HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) are the pages displayed by search engines in response to a query by a user. The main component of the SERP is the listing of results that are returned by the
search engine A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...
in response to a keyword query. The page that a search engine returns after a user submits a search query. In addition to
organic search results In Web search engines, organic search results are the query results which are calculated strictly algorithmically, and not affected by advertiser payments. They are distinguished from various kinds of sponsored results, whether they are explicit pa ...
, search engine results pages (SERPs) usually include paid search and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. The results are of two general types : * organic search: retrieved by the search engine's algorithm *
sponsored search Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) primarily through paid advertising. SEM may incorporate search engine opti ...
: advertisements. The results are normally ranked by
relevance Relevance is the concept of one topic being connected to another topic in a way that makes it useful to consider the second topic when considering the first. The concept of relevance is studied in many different fields, including cognitive sc ...
to the query. Each result displayed on the SERP normally includes a title, a link that points to the actual page on the
Web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
, and a short description showing where the keywords have matched content within the page for organic results. For sponsored results, the advertiser chooses what to display. Due to the huge number of items that are available or related to the query, there are usually several pages in response to a single search query as the search engine or the user's preferences restrict viewing to a subset of results per page. Each succeeding page will tend to have lower ranking or lower relevancy results. Just like the world of traditional print media and its
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
, this enables competitive pricing for page real estate, but is complicated by the dynamics of consumer expectations and intent— unlike static print media where the content and the advertising on every page is the same all of the time for all viewers, despite such hard copy being localized to some degree, usually geographic, like state, metro-area, city, or
neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural a ...
, search engine results can vary based on individual factors such as browsing habits.


Components

The organic search results, query, and advertisements are the three main components of the SERP, However, the SERP of major search engines, like
Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
,
Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Mana ...
,
Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...
,
Petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...
, Sogou may include many different types of enhanced results ( organic search, and sponsored) such as rich snippets, images, maps, definitions, answer boxes, videos or suggested search refinements. A recent study revealed that 97% of queries in Google returned at least one rich feature. The major search engines visually differentiate specific content types such as
image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensio ...
s,
news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to event ...
, and
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in Reverse ...
s. Many content types have specialized SERP templates and visual enhancements on the first search results page.


Search query

Also known as 'user search string', this is the word or set of words that are typed by the user in the search bar of the search engine. The search box is located on all major search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing,
Petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...
, Sogou. Users indicate the topic desired based on the keywords they enter into the search box in the search engine. In the competition between search engines to draw the attention of more users and advertisers, consumer satisfaction has been a driving force in the evolution of the
search algorithm In computer science, a search algorithm is an algorithm designed to solve a search problem. Search algorithms work to retrieve information stored within particular data structure, or calculated in the search space of a problem domain, with eith ...
applied to better filter the results by relevancy. Search queries are no longer successful based upon merely finding words that match purely by spelling. Intent and expectations have to be derived to determine whether the appropriate result is a match based upon the broader meanings drawn from context. And that sense of context has grown from simple matching of words, and then of phrases, to the matching of ideas. And the meanings of those ideas change over time and context. Successful matching can be crowdsourced, what are others currently searching for and clicking on, when one enters keywords related to those other searches. And crowdsourcing may be focused based upon one's own social networking. With the advent of portable devices, smartphones, and wearable devices, watches, and various sensors, these provide ever more contextual dimensions for consumers and advertisers to refine and maximize relevancy using such additional factors that may be gleaned like: a person's relative health, wealth, and various other statuses, time of day, personal habits, mobility, location, weather, and nearby services and opportunities, whether urban or suburban, like events, food, recreation, and business. Social context and crowdsourcing influences can also be pertinent factors. The move away from keyboard input and the search box to voice access, aside from convenience, also makes other factors available to varying degrees of accuracy and pertinence, like a person's character, intonation, mood, accent, ethnicity, and even elements overheard from nearby people and the background environment. Searching is changing from explicit keywords: on TV show w, did x marry y or z, or election results for candidate x in county y for this date z, or final scores for team x in game y for this date z to vocalizing from a particular time and location: hey, so who won. And getting the results that one expects.


