How to Improve Ranking on Google SERP?

There are millions of pages on the internet, but search engine results pages, or SERPs, are the most significant to digital marketers. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisers and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialists compete for the same valuable real estate in the most prominent parts of the SERPs, but competition is fierce, and technological advances in search mean it’s more important than ever for digital marketers to understand how search works and what they can do to optimize their visibility. The first stage to the question How to improve ranking on Google SERP is to make small, strategic changes to your Google search ranking.

What Are Search Engine Results Pages and How Do They Function?

When users use a search engine like Google to hunt for something online, they view search engine results pages (SERPs). The user types their search query into the search engine (typically using keywords), and the search engine provides a SERP (search engine results page). In simple words, Google’s answer to a user’s search query is known as “SERPs” or “SERP”.

Even for searches conducted on the same search engine with the same terms or search queries, each SERP is distinct. This is because almost every search engine personalizes the user experience by showing results based on a variety of criteria other than the user’s search terms, such as the user’s geographical location, browsing history, and social settings.

Although two SERPs may appear to be identical and contain many of the same results, there are typically minor variances.

• Search Engine Optimization

The practice of improving websites and web pages for discovery in search engines and, as a result, more visible placement on search engine results pages, is known as search engine optimization. This is performed using a range of strategies, ranging from “on-page” SEO to “off-page” SEO.

• On-Page SEO

On-page SEO refers to best practices that web content authors and site owners can use to make their content more discoverable. To mention a few, this involves creating detailed page metadata (data about data) for each page and its elements, such as photos, using unique, static URLs, including keywords in relevant headings and subheadings, and using clean HTML code.

Learn about the Top SEO Trends

• Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO, in contrast to on-page SEO, refers to strategies that affect the entire site. Off-page SEO strategies include link creation and exchange, social bookmarking, content marketing, submissions to directories and search engine indexes, and the formation of online communities on social media.

Even though the whole scope of SEO is far too large to describe in detail here, all you need to know is that SEO is primarily concerned with attaining higher organic rankings. Businesses may appoint an agency or an SEO professional to execute their SEO job, but no money is involved beyond this expenditure, and the focus is only on ranking higher in organic search.

• PPC and Search Engine Results Pages

In contrast to SEO, pay-per-click marketing generally focuses on the utilization of advertising dollars to get prominent placement on search engine results pages. However, increasing the budget for a campaign isn’t enough; advertisers must plan intelligently to achieve their objectives.

Paid search functions as an auction. Advertisers place bids on keywords that are related to their business and can result in their adverts being displayed when people search for those terms. A variety of factors influence where an ad appears in the SERP. Some advertising may appear above organic search results, while others may appear to the right of organic results.

Some marketers prefer to show their adverts just in response to mobile searches, while others choose to ignore mobile results entirely. Extensions are included in certain advertisements, whereas they are not in others.

Paid search, like SEO, is a complicated issue. For now, simply remember that paid search focuses on optimizing ads to appear in the most prominent position and to improve ranking by the following how to improve ranking on Google SERP.

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Why Are Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) Important for SEO?

How your site appears on Google’s first page is determined by the SERPs, or how to improve ranking on Google SERP. Let’s imagine you have a site that ranks on the first page of Google for the phrase “how to establish a website.” That’s terrific until you notice that the #1 result is pushed way below the fold by SERP features. That means that even if you get to page 1, you’re unlikely to get many clicks.

The SERP for “link building,” on the other hand, is substantially less crowded. It’s basically 10 blue links. As a result, your organic result has a good probability of being clicked on. When it comes to reviewing the SERPs, another crucial thing to consider is “no-click searches.”

How to improve ranking on Google SERP?

To assist your business get visibility, you can use a combination of sponsored and organic techniques to improve ranking on Google SERP. Follow the procedure provided above about how to improve ranking on Google SERP. Paid ad campaigns and SEO are two types of strategies. The details for each of them can be found below.

Use Paid Ads

One of the many SERP features is paid search ads, often known as pay-per-click (PPC) ads. For example, if you’re trying to rank for a specific search term that has a lot of competition and has proven difficult to improve organically, PPC advertisements could help you compete for the top-most place on the first page of the SERPs.

Many businesses benefit from paid advertising tactics for generating leads. However, because about 80% of consumers ignore those advertisements, it’s best to develop a solid plan and conduct A/B testing before investing much in PPC advertising.

Keep the following in mind if your organization is considering establishing a PPC campaign:

• Select your keywords carefully. To find terms that relate to your brand and satisfy a user’s search queries, use tools like Keyword Overview and Google Ads Keyword Planner.

