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What does SERP mean?

The term SERP stands for the abbreviation Search Engine Result Page(s) and means in English as much as Search Result Page(s). Search engines like Google list the results of a search query in their SERPs in descending order of relevance

  • Show the results of a search in the form of snippets
  • Varies according to search engine and person
  • Top position in SERPs is the goal of every site operator

What is displayed in the SERPs

After the internet users have entered terms or combinations into the search field of search engines, the search result is presented to them on a new page (SERP). This is done in the form of so-called snippets, which consist of a headline, a short description and the link. In the case of rich snippets, the result is supplemented by further information, which is read and processed by the search engine as structured data on the corresponding target page. The concrete number of results per SERP can vary. Google usually displays ten snippets in its SERPs. However, these can also be enriched with the results from the image search or, for example, from Google News or Google Maps. Other extensions like Google Answer Box etc. are also possible, much depends on the type of search query and the settings. If a user uses the mobile search, links to apps may appear. In addition to organic search hits, SERPs often list paid text or image ads. The exact SERP ranking is calculated on the basis of numerous different algorithms and factors (mostly kept secret by search engines to avoid spam). The respective structure of the SERPs looks very similar for all common search engine providers.

These factors influence the SERP

The SERP display is always dependent on many individual factors, especially the ranking factors. Meanwhile, for example, Google has hundreds of factors, including keyword focus, backlinks and their quality, relevance and quality of the content, loading speed etc. With every update the SERPs change in this context. Successful search engine optimizers are therefore always up to date and adjust their strategies accordingly. But independent of this, there are also many other signals that influence the order of the snippets. If Google users are personally logged in, the search results are usually adjusted to their previous use. If users do not empty their browser cache, Google receives information about previous search queries via various cookies and can therefore adjust the results accordingly. Google can also adapt the SERPs to the users location by activating geo-localization. In addition, the search results can also be different on different devices, since, for example, in the case of queries via smartphones, pages optimised for mobile use are preferred for the SERPs. The SERP area has developed continuously in recent years, especially at Google. Once there were only simple snippets, today the user benefits from enormously extended functionality. The webmaster naturally wants to have a top ranking or at least a better positioning for his pages than his competitors in the SERPs. So his site must be flawless both technically and in terms of content. Only this way he can get a lot of traffic, because the users usually hardly ever look at the second SERP. With the help of a meaningful Meta Title as well as a compact description, the attention of the users is drawn to the snippet. The meta data has a great influence on whether or not users are looking at a particular result of the SERP. A lot has already been achieved, but the goal is the click, which automatically increases the click-through rate. Also because the user only looks at the SERP for a few seconds on average, this topic is of utmost importance for SEOs. The improvement of the snippet in the SERP is therefore an important part of search engine optimization

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