Trying to boost your organic traffic can seem like an impossible task. After all, how can you compete with all the paid advertisements out there? The good news is that you can take control of your marketing strategy and boost your organic traffic by utilizing SERP features without spending a single penny!
If you haven’t heard of SERPs before, you’re not alone. In a world that seems to revolve around SEO, it’s easy to overlook the importance of SERPs. However, SERP features are one area that you definitely don’t want to overlook if your end goal is to increase your organic traffic and, eventually, actual sales.
What Are SERP Features?
Search engine result page features, or SERP features, are ways that Google has been able to organize and optimize the results that come up from a search. Google has been tweaking this area for years in order to improve the overall user experience and make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for.
Back in the old days, a Google search would usually result in hard-to-read textual information. These days, Google uses a variety of different SERP features to break down the resulting information for users and give them the best results.
That said, Google deals with both organic and paid search results. Organic results come up based on Google’s highly specialized algorithm that can determine the best and most relevant results for a given keyword search. On the other hand, Google also offers paid advertisements where companies can bid to have their content show up at the top of a search result page for a given keyword search.
While Google search results can be helpful, they are a totally different animal. So we are going to be focusing exclusively on organic search results within this article to help you conquer your marketing strategy and increase your revenue.
Why Are SERP Features Important?
SERP features are a key part of SEO, or search engine optimization. As mentioned, Google uses a tailored algorithm when determining its organic search results for a given keyword. But how does that algorithm work, and how can you guarantee that you actually show up on the search engine results page?
As it turns out, there are a lot of different ways to do this. For example, on-page SEO utilizes metadata, images, and the inclusion of keywords in headings in order to show up higher on the list. There’s also off-page SEO that utilizes things like link-building, social bookmarking, and content marketing.
Companies pay a lot of money for SEO professionals to help them rank higher on Google for their chosen keywords. That said, SEO is only useful when organic search results aren’t overshadowed by a bunch of other SERP features. This happens when things like map locations, paid advertisements, featured snippets, etc.
But what’s the story behind all of these SERP features, and how can you use them to your advantage instead of being disadvantaged by them? Stay tuned to find out!
Different Google SERP Features You Need to Know About
Google is constantly changing and tweaking its SERP features — so many new ones have popped up over the years that it’s hard to keep up! Thankfully, we have created a comprehensive list of all the different Google SERP features that you need to know about to effectively use them to your advantage:
- Paid Search Results: We’ve discussed this already, but it’s worth discussing again in more detail. These results come up with the word “ad” next to them at the top and/or the bottom of the first page. They appear on 51.61% of page one SERPs.
- Featured Snippets: Featured snippets typically appear when a question is asked. This allows the user to see the actual answer to their question without even having to click on any of the actual results! In most cases, the snippet is taken from one of the top five search results.
- Local Pack: Local packs typically appear when a search has a local intent, for example, when you search using the words “near me” or using a specific city name. A local pack will appear as a map of the area searched with three results at the bottom. This SERP is especially beneficial for small businesses who have brick-and-mortar locations and are looking to get foot traffic into their business rather than online traffic.
- Google Shopping: Google Shopping is another paid version of advertising that involves actual products with images, prices, seller names, reviews, and more. These results come up with the word “sponsored” next to them at the top and/or the side of the search results.
- Image Pack: Image packs can appear in any organic position that, when clicked on, brings you to Google Images. This might seem useless; however, when you consider that one-third of all Google searches are for images, you may want to consider optimizing this SERP feature.
- News: News articles typically appear with relevant content based on the original search in the “top stories” section. This section typically includes content from larger news organizations and publishers, but it’s not impossible for smaller companies to appear in this section.
- Video: Videos on platforms like YouTube can also show up with organic search results on Google. Videos are popular because they tend to be more engaging, interactive, and informative.
How to Boost Organic Traffic With SERP Features?
Now that you know a bit more about the different SERP features on Google, you can use them to your advantage! Here are some of the things you can do to boost your organic traffic with the use of SERP features:
- Featured Snippets: The first step is ranking within the top five search results for your given keyword. From there, you can use structured data and an effective answer to the question you’re trying to appear in — generally within 40-60 words.
- Local Pack: The first step is completing or updating your Google My Business information so that you’re more likely to show up in those top three results. You should also pay attention to creating a mobile-friendly website in addition to your business’ Google reviews.
- Image Pack: The first step is to use descriptive file names for the images on your site. You should also be using alt-tags and image captions. Finally, you should ensure that all your pages have relevant titles and URLs.
- News: The first step is to submit your site for Google’s approval. You will then need to optimize your website layout, website speed, actual content, text, and images.
- Video: The first step is to optimize your video titles and descriptions on YouTube. You may also want to input closed captions or upload a full transcript.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s definitely possible to boost your organic traffic by using SERP features to your advantage! So instead of stressing out about your SEO strategy and Google placement as a result of annoying SERP features, take steps to work alongside them instead of fighting against them. And remember, if you ever have any questions or concerns about SERP features, SEO, organic searches, and everything in between — feel free to reach out to Greg Gillman for professional expertise and assistance.
Sources:
Step-by-Step Guide to Finding the Best Search Terms for Your Business | Inc
This Is What Makes SEO Important For Every Business | Entrepreneur
The New First Place: Targeting Position Zero In Search Results | Forbes