• Carefully specify the parameters for when your ad should display. Negative keywords can be used to tell Google when you don’t want the ad to display. For example, you might not want your ad for a Laptop to appear during someone’s search for “Laptop” while also including the word “free.”

• Track your campaign carefully. Examine the ad’s popularity and what happens when people click on it. This will assist you in determining what is performing effectively and where your campaign may be strengthened.

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Improve Your Organic Results

Paid ads are impressive for offering instant results, but ad budgets can only last so long. Organic SEO is a better option for a longer, more successful game of raising rank, especially if you’re just starting and have a small budget. Organic SEO is the best option about how to improve ranking on Google SERP.

According to firms, organic SEO efforts are five times more effective than sponsored advertising tactics. How do you improve your organic results? You’ll notice a change if you focus on these seven recommended habits.

1. Carefully research keywords that interest users. The Keyword Overview Tool is fantastic since it delivers exact keyword matches as well as related keywords that you can utilize to improve the ranks of your content.

2. Ensure your content is comprehensive. Create material that delves into the topic in-depth, uses semantic keywords and responds to users’ questions.

3. Look for opportunities to generate backlinks. Consider marketing a piece of content you’ve created so that it can be shared or linked to other websites.

4. Encourage engagement with your content. Share the page on social media and in email newsletters to enhance engagement.

5. Optimize your content for SERP features. Using schema markup, you may better alert Google bots about your site or page. You can use markup for recipes, products, and reviews, among other things. Improving your organic listings should be your first goal if you want more genuine results that stay longer than an ad campaign. A good organic SEO strategy can greatly help to solve your queries on how to improve ranking on Google SERP.

SERP Features (Rich Results)

Now that we understand how SERP features to function and what you can do to improve your rankings, let’s take a deeper look at them. Any additional element on a SERP that adds something new to the standard format of a results page is referred to as a SERP feature.

The term “SERP feature” is unofficial. Google refers to these types of query results as “search result features” or “rich results.” Although the two terms are interchangeable, we’ll refer to them as SERP characteristics in this post. Google tests and improves these elements regularly to provide a user-friendly search engine experience.

These are the SERP Features you may see on Google:

• Featured Snippet (Instant Answer)
• Local Pack
• Reviews
• Sitelinks
• Videos
• Top Stories
• Images
• Twitter
• Knowledge Panel
• FAQs
• People Also Ask
• Related Searches
• Google Flights Block
• Hotel Pack
• Job Listings
• Google Ads
• Shopping Ads (Product Listing Ads)

Featured Snippets

As previously mentioned, a featured snippet, also known as an answer box, appears in organic results. Google highlights a section of content from a website in the highlighted snippet to provide a brief, direct answer to the user’s question without having to go to the first or second page of results.

Featured Snippets show in “position zero” at the very top of the organic results. Google highlighted snippets may link to the domain holding the text, response, and image related to the search query. Featured snippets may display in the form of a widget if your search query includes phrases like “weather” or “convert inches to centimeters.”

Knowledge Panel

A knowledge panel is used by Google to give a fast summary of people, places, or things, and it frequently includes important dates, a brief review of the issue, and some photographs. The panel shows in the upper right corner of desktop results, whereas it appears at the top of mobile results.

The Knowledge Graph is the brains behind Google’s knowledge panel, a database that collects broad factual information from sources including the CIA World Factbook, Wikipedia, and millions of daily queries.

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Image Pack

Image Packs appear when Google considers that visual elements will create a more comprehensive results page. Picture results may appear as a row or block of similar photos among organic results. When you choose a result, you’ll be directed to the “Images” search tab, where you can only browse the image’s host website. Learn more about image search optimization to get the most out of your picture search results.

Pro tip: Using structured data markup can aid Google in comprehending and displaying your photos correctly.

Top Stories

Top stories are quite valuable when consumers seek more information about a major event or breaking news.

People Also Ask (PAA)

Consumers can read the responses to the PAA box questions by clicking on them in the Google SERPs. This can help people better comprehend their initial query without having to click through to different results. Related questions can show up anywhere on a SERP, but they’re more likely to show up near the top, usually under the Featured Snippet. You’ll be transported to a website where you can find the answer if you click on a relevant question’s result.

Sitelinks

Sitelinks are one-of-a-kind links that appear beneath a website’s Google result. Google displays these links to help people quickly navigate to a certain portion of a website. It usually appears for pages with a simple navigation system that Google can understand.

Related Searches

At the bottom of the SERPs, Google provides a “similar searches” area, which encourages users to conduct additional searches related to their initial inquiry. Google will offer several related questions to help you get the answer you’re looking for, some of which you might not have considered.

