Top 4 SERP Features You Need For Your SEO Strategy

SEO strategists are always on the hunt for the next new feature, tool or influential factor to increase organic search, which inherently drives higher SERP placements.

Since its infancy, SEO strategies have incorporated ways to “cheat the system” to leverage higher placements from hiding text behind the background of the website to keyword-stuffing, it has always been about finding loopholes.

The Google Brain team continues to evolve the search engine factors in an effort to cater to the user’s intent and to find the answers to the questions as quickly, clearly and accurately as possible.

Enter, SERP Features.

SERP (Search Engine Results Page) features are results presented in a clearer, more direct format for users to find their answers. Or at least the start of your answers.

This cleaner, more accurate display of the answer to your search query drives more organic traffic to your page since this listing appears normally at the top with a clear link to the page.

Because each is unique with its own objective and appearance, we’ve put together a list of the top 4 features you need to incorporate in your SEO strategy:

1. Featured Snippets: This feature has a variety of uses, functionalities and presentations to the end user. The Featured Snippet is based on trust & authority factors, combined with user intent to deliver key placement which in turn, increases organic traffic tenfold. For example, if a user types in the search query, “Most Valuable Company In US,” a Featured Snippet SERP Feature comes up from Reuters, a high Domain Authority website, with a partial answer to that query extracted from a post on their website. Though the listing may not show the most valuable company, it does reveal the second–Amazon. By doing this, Reuters generates even more interest for the user without giving them the answer they seek.

2. Bulleted Lists: A list feature appears on the SERP if query response is an unordered list of information. Organic search users want accurate results quickly and Bulleted Lists give “scanners” that response. It also displays the website’s authority and expertise on the subject (as determined by Google) and the SERP feature lands at the top of the page. Our example search query is “top advertising agencies of all time” and a list from WikiPedia (no surprises here) appears before the first listing.

3. Rich Cards & Snippets: The main difference between these two SERP features is the medium in which they are presented, but both are incredibly valuable. Rich Cards are displayed on mobile while Rich Snippets are displayed primarily on desktop. Both SERP features display more relevant information to the query and display images directly on the search engine results page. These types of SERP placements are more common since their implementation is fairly easy with the right tools.

4. Local Pack & Knowledge Panel: Undoubtedly, these two types of SERP Features are incredibly useful for Local SEO and local businesses have the advantage over the major players in terms of higher placement in the SERP. The Local Pack SERP appears as three listings below the Google Map and the first two Google Ad placements. These features showcase a business that may not place as high as the competitors, but follows the Local SEO rules correctly to rank in a higher position. The Knowledge Panel is the listing that sometimes appears at the right when searching for branded keywords.

Now that you understand Google SERP features and their organic search potential, it’s time to leverage these powerful tools to help your business succeed!