Beyond standard organic and paid search results, search engine results pages (SERPs) often include other features, such as videos, tweets, links, popular products, etc.
These widgets are called SERP Features and can be analyzed at a keyword level using Similarweb. (see below for a complete list of SERP features)
In this article, we'll review the different types of SERP features and how understanding SERP can be valuable to your strategy.
Understanding the features of a search engine results page (SERP) can help you improve the visibility of your website in search engine results and increase the amount of traffic that it receives. By knowing which features are available on a SERP and how they work, you can optimize your website to take advantage of these features and improve your chances of appearing in them.
For example, if a SERP includes a featured snippet, you can optimize your website to try to be selected for that snippet. Additionally, understanding SERP features can help you understand how your website is performing in search results and identify areas for improvement.
Three key reasons to optimize your content to show up on SERP features:
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Traffic: SERP features are often actioned and drive traffic.
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Visibility/awareness: SERP features are positioned high on the result page. Even if the feature isn't clicked, it still creates an impression.
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Credibility: Being featured in a SERP feature helps your site appear to be an expert on a given query
There are several different types of features that can appear on a search engine results page. Below are the SERP features that are included in Similiarweb Website Analysis and Keyword Analysis modules.
Content Types
News
These are collections of news articles that appear on the SERP for queries related to current events. They often include a headline, a brief summary of the article, and a link to the source website.
Images Box
These are collections of images that appear on the SERP for queries related to visual content. They often include a thumbnail of the image, as well as a link to the source website.
Video Thumbnails
These are collections of videos that appear on the SERP for queries related to video content. They often include a thumbnail of the video, as well as a link to the source website.
Direct Answer Types
Flights
The Google Flights pack brings information about flights offered from across the internet. Users can modify their selection preferences directly on the SERP.
Recipes
The Recipes SERP feature is displayed on many searches related to food. Each of three recipe cards includes an image, name of recipe, reviews, and other information such as how long it takes to cook, ingredients and more.
Knowledge Graph Types
Featured Snippets
Short blocks of text that summarize the most relevant information on a particular topic. Featured snippets are designed to provide users with a quick and concise answer to their query, without the need to click on a result and visit the corresponding web page.
Fetured Snippets have a significant impact on organic click-through rates.
Knowledge Panels
Boxes that appear on the right side of the SERP and provide additional information about a specific topic or entity. They often include information from Wikipedia and other reputable sources.
Instant Answers
Short, direct answers to a user's query that appear on the SERP without the user having to click on a search result.
Organic Result Types
Organic Sitelinks
To help refine your search, Google may display some featured pages of a site as independent and clickable links within the result. These links take you directly to a page within the site.
Instead of having to go to the homepage in order to use the site's directory and end up on the desired page, Google, via SiteLinks, enables you to access your desired page destination directly from the results page.
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Inline Sitelinks (aka Bottom Ads)
Similar to sitelines, inline sitelinks provide links to a section of a page on a website. They allow the user to scan the main sections of a page, and when clicked they take the user to that section of the content.
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These are tweets and other social media posts that appear on the SERP for queries related to a specific topic or user. They often include the post's content and a link to the source account.
The feature has the appearance of being its own independent result with a clickable link to the site's Twitter page displaying on top of the page's URL (the way any result would show on the results page).
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Page One Extras
Hotel Packs
Find hotels right on the Google SERP and choose the dates and the number of people staying. A map of the area is presented on the right-hand side with multiple price tag labels and on the left-hand side four featured hotels (unlike the Local Pack which shows only three listings). These featured hotels show the hotel name, an image, the price, the review rating, and some special features the hotel offers (e.g. Free Wi-Fi).
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Job Listings (Google for Jobs)
For queries related to job opportunities, the Google for Jobs feature may display. The feature generally contains three job listings related to the query. Pulled from job listing sites, the results include the job title, the company offering the job, when the listing was posted, on what site the listing can be found, etc.
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Local Packs
Local Packs (also known as “The Map Pack”) are a set of 3 local results that shows up for a query that Google considers “local”. Local packs are super important for local businesses. Or businesses with a physical location.
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Product listing ads
Product Listing Ads (PLAs) show an expandable list of products. Clicking on a product will take you to the product's landing page. Each product can include the product's name, the website's name, an image, the price, a review rating, and additional info like 'Free Shipping'.
Shopping Results / Popular Products
SERP offers a carousel of products available for purchase based from various sites. The items in the carousel are based on Google's determination of the buyers intent.
Related searches
These are groups of queries that are related to the user's original search and can help them find additional information on a specific topic. They often include a brief description of the related query and a link to the search results page.
People Also Ask Box (PAA) / Related Questions
People Also Ask (PAA) boxes are essentially mini FAQs embedded in the organic search results. And when you click on them, they expand with an answer. And generate more related questions.
The PAA is designed to answer the question that user might want an answer to right then. Or one that he or she would search for next.
Try it now! Website Analysis > Enter a website and go to Keywords.
The SERP features insights are available on several pages within the Website Analysis and Acquisition Channels modules.
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Within the Competitive Analysis module, go to Website Analysis and enter the website to be analyzed.
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Go to Search Traffic > Keywords.
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Click Compare and add up to 4 of your competitors.
A full list of keywords that are driving traffic to you and your competitors' websites in the given time frame is displayed.
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You can apply any of the filters to narrow down your list.
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Within the keyword list table, look at the SERP Features column. Consider optimizing your content to focus on ranking for a specific SERP feature that your website is not currently ranking for.
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