Shopping Results

If Google detects a buyer’s intent, it will show a carousel of products available for purchase from various e-commerce sites in shopping advertising. Users may now quickly browse things across many e-commerce websites without having to scour the SERPs for new keywords.

Reviews

Review snippets add a yellow star rating and, in some cases, an image to standard search results. A five-star rating is a global symbol for expressing the worth of any search. According to studies, search results with reviews have a higher average click-through rate.

If users can review your content and the page contains the necessary schema markup, you might gain this feature. Google will analyze the trustworthiness of the reviews and if they are “self-serving” or appropriate for the web page.

Local Pack

When a query involves local service, local intent, or a geographical name, such as “coffee shop near me” or “best pizza near in Pune,” a Local Pack appears in SERPs. Businesses in your immediate vicinity are included in these results. The Local Pack usually shows beneath the AdWords results at the top of a SERP, although it might also appear below the organic links on occasion.

A Local Pack usually consists of:

• A map with locations and pins
• Each location has a five-star rating scale.
• Three outcomes of the search

When you click on a business icon, you’ll be taken to the Google Business Profile listing, where you’ll find more detailed information on the company, such as:

• Working hours
• Phone numbers
• Pictures
• Q&A
• Popular times
• Reviews

60% of smartphone users have called a business directly from the search results (for example, using the “click to call” option). Furthermore, as voice search becomes more common, “near me” questions make up a large number of searches, increasing the attraction of this feature.

As a result, a Local Pack is a crucial marketing approach for attracting new clients. Top-level tips and how to use Google Business Profile to improve your local SEO visibility both are equally important (GBP, formerly known as Google My Business). A lot of the data in the Local Pack’s search results is in GBP.

If you have complete control over your GBP profile, you will be able to monitor and manage this information. A different algorithm than organic search rankings is used to decide the ranking of Local Pack’s. As a result, Local Pack SEO requires a unique strategy. More information on the Local Pack algorithm and how to improve local rankings may be found in Google’s official guide.

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Video

A video SERP feature linked to a search query appears among the organic results on a SERP. This SERP feature might direct you to a video hosting site like YouTube or Vimeo, or a webpage with a video embedded.

Twitter

In 2015, Google and Twitter partnered to index tweets in search engine results pages (SERPs). Twitter search results typically highlight the most recent and popular tweets relevant to a query. The Twitter findings show tweets from both verified and unverified users.

FAQs

The FAQ drop-down lists show under organic results for inquiries that raise questions or explicitly mention “FAQs.” If you want this capability to show on your website, you’ll need to mark up your content with the FAQ schema.

Google Flights Pack

The Google Flights pack compiles flight data from all across the web and displays it in a table of options. You may filter and sort directly on SERPs for any flight-related questions. This package can include both free and paid listings from flying companies.

Hotel Pack

The Hotel Pack, like the Local Pack, shows hotel listings in a map pack directly on SERPs. This pack, on the other hand, is entirely dedicated to hotels, with hoteliers and advertisers paying for placements through Google Hotel Ads.

Job Listings

Google pulls up a table of open job postings from sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, and corporate websites.m Using the Job Posting schema markup, you may get the listings from your site into this particular block.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to improve ranking on Google SERP to increase traffic?

Focusing on boosting your SERP is one of the finest strategies to achieve this goal. When people are looking for information on a new product, they frequently turn to Google. As a result, if your site ranks higher on the list, you will receive more traffic and potential customers.

2. What is a good SERP ranking?

In the eyes of potential clients, a good SERP signifies a favorable image. This is very important because the internet is quite a competitive field for all incoming marketers. A higher ranking translates to success. There are numerous advantages to having a high SERP ranking.

3. What is the average time it takes for Google to rank your content?

It could take up to six months for your content to show up in search results.

4. Is it possible to rank on Google’s first page for free?

It is feasible to rank high on Google without paying if you optimize your website for organic traffic and do some free content marketing.

Conclusion

You could be tempted to generate content for each of your keywords after you’ve created a list of keywords that are relevant to your business. Neglecting to conduct a thorough SERP analysis can put your page up for failure from the beginning. Because of the competition, your page may have minimal chance of ranking, or you may develop the incorrect type of content depending on search intent, SERP features, and what the competition is doing.

Following your first keyword research, a SERP analysis might help you avoid creating content that will never be seen. The more you understand SERPs, the better your content and site design will be. To maintain your site healthy and rank high, it’s vital to stay current with Google’s regulations. Read some SEO information and ideas to learn more about optimizing for search. The above-mentioned steps are greatly helpful to solve your doubt about how to improve your ranking on Google SERP.