Guide to Google SERP Features
SERP features are elements that show on Google’s search results page, in addition to the normal organic search results (the “10 blue links” that we see on the page).
They are there to enhance user experience and provide a relevant answer to a person’s search query as quickly as possible.
There are over 25 SERP features out there and in these guide we’ll discuss the most popular ones.
We’ll also discuss some tips and tricks on how you can optimize your site so it ranks for a SERP feature.
What are the most popular SERP features?
Around 97% of all Google searches trigger a SERP feature, according to Semrush Sensor data (March 2023).
So there is a very high chance that people searching for keywords related to your market will also see a SERP feature on Google’s results page.
The most common ones include: People also ask, Knowledge panel, Images, Video, Local Pack, Site links, Top and bottom ads, etc.
When you do keyword research you need to take into account the different SERP features your target keywords will trigger. Also, consider how you can optimize new and existing content for them.
Top 5 SERP features
We’ll look at the top 5 SERP features that have the most impact in SEO and how your website can rank for them.
They usually get a high percentage of clicks, compared to the normal search results.
1. Featured snippet
A Featured Snippet appears at the very top of the page and shows the best answer to a person’s query.
The information is extracted from a site and is presented as a bullet or number list, paragraph, and in some cases a table or video.
Here is an example of a featured snippet which appears when you type in “best keyword research tool”.
Ahrefs conducted a study and discovered that the Featured Snippet gets around 8% of all organic clicks on a page. While 19% of the clicks to go “natural” search results below that.
If a Google search results page doesn’t contain a Featured Snippet, then 26% of the clicks will go to the 1st organic result.
Find keywords in your market that trigger a featured snippet and reverse engineer your competitor’s success.
If you have a page on your website that ranks in the top 10 search results for that query, there is a good change that you can win the featured snippet.
Here are a few guidelines you can follow:
- Analyze the featured snippet that appears in Google, by looking at the format. There are 5 types of featured snippets: paragraph, table, ordered list, unordered list or video.
- Answer the question in simple words, your audience would use and understand.
- Avoid complex sentences that are hard to understand.
- Prove a short answer, as soon as possible.
2. Site Links
Sitelinks are designed to show links within a website underneath the traditional organic result. They help users find and navigate to a page that may be more relevant to what they are looking for.
For example, when you type “hiking boots” you’ll see Rei’s Category page for Hiking Boots, and right below that there are two sitelinks for “Men’s Hiking Boots” and “Women’s Day Hiking Boots”.
When you click on these sitelinks you’ll be taken to that product category page.
Sitelinks are automated and Google uses an algorithm to identify which sitelinks to show.
You can optimize your website for sitelinks by having a good internal linking structure between pages on your site. Also, make sure you use descriptive and relevant anchor texts in your internal links.
3. People Also Ask Boxes
Google shows “People Also Ask Boxes” (PAA) for a majority of search queres. Their goal is to give users a list of questions and answers to their next question, before they have searched for it.
When you click on one question an answer will expand and more questions will be generated.
For example, when you search for “hiking boots” you’ll see a PAA box with related questions.
These PAA questions are great topics for a blog post or how to guide on your site. You can extract a list of PAA questions by using the “SERP Keyword Scraper” Chrome extension.
Tip: Check out our blog post “Best Keyword Research Chrome Extensions” for more tools to help you with your keyword research and finding new topics to write about.
4. Local Pack
Google displays a Local Pack when a user wants to find a physical location near them.
Google will show a map and the top 3 local results, along with information about each location.
For example, when you search for “bike shop” or “bike shop Sacramento”, Google will show a Local Pack first.
If you’re an owner of a local business it’s important to have your business appear in the Local Pack, so more customers can visitor your physical location and make a purchase.
Make sure you follow local SEO best practices, by optimizing your Google Business profile, getting NAP citations, having more online reviews on your page, etc.
5. Image Packs
Google displays an Image Pack when a person searches for a query and is looking to see a set of images. A box of images will appear on the top, which are pulled from Google Images.
For example, if you type “green sofa” in Google, you’ll first see several of images of green sofas.
If a person clicks on an image they like, it will expand it so they can see more details.
Some users may decide to visit the page that contains the image, which means that site owners can get visitors to their site from images as well.
In our example above with “green sofas”, many of these images open a Product page on an ecommerce website. This means that your online shop can sometimes generate sales from visitors coming from an “Image Pack”.
Here are a few guidelines you can use in order to optimize your website’s images:
- The file names should be descriptive and straightforward.
- Have relevant alt text and caption for the image.
- Optimize file size, so they load faster.
- Create an image sitemap.
Conclusion
SERP features are very common and show up in almost all search queries in Google.
SEO professionals and site owners shouldn’t ignore them since they receive more traffic than traditionally organic results.
Make sure you check what SERP features show for the keywords that are important to your business.
Reverse engineer the success of your competitors and optimize the content on your own website. This will increase your chances of showing in a SERP feature.
