What Is a SERP? Search Engine Results Pages, Explained

SERP Definition

"SERP" stands for "search motor results page."

It’s the leafage you spot aft you behaviour a hunt connected Google. (Or connected immoderate different hunt engine.)

Many SERPs incorporate paid ads astatine the top, followed by integrated results underneath. 

Like this:

However, the SERP for 1 keyword tin look a batch antithetic from the SERP for another.

And those differences person a immense interaction connected SEO traffic.

Learn much successful our usher below.

What’s connected a Google SERP? And How Do SERP Rankings Work?

Search motor results pages tin see 3 types of listings:

Organic hunt results, which look similar this:

Paid hunt results, which are identified with the connection “Ad":

And SERP features, which tin amusement up successful tons of antithetic ways. 

One communal SERP diagnostic is the “People Also Ask” box. 

Which looks similar this:

Let’s instrumentality a person look astatine each 3 types of hunt results.

We'll sermon wherever they travel from and however they impact SEO.

Organic Search Results

Google gets trillions of searches per year. 

And 95% of the clicks from those searches spell to the integrated (unpaid) hunt results.

Which is wherefore involvement successful SEO has been increasing and growing.

Most of SEO boils down to 1 concept:

The higher a hunt effect is shown connected the SERP, the much radical thin to click connected it.

The #1 ranking effect is shown astatine the apical of the SERP. 

So, it usually gets the astir clicks.

Followed by #2, and truthful on:

How overmuch bash rankings matter, exactly?

A lot.

Here are the mean click-through rates connected Google by ranking position, according to a study by Backlinko:

1. 31.73%
2. 24.71%
3. 18.66%
4. 13.60%
5. 9.51%

And the drop-off continues from there. 

In fact, the #1 ranking usually gets 10x much clicks than the #10 ranking.

So however does a leafage get ranked #1?

Well, Google relies connected hundreds of antithetic ranking factors to decide.

But you tin disagreement them into 2 large categories:

• Off-page SEO factors. (Like backlinks to the page.)

• On-page SEO factors. (Like the page’s contented and meta tags.)

On-page factors besides impact thing else:

The appearance of the hunt results.

Specifically, they power the hunt effect “snippet” that’s shown connected the SERP.

A basal hunt snippet consists of 3 things:

1. The URL oregon breadcrumbs, which are based connected the page’s URL and navigational links.

2. The title link, which is usually based connected the page’s meta rubric tag. 

3. And the description, which is usually based connected the page’s meta description. 

That’s the basal structure.

But immoderate hunt snippets are much analyzable than that.

For example, present is the apical effect for the hunt query “best camping stove".

You tin spot it has a fewer further parts: 

Unlike our basal hunt snippet, this 1 has:

• An representation connected the side
• A prima standing successful the middle
• And further links (called “sitelinks”) astatine the bottom

Extra pieces of accusation similar those are called “rich snippets”.

And they marque the hunt effect basal out, which tin summation its CTR and traffic.

In different words:

Rich snippets are 1 of the ways you tin get much visits from a SERP—even without improving your rankings.

(SERP features are different way. But we’ll travel backmost to those successful a minute.)

Paid Search Results

Paid hunt results are the 2nd benignant of listing that tin look connected a SERP.

On Google, paid hunt results are managed via Google Ads. And they’re paid for connected a cost-per-click basis.

Google Search Ads are often shown astatine the apical of the SERP supra each the integrated results. 

Like this:

Search ads tin besides beryllium displayed astatine the bottommost of the SERP, aft the integrated results:

And immoderate SERPs show Google Shopping Ads, which ecommerce stores usage to advertise their products.

For that reason, Google Shopping Ads usually lone amusement up erstwhile you hunt for a carnal product.

Google Shopping Ads look rather a spot antithetic from regular hunt ads. 

They incorporate little text, for 1 thing.

And they besides see images.

Google Shopping Ads tin beryllium shown astatine the top, bottom, oregon successful the mediate of the SERP. 

Or disconnected to the side, similar this:

SERP Features

SERP features are the 3rd benignant of effect that you’ll spot successful the SERPs.

A SERP diagnostic is thing that isn’t a regular integrated oregon paid hunt result.

Like this “Featured Snippet” astir the largest prima successful the universe:

Like regular integrated hunt results, SERP features are unpaid.

Google calls SERP features “search features". 

And according to Google, the constituent of them is to springiness radical “the close accusation astatine the close clip successful the format that’s astir useful."

But galore marketers deliberation of SERP features arsenic thing else:

Competition.

That's due to the fact that SERP features gully attraction and clicks distant from the regular integrated hunt results.

(In fact, lone astir one-third of each Google searches present effect successful a click connected an integrated result. And SERP features are 1 large crushed why.)

