What Are SERPs and Why Are They Important to Your Marketing Strategy?

What are SERPs?

Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are the pages of results that search engines generate after a user has submitted a search query by typing or speaking it. Answer boxes appear as top-ranking results, positioned between paid ads and the organic search results. Google refers to the featured snippet within these boxes as "position zero" (P0), also known as "Featured Snippet" or "Rank Zero." P0 content is based on search engine algorithms that detect a site's relevance in answering the user's question in addition to the site's Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ranking. Among numerous additional factors, the searcher's past browsing history and physical location are also taken into consideration.

The snippet displays the site's web copy with a summarized answer directly on the SERP. The P0 site's title and URL are displayed with the answer, but the user has no need to click through to the site with the answer instantly given.

Why SERP Ranking Is Important for Marketing

A P0 spot will give you more territory and exposure on a SERP. This will lower your competitors' site ranking while enhancing your click-through rate (CTR) with more traffic and clicks. The jump in exposure will offset any loss of click-throughs due to your answer being displayed on the SERP.

With the increased usage of mobile assistants, such as Siri, and home assistants, like Google Home and Amazon's Alexa, the percentage of voice searches is constantly growing. Rather than being read a list of websites to consult, users of screenless home assistants expect a direct answer to their voiced queries. To better serve these mobile and home assistant demographics, marketers already using target keywords and ranking among the top ten organic search positions should expand their SEO strategies specific to P0, known as "On-SERP SEO."

Using On-SERP SEO to Reach Position Zero

Copywriting optimization:

• Answers containing the 5 Ws and 1 H (who, what, when, where, why, how).
• Definitions to words or terms the searcher needs to find quickly.
• How-to answers, using the phrase "how-to" with the information. Many results include step-by-step instruction or video.
• Comparisons, such as between products or brands.
• Price or cost information.
• "Top" or "Best" lists.
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) specific to a topic.

Content optimization for information to show in various P0 formats:

• Bulleted and numbered lists
• Paragraphs
• Charts
• Tables
• Images
• Videos

When Google displays results in the P0, they may display in these formats, depending on the type of site, site or image/video keywords used, and the user's device:

• Image results
• Video carousel
• Recipe carousel
• Google shopping (limited to being part of Google Actions project)
• Local packs
• Interesting finds (limited to mobile devices)

In Conclusion

Today's more expansive interactive and robust search engine results necessitate equally expansive SEO and marketing strategies. Organic rankings now must be complemented by on-SERP SEO.

Each SERP result should be assessed in its entirety, with the strategy of still appearing in organic listings while expanding to several other search sections. Optimizing in this method, covering as many possible search components in one SERP, is the main focus of on-SERP SEO.

Despite the challenge of on-SERP SEO, SERP provides many opportunities for your marketing goals. Besides enhancing the quality of your site's content, you will be offering an engaging platform to present and future customers and increasing your brand's reputation.