SEO Glossary: SERP

 

 

What is SERP?

The term SERP comes from the English and means "Search Engine Result Page". Translated, it means search results page.

 

When a user submits a search query, the SERP displays the corresponding search results. While the results used to be static and very one-sided, they are now dynamic and depend on several factors. For example, the country and region in which a user is located.

 

Many SEOs and webmasters are always striving to get as high as possible in the SERPs. Because the higher the position is, the better the click rates turn out. And that results in more traffic on the bottom line.

 

 

 

 

How is the SERP structured?

In recent years, it has been very easy to observe how the SERP has constantly evolved. Previously, search engine results from Google and Co. only displayed simple result boxes, also known as SNIPPETS were displayed.

 

But today they deliver much more. Depending on the type of content on the target page, the information is also displayed in the SERPs as info boxes. These are alternatively also known as knowledge graphs. The search engine decides independently which type of info box is displayed to the user. However, it can help to implement the information on a website with structured data.

 

For example, if users search for a famous athlete, a corresponding infobox is displayed with all the important facts (place of birth, age, career, etc.). In addition, there are other infobox types with FAQs, recipes or videos, for example.

 

The goal is to provide users with only relevant and high-quality content so that they receive the greatest possible benefit.

What factors play a role in the output in the SERPS?

At the beginning of Google and other search engines, the SERPs were still largely static. The individual country versions were identical for almost all users. But today, things look very different.

 

Search engine results are largely dynamic and their output depends on various factors.

 

Below are factors and signals for the SERPs:

 

• History in the browser: Search engines store information about previous search queries in cookies. Accordingly, they can have an influence on further future search queries.

 

• Location: In the meantime, it also plays an important role where the user is currently located (keyword Local SEO). If a user has activated geo-localization and enters "Chinese restaurant", for example, he will receive corresponding results from Chinese restaurants in the city in which he is currently located in the SERPs. Here, for example, the output of search results takes place in Google Maps.

 

• End device: If a user enters a search term from a mobile device, he or she receives corresponding results that are optimized for a tablet or smartphone. This is intended to make the user experience positive.

 

• Logged-in users: It is not uncommon for search engine users to be logged in with their Google account, for example. According to their previous usage, they therefore receive different and possibly optimized search results.