SERPs Explained: How Search Engine Results Pages Work

A search engine results page, or SERP, is the web page a user sees after typing a search query into a search engine such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, or DuckDuckGo. These companies aim to make search engine results align with a user's search query, but many ranking factors account for the results that appear on a SERP.

A large percentage of search traffic goes through Google, which means that the typical SERP is a Google SERP. Google search results pages show many types of results, including organic listings (which are sorted by Google's algorithm), paid results (which advertisers pay for via Google Ads), Google Image results, video results, shopping results, and news articles.

Search engine results pages work by matching a search query to metadata, text, images, and videos from various web pages. Web designers and programmers typically provide their web pages with title tags and meta descriptions, as well as headings within a web page. Search engines use this content to match pages to search queries and deliver a better user experience for searchers.

A SERP attempts to sort search queries into three categories.

1. 1. Informational queries: Users who want knowledge about a topic perform informational queries. A SERP for such an inquiry might show a Wikipedia article near the top of page one of the search results. It might also show educational websites or "how-to" YouTube videos.
2. 2. Transactional queries: Searchers perform transactional queries when they want to buy something. For these queries, a SERP might show the web pages of retailers or vendor marketplaces. A SERP for a transactional query might also show site links that take the user to a particular page within a broader website. For instance, a site link could take you to a particular page describing a retailer's address, phone number, and business hours.
3. 3. Navigational queries: These queries help users find a particular website when they don’t have its full URL. For instance, fans of a rock band could type that band's name into an internet search bar, and a SERP would show them the band's official website near the top of page one.

SERPs, or search engine results pages, bring back two key types of search results: organic and paid.

• Organic search results: Every SERP features organic search results that provide what the search engine believes to be high-quality content. A search engine’s algorithm for organic search results attempts to prioritize web pages that provide detailed, informationally correct content that aligns with a user's search terms. These organic listings can be boosted using a technique called search engine optimization (SEO). Companies and web developers use SEO to help their pages adhere to a search algorithm's priorities, and thus ideally appear near the top of the SERP.
• Paid search results: Paid search results are advertisements. Digital marketing teams purchase these paid ads through vendors such as Google Ads (formerly Adwords) in order to appear on the first page of a user's search results. Search engines typically place paid results at the top of the SERP; in some cases, more paid results also appear at the bottom of the page. Paid results are billed using a pay-per-click model. Advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad.

Today's search engine results pages feature more than just links to web pages.

1. 1. Image packs: If a search engine believes a user is seeking images of a person, place, or object, it may include thumbnail images at the top of a SERP.
2. 2. Local packs: These show local business results—particularly for retailers and service providers. Vendors may implement local SEO strategies to appear in local packs.
3. 3. Knowledge graphs, knowledge cards, and knowledge panels: These items add additional information about a requested topic. They may appear near the top of search results pages or in a side panel to the right of the main results.
4. 4. Featured snippets: For many search queries, search engines place a featured snippet from a website near the top of the page. Web programmers, bloggers, and content creators often employ SEO and keyword research in hopes of gaining one of these snippets.
5. 5. Rich snippets: A variation on featured snippets that emphasizes visual variety, rich snippets contain thumbnail images, graphs, and product reviews.
6. 6. Related questions: Search engines frequently show users related search queries, or trending search queries that come close to the original search terms. Often, these appear under a heading that reads: "People Also Ask" or "Related Searches."

Search engine optimization (best known by the acronym SEO) is the process of configuring websites so they will appear on page one of a SERP. Search engines use a language called schema markup, or structured data, to comprehend the content of websites and deliver relevant results to their users. Web developers implement schema to improve the chances of their page showing up in the top results on a SERP.

Most website builders feature SEO tools to help developers get their websites onto a SERP. Specialized tools assist with keyword rankings so that you can populate your web page with the keywords needed to improve click-through rates. All of these tools work toward a common goal of getting more eyeballs on your website.

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