If you regularly use Google, it’s likely that you’ve seen many changes to the way the search engine displays results pages.
Back when Google first started, it would provide a list of links to websites that were most relevant and authoritative to what the user was searching for. However, now the search results page (SERP) is much more sophisticated and includes features such as questions and answers, images, and videos.
What are SERP features?
SERP features are responses to a search query that appear on a search engine results page outside of the traditional organic text results. They are usually displayed when the search engine has a good understanding of the user’s intent.
Featured Snippets
The featured snippet is the box at the top of the search results that includes a summary of the answer to the user’s question, pulled from the content on the web. This is sometimes referred to as “position zero” in the rankings.
The Featured Snippet on Google is a section of text or video from a website that is supposed to provide a direct answer to the user’s question.
The link to the domain that the information is being pulled from comes after the majority of the text in Featured Snippets, as opposed to regular organic search results.
This SERP feature is common for searches about people, events, things that happened in the past, science facts, sports, conversions from one thing to another, calculations, choosing colors, etc.
The following text is about featured snippets popping up in the form of a widget. An example is given of a search query that would cause this.
Knowledge Panel
Google displays a knowledge panel to the right of search results on desktop devices and at the top of the page on mobile devices. The panel includes information such as key dates, a brief overview, and images related to the search query.
The Knowledge Graph is a database that provides general factual information from sources such as the CIA World Factbook, Wikipedia, and millions of searches performed every day.
Image Pack
If Google believes that adding visual content will create a more comprehensive results page, image packs will appear.
Search results for images may appear as a row or block of related images among organic results. Clicking on a result will take you to the “Images” search tab, and only from there you can get to the website hosting the image. Optimizing your image search can help you get the most out of image search results.
One way to help Google understand your images is by using structured data markup. This can help Google display your images more accurately.
Top Stories
Breaking news and significant events are usually covered in the top story.
Google displays a selection of news stories related to the query, including the publisher and the date of publication.
People Also Ask (PAA)
Google automatically generates questions based on queries it believes are related to your question.
The questions in the PAA box are related to answers that users can click on to read on the Google search engine results pages. This can help people understand their initial question better without clicking on other results.
This usually starts with a list of four questions, but it can expand to provide short answers that resemble a featured snippet.
The text is saying that related questions may appear anywhere on a search engine results page (SERP), but they are usually found near the top of the page under the Featured Snippet. If you click on the result of a related question, it will take you to the website that has the answer.
Sitelinks
Sitelinks are links that Google features underneath the website result.
Google shows these links to help people quickly get to a specific part of a website. This usually happens when Google understands the navigation system for a website easily.
For a bank, the sitelinks might shortcuts to the “online banking portal,” “find bank locations,” or “contact us.”
Your website can also get a Sitelinks Search Box in addition to the extra links. If you implement the structured data correctly, you can power it by your website’s internal search engine.
Related Searches
Google also provides users with “related searches” at the bottom of the SERPs to prompt other search queries related to their initial search.
Google provides a list of related searches that you might find helpful in finding the answer you are looking for.
Shopping Results
Google will show a carousel of different products that are available for purchase from various ecommerce sites if it detects that the person viewing the ads is intending to buy something.
The text discusses a feature that allows users to compare products from different ecommerce websites without having to perform additional searches. This can save users time when they are looking for specific items.
Reviews
Yellow star ratings next to search results let users know how other people have rated the results. The star ratings are a universal symbol to communicate value.
Search results that include reviews tend to have a higher average click-through rate.
You are more likely to get this feature if users can review your content and the page has the proper schema markup.
Google will determine if the reviews are credible and if they are appropriate for the web page.
Local Pack
A Local Pack is a group of local business listings that are shown in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) in response to a user query that includes local service, local intent, or a geographical name. These results are usually tailored to the user’s current location.
The Local Pack is positioned at the top of a SERP under the AdWords results, although occasionally, it may slide below the organic links.
A Local Pack usually consists of:
A map with locations and pins
A five-star rating scale for each location
Three search results (some of which can be ads)
Clicking on an icon of a business will provide you with the Google Business Profile listing, which holds more detailed information about the business, including:
Working hours
Phone numbers
Pictures
Q&A
Popular times
Reviews
60% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly from the search results. Also, a lot of voice search queries are questions about things nearby, which is increasing the popularity of this feature as voice search becomes more common.
Both improving your local SEO presence and using Google Business Profile are essential for attracting customers.
If you want to see and manage the data that the Local Pack uses, you need to have complete control over your GBP profile.
Local Pack SEO is a different SEO process than the one used to rank organically because it is based on a different algorithm.
To optimize your website for Google, focus on mobile-friendliness, page speed, and UX. Also, create and optimize your Google Business Profile account and get listed on local directories.
If you want to learn more about how the Local Pack algorithm affects your ranking in Google search results, you can read Google’s official guide.
Video
A video SERP is a video that appears on a SERP in addition to the organic results.