SERP features tin adjacent make a quality successful hunt postulation betwixt 2 precise akin keywords.

Sometimes a precise large difference—even erstwhile the keywords person the aforesaid hunt volume.

For example, let’s comparison the keywords “mortgage comparison” and “affordable mortgages".

Both keywords get 1,600 searches per month:

And some keywords person to bash with mortgages, obviously.

But their SERPs are completely different.

The SERP for “mortgage comparison” is beauteous traditional. 

It shows 4 hunt ads astatine the top. 

And past goes consecutive into the regular integrated results.

The SERP for “affordable mortgages” is simply a antithetic story.

It starts with ads astatine the top, similar the different SERP. But past it shows 2 abstracted SERP features: 

• A “Local Pack” of Google Maps results

• And a “People Also Ask” container of questions

All earlier getting to the regular integrated results.

Look however acold you person to scroll earlier you tin spot the archetypal integrated effect connected this SERP:

As mentioned, some of those keywords get 1,600 searches per month. 

But the differences successful their SERPs alteration their “Click Potential” rather a bit.

Click Potential is the predicted accidental of getting a click done to your tract if your effect earned the apical presumption of the SERP.

And according to our Keyword Manager tool, the Click Potential for the keyword “mortgage comparison” is 70%. 

While the click imaginable for “affordable mortgages” is lone 20%.

Which means that those keywords aren’t sending 1,600 visits per period to their integrated results.

Instead:

• The archetypal keyword is driving astir 1,120 visits per period to its top-ranked results. That means this keyword has 70% click potential. (70% of 1,600 = 1,120.)

• While the 2nd keyword is driving lone 320 visits per period to its top-ranked results. In this case, the keyword lone has 20% click potential. (20% of 1,600 = 320.)

1,120 vs. 320—that’s a 3.5x difference.

And that’s wherefore SERP features are truthful important for SEO.

So it’s a bully thought to look astatine the SERP for immoderate keyword earlier you determine whether to people it. That way, you’ll cognize which SERP features you’ll beryllium up against.

Or to debar checking each keyword manually, you tin usage the “SERP features” metric successful Semrush. 

It shows however galore SERP features are being displayed for each keyword. As good arsenic which types they are.

Here’s however that looks successful the Keyword Magic Tool:

Now you’ve seen the antagonistic impacts that SERP features tin have.

Here’s the thing:

You tin besides usage SERP features to your advantage. 

It’s often easier to triumph a SERP diagnostic than it is to ascent the modular integrated rankings. So you tin usage SERP features to leapfrog high-authority competitors.

Let's look astatine a speedy example:

The SERP for the keyword “email work provider".

The regular integrated rankings for this keyword see immense sites similar Active Campaign and TechRadar.

Those sites person truly precocious Authority Scores, which makes them hard to bushed successful the regular rankings.

But supra those large competitors, Google is displaying a Featured Snippet.

And that Featured Snippet belongs to a overmuch smaller website called Clean Email.

Thanks to that Featured Snippet, Clean Email is getting a ample stock of postulation from this keyword. Even though it has a overmuch little Authority Score than its larger competitors.

That’s a affirmative illustration of the powerfulness of SERP features.

And we’re inactive lone scratching the service—there are implicit 20 antithetic types of SERP features. 

Let's screen immoderate of the astir communal and important ones.

This way, you tin debar competing against them and usage them to your vantage instead. 

The Most Common and Important SERP Features

Featured Snippet

A Featured Snippet is simply a ample item that Google has taken from a azygous webpage successful effort to summarize the astir important accusation from it.

You’ll often spot Featured Snippets astatine the precise apical of the integrated SERP. (In “position #0”.) 

That makes them 1 of the astir almighty SERP features.

They tin besides show erstwhile you grow a “People Also Ask” box.

There are respective types of Featured Snippets.

Many are text-heavy, similar this list-based Featured Snippet for “best premium SEO software”:

Other Featured Snippets see images. 

Here’s the 1 for the hunt query “impressionism":

And immoderate Featured Snippets suggest a clip from an embedded video. 

Like this 1 for the keyword “how to sprint":

People Also Ask

People Also Ask boxes database respective questions that are related to the archetypal hunt query.

They are usually shown for keywords with commercialized oregon informational search intent.

Here’s the People Also Ask container that gets displayed erstwhile you hunt for “scheduling software":

When you click connected a question successful a People Also Ask box, it expands with a Featured Snippet inside. 

As good arsenic a nexus to motorboat a caller Google hunt utilizing that question.

Like this:

Related Searches are keywords that are connected to your archetypal hunt query. 

When you click connected one, Google opens a caller SERP utilizing that keyword.

Related Searches are displayed astatine the bottommost of the SERP. And they’re highly common.

(In fact, astir radical don’t adjacent deliberation of them arsenic a SERP feature.)

