Written by Manuel Barrios Carrasco
Índice
The SERPS (Search Engine Result Pages) are those pages that, after a search performed by the user in the search engine, the search engine offers as a result of that search. It is generally composed of ten links or websites on each page of organic results, that is, those that appear as a result of SEO efforts and that are offered as relevant by the search engine, whether it is Google, Bing, Yahoo! or Yandex.
We will analyze the results pages of the search engine that holds more than 90% of the market in Spain, such as Google.
When the user searches in Google by entering the keyword that defines his search, these search engines offer a page with those 10 organic results as an answer, trying to get relevant and useful content for the user.
In addition to the 10 natural or organic results per page offered by these search engines, we will also find the paid or PPC (Pay per click) results, the result of advertising efforts, as well as other possible results from the Google Universe that we will see later. (Shopping, Maps, etc.)
Elements of the SERPS or results pages
There are several elements that can make up a search engine results page, as they do not always have the same types of results. The search engine will offer different formats depending on how relevant they are to the keyword searched by the user.
These results will also depend on the type of SERP we want to see, for example in Google we have the option to choose results referring to different types of SERP: Everything, News, Images, Shopping, Maps, Videos, Books, Flights and Finance.
Keyword
It is the search term entered by the user to search for the desired content related to that word or group of words. You will find it in the classic search box of any search engine.
Organic search results in the different types of SERPs
There is not only the SERP corresponding to link results or web pages related to the search, but different types of results can be searched for that keyword:
- Web: traditional page of natural results of pages in search engines.
- News: SERP or search results page that displays news related to the words entered in the search engine. These are mainly news items that appear in Google News.
- Images: displays a list of images relevant to the search term.
- Shopping:
- Maps: takes us to the Google Maps site map that you understand to be relevant to the keyword entered, if it exists. It is usually offered when the search is related to a place or company with its own geographic location identified by the searcher. It takes center stage in local searches and takes the data it offers next to the Google Places map.
- Videos: offers the user a results page with videos related to the keyword used, mainly videos from your YouTube platform.
- Books: provides a list of Google books or Google Books linked to the search term.
- Flights: functionality that offers a covert flight search engine.
- Finance:
Number of results
What approximately does the search engine find related to the keyword.
Related searches
At the bottom, Google will suggest related terms or searches.
Paginated
Google inserts one at the bottom by sorting the different SERPs according to the highest relevance to the search keyword.
Snippets
These are the fragments of each of the results offered by Google. These Snippet, are formed by a title or title of the page you are linking to, up to 70 characters; a description or meta description up to 156 characters; a sample URL, which does not have to be the real one, in green color; and it can be enriched by displaying additional information about authors, reviews, companies, events, telephone numbers, address, etc. thanks to microformats. 
PPC Results
Within the Google Web results pages, as in other search engines, in addition to the natural search results resulting from SEO, we will have the paid search results or PPC (Pay Per Click). These are links that are used by advertisers to advertise on Google through the search that the user performs in its search engine, offering relevant sites in which the advertiser must pay Google for each click that the user performs on a paid link. They are presented in 3 locations:
- Top of the SERP above the organic results, where we can find both PPC paid search results and Google Shopping.
- Side of the search results page: where we will find both Google Shopping ads.
- PPC bottom of Google SERP: Google sometimes inserts pay-per-click ads at the bottom of the results page, 3 at most.
In the SERP of Google Shopping, we have already seen that there is a specific results page for Shopping, we have paid results that link to Google Shopping and the relevant products on the platform. It is one of the most outstanding functionalities, offering as results products from Google’s virtual store, a price comparator of products that have been previously registered by advertisers through their Google Merchant Center account. Google Shopping results appear at the top or top right of the SERP.
Search tools
Finally, users can segment their search using the Search Tools, where they can narrow their search by language, dates, etc.
The goal in online marketing will be to appear as well positioned as possible on the first page of search engine results, because the higher we are, the more visibility we will have and surely, a greater number of clicks and therefore visits to our website.
We must therefore work and concentrate our efforts on positioning ourselves as well as possible in the SERPS of search engines to have more chances of achieving our goals, taking care of both our SEO strategy for the sake of a good organic positioning in the SERP, as well as our strategy and investments in PPC.
Example of a Google results page
Additional references
Definitive guide to Google results (SERPs) and how to appear in them