This search engine result feature may link to a video hosting platform such as YouTube, Vimeo, or to a webpage where video is embedded.
The end of position 0?
Therefore, in the past, analysts would consider a brand’s ranking on SERP features to be in addition to their position in organic results. Position 0 is a term that refers to the ability to rank for SERP features that appear above organic listings. This provides an additional opportunity to rank, on top of the traditional 1-100+ rankings for organic results. Therefore, in the past, analysts would consider a brand’s ranking on SERP features in addition to their position in organic results.
This recently changed when Google announced that, in an effort to ‘declutter’ the results, it will no longer repeat a listing that’s elevated into the featured snippet position. So if you’re aiming to get your site into the featured snippet section, you now have an even better chance of also appearing in position 1!
Why are SERP features important?
It’s easy to see how search results that answer a query directly in the SERPs, rather than just providing a list of web pages related to the query, provide a better user experience. People can find answers faster this way, without the need to review web pages to decide whether the information can be trusted.
Should brands target SERP features? If so, how?
Driving clicks
At this stage, you may be thinking that if questions are answered directly in SERPs, your organic traffic will decrease. And you would be right to think that – some people have reason to be concerned about this.
One possible reason for a decrease in traffic could be SERP features that act as the final step in a user’s journey. This could mean that fewer people are clicking through to the site.
The bad news
In 2016, Google started featuring snippets from the website in search results for related queries However, when Google started featuring CelebrityNetWorth.com’s content in featured snippets, the website’s traffic and ad revenue took a significant hit. The problem occurs when a question can be completely answered using a featured snippet. For example, CelebrityNetWorth.com. This website, which launched in 2008, provided detailed information on how much celebrities are worth. The business did well for a long time; it had a lot of organic traffic and made good money from advertising. However, in 2016, when Google began featuring snippets from CelebrityNetWorth.com in search results for related queries, the website’s traffic and ad revenue decreased sharply.
When Google began showing its entire database of 25,000 celebrities in featured snippets in 2016, traffic to the site plummeted, advertisers pulled out, and the company was forced to downsize significantly.
This type of case has caused controversy regarding featured snippets, with many arguing that Google is taking content and traffic from websites.
The good news
Featured snippet visibility could bring you additional clicks, as seen with CelebrityNetWorth.com.
If you’re currently ranked at position four on Google, but your content is also used to populate a featured snippet in position zero, you’re likely to get clicks from whoever is ranked at position one. This is because if the featured snippet satisfies the user’s intent, they won’t need to click on anything else.
Some sites are more valuable when they appear in a prime spot on the search engine results pages, even if they don’t get clicked on. This is because it helps build their authority and makes them more likely to be considered as a choice in the future.
Voice search
A majority of voice search results are the same as featured snippets because well-optimized content is effective for both voice search and featured snippets. This content should be around 50 words and provide a clear answer.
Having your brand mentioned by Google Home or Siri is a great way to increase brand awareness and trust. Google will send the relevant URL to the user’s device so they can read more about it later. Check out our guide on voice search to learn more.
Intent
The SERP features are very important to brands and advertisers because they can see how people who have searched for a keyword are engaging with the SERP and what kind of content they want. Google is always changing the types of results it provides based on how people interact with them, as mentioned in this guide to visual search.
If a lot of people use image search instead of universal search to find interior design ideas, Google will show image results in universal search.
In order to understand what content formats and types a searcher is interested in, you can look at the Google’s SERP features for that particular query. This then allows you to shape your own content to better meet the needs of your audience. For example, you can use this information to decide how much focus to put on visual elements, whether to present information in lists, and how to structure sub-headings and topics.
How to monitor SERP features
The majority of rank trackers now display data on which SERP features are appearing for given keywords, as well as the ranking position of these keywords. Some tools also feature a ranking for both traditional SERPs and for all SERPs, which can give you a better idea of where your website is placed in relation to your competitors.
Checking the click-through rate for specific terms in Google Search Console can also help identify search terms where SERP features are decreasing traffic, and where optimization might be needed.
The future of SERPs
Fewer and fewer results will show up on the first page of Google as the company becomes more confident in what users are looking for. The joke that the best place to hide something is on the second page of Google is increasingly true – the average click-through rate of a result beyond position 20 is less than 2%. But even making it to the second position might not be good enough in the future.
Google has introduced new features to its search results page (SERP) to emphasize the importance of results on the first page, and to make it easier for users to find the information they need with as little effort as possible.
This will likely end with a single answer box, but Google still needs to be able to handle different intents. The People Also Ask box lets people narrow their searches and find what they want without ever leaving the search results page.
A lot of the time we simply don’t know what we’re looking for. Although Google can answer many questions directly, it is not always helpful in making decisions. Oftentimes, we do not know what we are looking for.
We often use search engines like Google to help us make decisions. We look at a lot of different information from various sources before taking action. It’s beneficial for Google if we stay on its search results page for as long as possible, until it provides us with a solution to our problem.
