When doing a Google search do you scroll past the first page? If not, you are not the only one. It’s true! Being on page one of SERPs (search engine results page) is where you need to be to get the traffic and clicks that will help grow your business.
This may seem obvious, however, with so many businesses trying to get to the top spot it can feel like an impossible task to reach those coveted top positions.
So, how can you do it? Well, understanding the ranking opportunities that page one has to offer is a great place to start!
Google SERP
The Google SERP varies dependant on your search query. The SERP can include varies elements which you will have all seen. The screenshot below shows an example of a current SERP for a common search query.
Paid Listings
In order to appear in prime positions on Google you will have to pay for it. There are two types of Paid Ads which could appear on the SERPs:
Google Ads
PPC ads are a brilliant way of capturing your ideal customers, generating leads and sales. In order to get the best results, your ads must be set up correctly to achieve a successful campaign. Google shopping ads are great for ecommerce website to show off their products (especially if you are offering goods at competitive prices).
Google Shopping
Google Shopping is part of the Google Ads platform, you can allow Google to access your product feed and get your products to appear within the shopping results. You then pay-per-click when a searcher clicks on your ad.
Organic Listings
These are the traditional organic listings which consists of a title line, URL, and a short description. As standard there are 10 of these organic listings per page.
Organic listings are affected by SEO. Getting to the top of these listings isn’t an easy task and is more than keywords and content. Your website will need to adhere to Googles 200 ranking factors in order to stand a chance of appearing in this section of SERPS.
In order to rank highly on organic search, Google has to see your website as influential in your industry. Google wants to show searchers the best results that will successfully answer their questions, so the more your business appears on other platforms with high domain authority with links back to your website the better.
Additional SERP Features
There are additional SERP features sit above and within the SERP. These SERP features give brands the opportunity to gain more ‘real estate’, and the more ‘real estate’ a brand has the higher the brand awareness and opportunities to convert are.
Some SERP features you can control, for example rankings and site links, some SERP features you can try and appear in, but you are at Google’s mercy and these can be volatile, for example images. Then there are some of the SERP features which you will have no control over, so not waste your efforts, for example related searches and knowledge panels.
Top 10 SERP Features
To date there are over 40 SERP features, with lots in specific verticals. However, the 10 most common SERP features are:
- Featured Snippet – these have higher click-throughs (CTR) than organic results. Google answers a query within the SERP
- Site links – these are additional links which appear under the main organic listing, these are normally deep links.
- Top Stories/News – shows time sensitive news stories directly into the SERP
- Image pack – Google shows a row of images which then click you through to Google images. So, if you rank on top of an image search then you could appear within the image pack in the SERP. Images can appear in any organic position
- Knowledge graph/Knowledge graph – information which appears within a box or panel on the right-hand side of the SERP.
- Tweets – Google has been showing relevant tweets in the SERPs since 2015
- Video – Video can appear within the SERPs, in particular YouTube videos. You must use video schema mark-up to have a chance of appearing
- People Also Ask – these are relevant questions to the search query; these are very common mid-way down the SERP
- Local map pack – for local search queries, Google will show three locations which match the search query. These are particular dominate on Mobile. So, if you have a physical location ranking within the top 3 places is essential.
- Carousel – Google shows various types of carousels, where the searcher has the option to scroll through using the arrow. One example that Google shows the carousel for is entertainment queries such as ‘2020 films’
Fandango Digital understand the importance of the Universal SERP, all digital marketing campaigns track the universal SERP page and the digital strategy takes into account the mixture of SERP features for each client vertical.
Are you are looking to get your brand noticed and have a strong digital presence? If so, the team at Fandango Digital can help, contact us today!
