In this series of blogs we will answer frequently asked question our team are asked by clients and the wider public.
If you’re involved in digital marketing, SEO or even just using search engines to find information, you’ve probably come across the term “SERP” at some point. But what exactly is a SERP? In this blog post, we’ll explore what SERPs are, why they matter, and how you can optimise your website to improve your ranking on them.
What is a SERP?
SERP stands for “search engine results page.” It’s the page that appears after you enter a search query into a search engine like Google, Bing or Yahoo. The SERP is a list of websites that the search engine has deemed most relevant to the search query based on a number of factors, including the website’s content, structure, and relevance to the search query.
SERPs usually include several types of results, including:
- Paid results – these are ads that appear at the top of the page and are usually marked as such.
- Organic results – these are the main results that appear below the paid results. They are ranked based on the search engine’s algorithm and are not paid for.
- Featured snippets – these are short snippets of text that appear at the top of the organic results and provide a quick answer to the search query.
- Knowledge graph – this is a box that appears on the right side of the SERP and provides information about a topic, such as a person or place.
Why do SERPs matter?
SERPs matter because they are the main way that users find information online. When someone enters a search query, they are looking for information, and the websites that appear on the SERP are the ones that are most likely to provide that information. This means that if you want to get traffic to your website, you need to appear on the first page of the SERP for relevant search queries.
Appearing on the first page of the SERP is important because most people don’t bother looking beyond the first page. In fact, studies have shown that the first three results on the SERP receive the majority of clicks, with the first result receiving the most.
How can you optimise your website for SERPs?
Optimising your website for SERPs is known as search engine optimisation (SEO). There are a number of factors that influence how your website ranks on the SERP, including:
- Content – the content on your website should be high-quality, informative, and relevant to the search query.
- Keywords – your website should include relevant keywords that people are searching for.
- Links – links from other high-quality websites to your website can help improve your ranking on the SERP.
- User experience – your website should be easy to navigate, load quickly, and be optimized for mobile devices.
- Technical factors – there are a number of technical factors that can influence your ranking on the SERP, including the structure of your website, the use of meta tags, and the use of schema markup.
By focusing on these factors, you can improve your rankings and drive more traffic to your website.
Need help on where to start? Reach out to Mule, Swindon’s leading technical SEO consultant, to see how we can guide you.