Organic results

Organic SERP listings are the natural listings generated by
search engines A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in ...
based on a series of metrics that determine their relevance to the searched term. Webpages that score well on a search engine's algorithmic test shown in this list. These algorithms are generally based upon factors such as quality and relevance of the content, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness of the website and author on a given topic, good user experience and backlinks. People tend to view the first results on the first page. Each page of search engine results usually contains 10 organic listings (however some results pages may have fewer organic listings). According to a 2019 study, the click-through rates (CTRs) for the first page goes as follows: * Position 1: 31.7% * Position 2: 24.7% * Position 3: 18.7% * Position 4: 13.6% * Position 5: 9.5% * Position 6: 6.2% * Position 7: 4.2% * Position 8: 3.1% * Position 9: 3% * Position 10: 3.1%


Sponsored results

Several major search engines offer "sponsored results" to companies, who may pay the search engine to have their products or services appear above other search hits. This is often done in the form of bidding between companies, where the highest bidder gets the top result. A 2018 report from the European Commission showed that consumers generally avoid these top results, as there is an expectation that the topmost results on a search engine page will be sponsored, and thus less relevant.


Rich snippets

Rich snippets are displayed by
Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
in the search results pages when a website contains content in structured data markup. Structured data markup helps the Google algorithm to index and understand the content better. Google supports rich snippets for the following data types: * Product – Information about a product, including price, availability, and review ratings. * Recipe – Recipes that can be displayed in web searches and Recipe View. * Review – A review of an item such as a restaurant, movie, or store. * Event – An organized event, such as musical concerts or art festivals, that people may attend at a particular time and place. * Software Application – Information about a software app, including its URL, review ratings, and price. * Video – An online video, including a description and thumbnail, and shows the three resources of answers image, content, and URL in one box. * News article – A news article, including the headline, images, and publisher info. * Science datasets * Job-related content * Mark up "how-to" pages * Sitelinks Search Box * Frequently asked questions (FAQ) * Movie * Job training & job posting * Breadcrumb


Featured snippets

Featured Snippet is a summary of an answer to a user's query. This snippet appears at the top of the list of search hits. Google supports the following types of featured snippets:


Knowledge graph

Search engines like Google, Bing, Sogou have started to expand their data into
Encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
and other rich sources of information. Google for example calls this sort of information " Google Knowledge Graph", if a search query matches it will display an additional sub-window on right hand side with information from its sources.


Google Discover

Google discover formerly known as Google feed is a way of getting topics and news information to users on the homepage below the search box.


Generation

Major search engines like
Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
,
Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Mana ...
,
Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...
,
Petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...
, Sogou primarily use content contained within the page and fallback to
metadata Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...
tags of a web page to generate the content that makes up a search
snippet A snippet is defined as a small piece of something; it may in more specific contexts refer to: * Sampling (music), the use of a short phrase of a recording as an element in a new piece of music * Snipets {{Infobox television , image ...
. Generally, the
HTML The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaS ...
title tag will be used as the title of the snippet while the most relevant or useful contents of the web page ( description tag or page copy) will be used for the description.


Scraping and automated access

Search engine result pages are protected from automated access by a range of defensive mechanisms and terms of service. These result pages are the primary data source for
Search engine optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or "organic" results) rather than dire ...
, the website placement for competitive keywords that has become an important field of business and interest. Google has even used
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
to warn users against this practice The sponsored (creative) results on Google can cost a large amount of money for advertisers. The most expensive keywords are for legal services, especially personal injury lawyers in highly competitive markets. These keywords range in the hundreds of USD, while the most expensive is nearly 1000 USD for each sponsored click. The process of harvesting search engine result pages data is usually called " search engine scraping" or in a general form " web crawling" and generates the data SEO-related companies need to evaluate website competitive organic and sponsored rankings. This data can be used to track the position of websites and show the effectiveness of SEO as well as keywords that may need more SEO investment to rank higher.


UX and SERP

There are more than 200 different factors defining ranking in SERP. User experience is one of the most important indicators for the Search Engines. They strive to display the most relevant results for their users and constantly check the user behavior regarding websites that are in SERP. Search Engines can change the position of a website if its CTR is very low compared with the competitors.


See also

* User intent


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Search Engine Results Page Search engine optimization Internet search engines Internet terminology