogs across all industries. (Hubspot)
- 90% of searches made on desktops are done via Google. (Statista)
- 75% of internet users never scroll past the first page of search results. (Forbes)
Hence, ranking high in search engines is vital to reach across your target audience and drive traffic to your site. To make the most of your advertising campaigns and gain an edge over your competitors, it is crucial to understand how search engine algorithms work.
When a search query is performed, a range of results appear in the search engines based on the user’s query. These pages are known as SERPs. In this article, we will be discussing about the SERP features and how can they be leveraged in site optimization.
What is Google SERP?
Google SERP or Search Engine Results Pages are pages that appear in response to a user’s search query. It is aimed at enhancing user experience by providing supplemental information matching user intent apart from organic results. According to survey conducted by Search Engine Land, 90% people click on the first set of Google search results.
Google is constantly updating its search algorithm to provide accurate search results based on a user’s query. SERPs are created in such a manner that it helps users in finding the information they need quickly and efficiently. The main goal is to understand user’s intent and provide relevant search results specific to individual customer needs.
With the introduction of new SERP features, search results have become much more relevant to match the rising demands and consumer expectations. Today, SERPs not just relate to organic results but also include featured snippets, knowledge graphs, videos and several other advanced features thereby offering seamless user experience.
Google SERP Features
Adwords now known as Google Ads:
Google Ads is an online advertising platform that allows advertisers to display their ads on Google’s search engine result pages. It works on the pay-per-click model where you have to pay every time a visitor clicks on your ad. These ads are displayed on the top and bottom of the page above and below the organic results respectively. Each ad is denoted with an AD icon next to the URL.
As per Digital Information World report, nearly 3 out of 5 online buyers said they notice ads for products they looked up on other sites. Google Ads is suitable for all types of business advertising requirements. Once you have understood the paid search mechanism such as the keyword research, bidding methods, you can drive massive traffic in just an affordable cost.
Featured Snippet:
These are short snippets of text that appears at the top of search engine result page to provide answers to a searcher’s query. Featured Snippet pulls the most relevant content from webpage that match the search query and display it at the top of the SERP. Commonly featured snippets are in the form of definitions, tables, steps and lists.
As per findings by Search Engine People, 30.9% of Featured snippets rank at topmost position in SERPs. Therefore, Featured Snippets are a great opportunity to maximize click through rate even if your site is not among the top-ranking pages. It is an important SEO component as users can get a direct answer to their search query without visiting the websites.
Rich Snippets:
It is a form of snippet that provides additional information within the search results that greatly impacts the website visibility. These are more appealing and aim to solve a reader’s query by providing direct answers with extra information in the form of review, ratings or pricing details. Rich Snippets enables searchers to get complete information of their query at one place without having to browse websites for details.
Thus, it offers a greater chance of improving click-through rates leading to a higher site rank in the SERPs. The extra information is displayed in the form of structured data. It is a code in a specific format that allows search engines to create rich results in the SERPs. You need to add schema markup code to enable search engines in understanding the content and display rich results with additional details.
Knowledge Graph:
It uses Google Algorithm to generate information based on user’s query and intent. With the help of Knowledge Graph, you can search for people, places, things, etc. and get instant details specific to your search query. Knowledge graph displays images, facts, and important information thereby helping readers to get complete details related to their query.
As per a HubSpot survey, 80% web traffic consists of search queries. Thus, optimizing for Knowledge Graph helps in providing direct answers to the query thereby making the search results much more relevant and accurate. As the information is visible at one place along with other important details, it improves user experience thereby building better engagement with the target audience.
Local Pack:
It is a SERP feature that displays local business lists related to your query with the keywords like ‘near me’ or ‘near (location)’. When a user conducts a search for a local business, Google generates a list of three local businesses that are most relevant to the search query.
As per a survey conducted by Think with Google, 74% of in-store shoppers who searched online before going to the store to shop, said they searched for something in-store related such as the closest store near them, locations, in stock near them, hours, directions, wait times, and contact information.
The local Pack business listing appears on the first spot 93% of the time a local search is performed. Therefore, businesses optimized for local search have better chance of ranking at the top of the search engine result pages and have greater visibility than other businesses. If you have set up your business account in Google business listing, your business is eligible to appear in the Local business listing.
It is recommended to keep the business details updated such as location details with GPS, business information with images and customer reviews to maximize business visibility in Google local search results.
Local Teaser:
Local Teaser shows the search results that cater to local business locations similar to the local pack. However, the difference between the two SERP features is that Local Teasers also displays information such as customer reviews, hours of operation, discount, images, with search filters for date range, ratings and more.
This feature is suitable for companies with brick and mortar store locations like hotels, restaurants, hostels, etc. Advertising your business via Local Teaser increases your brand visibility thereby enabling the target audience in reaching the location easy and effortlessly. According to the Think with Google survey, 60% of consumers have contacted a business directly using the search results.
Top Stories:
Top Stories (also known as News Box) is a SERP feature that shows news or trending stories related to your search query. It includes a featured image, headline, publisher name, timestamp and is mostly displayed in the top of the search engine result page.
