Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP) Explained in Layman’s Terms

With technological advancement today, a day never ends without submitting a query on Google’s search engine. Google search engines have been our everyday companion in fetching the best information we need. As we hunt for information, Google’s response returns in the form of a search engine results page or SERP.

Let us drench ourselves and get to know more about SERP or search engine results pages.

What is a search engine result page or SERP?

The page that appears as a result of query or keywords entered in search engines such as Bing, Google, and Yahoo is called SERP or search engine result page. The SERP page provides two categories of results, the paid results, and organic results.

Paid results

The result that an advertiser is paying to stand on top of the search result page is a paid result. Have you noticed ads on top of the page in your Google search results? Ads take place on the top of the Google results page, where the desktop has four ads and mobile browsers have three ads.

This portrays that four businesses are battling for the top position in paid results, and Google decides the results.

The paid ads get the top position on Google search engine results page based on Google’s factors. Some of them are

• The quality of the page visitors are led to after clicking the ad
• The bid amount
• The relevance of search
• Ad quality

Based on the above factors, if Google decides your ad is improved compared to the competitor, you ace the test and your Ad grabs the top place in SERP.

Organic results

By following the search engine’s algorithm, the SERP displays listings known as organic results. These results get their placings on the web page based on search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO is a group of techniques that keep changing where these techniques optimize the website and web content for a higher ranking in SERP. Would you like your site to stand out of the rest? To grab the top position in organic ranking, you need a high-quality site compared to the competitors.

SERP features 

Google has brilliantly planned and designed the SERP page for every player. The position of top players on the SERP page stands predominantly precise and perfect. Let’s know a few mandatory features of SERP.

Rich snippets

The Google search engine results page (SERP) is enriched with information and satisfies visitors with rich snippets. The snippets with just a glimpse offer more details such as customer ratings, images, etc. A rich snippet has more information other than the meta description, URL, and page title.

Universal results

The results that present themselves as vertical columns in the SERP like Google news and images are universal. A good example is the answers that appear in a box at the top of the page. With such results, visitors need not have to click other organic results for details.

Local SERP

When your search incorporates the location such as stores, petrol stations, or restaurants, the result fetches you with results of locations near you according to the query with map details.

Vertical search

Have you ever noticed boxes at the top of the page in the form of news, image, or video? These are vertical searches and relate to topics such as geographical regions.

The main intention of Google is to organize the information for visitors across the globe. In today’s highly competitive web world, SERP with SEO serves the best results to valuable visitors. There are many more parameters to research and know in SERP. SERP is a comprehensive section to research and educate ourselves.

Looking to increase visibility for your business online? our team has over 15+ years of experience in growing & scaling businesses like yours across the world. Equip yourself with the best growth marketing consultants in Sydney & Central Coast.