Getting your website on the top search results pages of popular search engines is not an easy task. However, if you are looking for ways to achieve this for your online business, the knowledge of SERPs can prove to be a valuable link between your efforts and the success of your online marketing campaign.
What Is SERP?
SERP is short for “search engine results page” and it refers to the listing of results that a search engine publishes in response to a query made by a user. Every time someone searches for something online, he or she uses a string of words known as keywords. Search engines analyze these keywords and provide the most relevant results for that particular user. Each search engine uses its own algorithm to determine which pages contain the most relevant information for a particular query. The algorithm then lists the web pages in order of their relevance on these search engine results pages.
Today, digital marketing is the backbone of any successful marketing campaign. This is why it’s important for you to identify the importance of SERPs, the potential benefits, and use this knowledge to improve the effectiveness of your digital marketing campaign. SEO has changed significantly over the past few years. Today, proper search engine optimization is a complex and challenging task. Understanding the role SERPs play today is crucial if you want your marketing campaign to be impactful.
What Does SERP Mean For Marketing?
Besides the literal meaning of the term, there is also a deeper meaning. A proper understanding of this meaning will help you get the best results from search engines. At its core, SERP is basically a list of web pages. However, there are three different components that you need to know about:
- Initial search query – the word or string of words that a user types into the search engine. Otherwise known as keywords
- Organic listings – web pages that are listed based on their organic search engine optimization. These are usually the most relevant web pages for a user’s query
- Paid listings – sponsored web pages that are listed because their owners have spent money on advertising them. These are fairly relevant to a user’s query but might not be their best option
Why Are SERPs Important?
You probably already know that users can’t visit your website if they can’t find it. Hence why it’s important for you to focus your attention on reaching the top SERPs. A top SERP position can make a big difference for the success of your digital marketing campaign. Several study results show that:
- The top result on a SERP gets approximately 20% of all clicks.
- More than 90% of all users never reach the second results page
- It’s equally important to be in the top paid results as well
As you can see, the vast majority of users prefer to choose an option from the first results page. Less than 10% ever reach the second page. Moreover, the 20% of users that usually click on the first result may not seem like much but keep in mind that the second result only sees 10% of all clicks. Hence why a higher SERP ranking also guarantees more traffic for your website.
How Can You Improve Your SERP Ranking?
There’s no doubt that increasing the SERP position of your website is essential to the success of your digital marketing campaign. However, improving your website’s organic ranking is not an easy task. On the other hand, paying your way to the top paid search results could turn out to be a giant financial setback. This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play.
With the right approach, a successful SEO campaign can visibly improve your SERP ranking:
- Choose The Right Keywords – if you own a company that operates in the travel industry, your initial instinct might be to try and rank for keywords like “cheap flights” or “best hotels”. However, unless you’re a giant multinational tourism company, chances are, it will be impossible for you to rank for such keywords. Instead, what you should do is focus your attention to long-tail keywords. These are more specific keywords that not only offer you a better chance of ranking in the SERPs but they also have a higher click-through rate.
- Streamline Your SEO Workflow – your job doesn’t end with researching the right keywords. You’ve invested time and effort into this research and you’re about to invest your money as well. During this step, it’s important to carefully analyze the ROI (return on investment) that each of these keywords has. Don’t be afraid to drop the keywords that don’t yield the expected results.
- Improve Your PPC Workflow – similar to optimizing your keywords for the best SEO results, you should do the same with your pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. You’re looking to convert your investment into revenue. If your PPC campaign is lacking, look at what’s wrong and improve it. Invest less in keywords that don’t bring revenue and invest more in those that do.
- Improve Your Content – often times, your website’s SERP ranking is held back by the quality of your content. It doesn’t matter if you have 5 customers or 5,000 customers. If none of them convert, your SERP ranking doesn’t really matter anymore. Invest in your website because a professional looking website is the staple of a professional entrepreneur. High-quality content is essential for improving your SERP ranking.
- Repeat – regularly analyzing the results of your actions will dictate further steps. Once you find out the right approach for you and your company, keep applying it until you once again stop seeing results. By doing so you can further increase your SERP ranking.
Conclusion
The information I just presented in this article is meant to give you a deeper understanding of how SERPs work. Understanding the importance of achieving a top rank for your website is essential for your digital marketing campaign. Some steps may take longer to implement but in the end, the long-term benefits are worth the effort. Careful planning, combined with a proper work ethic and the desire to increase your revenue and create a solid company should be more than enough for you to boost your website’s SERP ranking in no time.
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