As the results are pulled through Google News section, websites should follow Google News submission procedure to become eligible to rank in the featured stories.
Videos:
Video feature adds thumbnails of videos in the search results that are mostly from Youtube. This feature generally appears for certain keywords or tutorials and “how-to” type of searches. Along with the video, other details such as video title, description, date of upload, duration are also depicted in the search results.
As Google algorithm prioritizes websites with video content, search results with video have higher click-through rate than the results with just site links. 80% video marketers say that video has increased website traffic (Hubspot). Video Optimization impacts your site’s SEO performance, builds brand identity helping you gain higher rank in the SERPs.
Image Pack:
Image Pack contains a series of images displayed in the top of a search result in the SERPs. The image thumbnails are taken from a variety of sources in Google index that are top-rated among other images in a particular category. Image optimization increases your site visibility in the Google search results leading to a high conversion rate.
Tweets:
Tweets often appears for brand, musicians, artists, and other celebrities that are displayed directly in the search results. Twitter is a great platform to reach across a massive audience and crate a strong brand presence online. 40% of users say they’ve made a purchase because of an influencer’s tweet. (Source)
Incorporating twitter SEO can help you promote your website, engage with your target audience at a deeper level resulting in improved search engine ranking.
People Also Ask:
‘People Also Ask or ‘Related Questions’ is a Google SERP feature that provides other search results similar to a user’s original search query. ‘People Also Ask box’ appears mostly in the top three search results in Google and sometimes is also displayed after the first organic result.
As People Also Ask box are shown in 90% of the search queries, optimizing for this feature help you evaluate your site traffic and CTR. It provides a clear understanding of the site ranking parameters helping you formulate an effective SEO strategy.
Related Searches:
These are eight search results displayed at the bottom of the search engine result page that are automatically generated by Google’s Algorithm based on the user intent. Analyzing ‘Related Searches’ feature helps you in gaining a better understanding of your target audience and provides customer insights that can impact your website’s SEO ranking.
Moreover, it provides numerous keyword ideas related to your niche or industry that improves your keyword research and adds value to the content optimization.
Refine By:
‘Refine By’ feature has made searching easy and effortless for users by providing a range of options to get specific product search results. The feature is visible above the related searches at the bottom of the search result page or appears in the Google Shopping and Paid Ads.
The refining options include brand, design, type, shape, material, style, department and more. Its sole purpose is to create a seamless purchase process thereby offering a great user experience.
Answer Box:
Google’s Answer Box is a SERP result that provides instant answers to the questions searched by the users. It is usually displayed at the top of the Google search result page above the organic results. Getting featured on Answer Box improves your site’s chances of driving traffic and also impacts the click- through rate which in turn boosts the SEO score.
Reviews:
Google Reviews are customer reviews or feedback about a product or service. It makes it easy for customers to share their experience with the brand and help others to know about the service. As per Bright Local survey, 86% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business.
This shows that customer reviews demonstrate trust and authority that has a major impact on your site’s search engine ranking. Google Reviews are an important component of a great SEO strategy and is useful for establishing brand credibility.
Podcasts:
Podcasts consists of a series of discussions focused on a particular topic or theme conducted in an audio format. Podcasts are displayed as a carousel and mostly appears within the organic search results for relevant keywords. Creating podcasts helps you in boosting organic search rankings and building a strong brand image which in turn, leads to greater customer engagement. As per Hubspot statistics report, monthly podcast listening is now at 37%.
Site links:
Sitelinks are additional links that appear below some Google search results. The purpose is to provide a great user experience and make navigation to specific site sections quick and effortless. The presence of Sitelinks improves your brand visibility helping your site stand out from the other search results.
Shopping Results:
Google Shopping provides an online advertising platform to retailers for promoting and selling their products and services on Google. Product shopping Ads are displayed as image cards when someone searches for a specific product. They appear at the top of Google’s SERP and every product image contains the title, rating and product cost.
By showcasing products with the target keywords, you can improve the visibility of your online store leading to increase sales. As per the survey by Semrush, 61% of consumers agree that easy search and navigation is the most important aspect of online shopping. Hence, it can be predicted that online shopping will continue to accelerate in the coming years.
Serpok tool for Google SERP checking
Use Serpok tool to get real-time updates, valuable insights to improve your site ranking and outrank the competitors. Serpok is a Google SERP checker online tool that provides accurate data and suggestions to enhance your SEO results by analyzing a wide range of factors such as competitor’s websites, content optimization, keyword usage, SERP guidelines and many more.
This enables you to evaluate your site performance and identify the mistakes that are preventing you to rank higher in the SERPs. Start tracking your site with Serpok and get accurate solutions customized to your business requirement.
Optimizing your Blog Post for SERP features is a key to a great user experience. Ranking at the top of search results enables you to reach a wider audience, cater to your target group and advertise your brand in a hassle-free way. Get featured in the SERPs and boost your business visibility with Serpok.
If you are looking for the right guidance and strategy to help you rank higher in the Google search results, choose Serpok services. With practical tips, easy to follow guidelines, we help you optimize your site as per the Google Algorithm and maximize traffic at no time. Sign up now to get customized solutions to improve your site’s SEO score.