The astir basal mentation of the Related Searches diagnostic is simply a database of keywords.

But immoderate Related Searches besides see images supra that. As you tin spot successful this example, from the keyword “best premium SEO tool":

Knowledge Panel

According to Google, Knowledge Panels appear erstwhile you hunt for entities that are successful Google’s Knowledge Graph. 

So a azygous Knowledge Panel includes accusation from aggregate antithetic sources.

Knowledge Panels are displayed connected the right-hand broadside of the hunt results. 

They often display:

• Associated images
• A substance description
• A database of facts 
• Links to further information

Here’s the Knowledge Panel for the hunt query “Android":

Local Pack

Local Packs show accusation astir adjacent businesses and organizations adjacent to an embedded representation from Google Maps.

Local Packs are displayed for hunt queries that mightiness subordinate to a section need. So naturally, they amusement antithetic results depending connected wherever the searcher is located.

This Local Pack is shown astatine the apical of the SERP erstwhile idiosyncratic successful New York City searches for “bowling alley":

Local Packs tin besides show for hunt queries that don’t person specified evident section hunt intent. 

But they’ll usually beryllium farther down connected the SERP successful that case.

For example, the bottommost of the SERP for “glass retention containers” displays the pursuing Local Pack.

Google Flights

For hunt queries astir flights, Google often displays a Google Flights SERP feature.

The Google Flights SERP diagnostic tin beryllium interactive, similar this 1 for the keyword “NYC to PDX":

Or it tin beryllium much basic, similar this 1 for the keyword “flights to Oregon":

Organic Google Shopping Results

Organic Google Shopping results look a batch similar Google Shopping Ads. 

(Which we already saw successful the “Paid Search Results” conception above.) 

But integrated Google Shopping results are unpaid. So they don’t person the “Ad” disclaimer.

Organic Google Shopping results are usually displayed arsenic a carousel of products you tin scroll through. And they tin beryllium shown anyplace successful the main SERP.

Each integrated Google Shopping effect tin contain:

• An representation of the product
• The merchandise sanction and brand
• The retailer
• The price
• The mean prima rating
• And a information oregon 2 astir the product

Here’s the integrated Google Shopping results carousel for the keyword “home printers":

Image Pack

Image Packs are a mode for Google to show images connected the SERP. Clicking connected 1 volition instrumentality you to a Google Images hunt results page.

Image Packs tin beryllium shown anyplace successful the regular hunt results. Sometimes they’re displayed arsenic scrollable carousels.

They tin beryllium shown arsenic a azygous enactment oregon successful a larger pack.

Here’s the Image Pack for the keyword “Iceland":

And beneath is simply a larger Image Pack that displays for the keyword “Nike shoes". 

In this case, immoderate of the images person a buying tag icon. This indicates that the representation was taken from a retailer’s merchandise page.

Video Results

Video Results are conscionable what they dependable like: a battalion of videos connected the SERP. 

The videos usually travel from YouTube.

Each video listing tin beryllium paired with links to circumstantial timestamps wrong it, arsenic you tin spot successful this example:

Recipes

You guessed it:

The “Recipes” SERP diagnostic tin beryllium displayed erstwhile you hunt for recipes.

It displays a battalion of 3 look options, on with a fastener to amusement more.

Here’s the 1 for “fried atom recipe":

Direct Answers

Direct Answers contiguous a abbreviated portion of accusation astatine the apical of the SERP. 

They tin beryllium displayed erstwhile Google believes the query is simply a elemental question. 

For example, “when is Mother’s Day":

Top Stories

Top Stories displays applicable articles from Google News.

For queries that are evidently astir the news, the Top Stories diagnostic is usually shown astatine the apical of the SERP.

While for different queries, it whitethorn beryllium shown little down.

Here’s today’s Top Stories battalion for the query “financial news":

Twitter

In 2015, Google partnered with Twitter to statesman indexing tweets successful real-time. 

Now erstwhile you hunt for the sanction of a concern oregon idiosyncratic who is progressive connected Twitter, there’s a bully accidental you’ll spot their tweets.

That makes this a nice, casual mode to get much existent property connected the SERP.

You tin spot the Twitter SERP diagnostic successful enactment erstwhile you hunt for “Semrush".

(After the regular integrated hunt results from our domain.)

Here’s what it looks like:

Wrapping Up

As you tin see, there’s nary specified happening arsenic a modular SERP. 

Search motor results pages tin alteration drastically from keyword to keyword and from determination to location. 

(Plus they tin beryllium personalized, too.)

But present that you recognize however they work, you tin instrumentality the adjacent measurement successful your SEO journey.

If you’re a beginner, get started with our introduction to learning SEO. 

Or leap into the heavy extremity with our elaborate guides to on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO.