The abbreviation SERP stands for “Search Engine Result Page“. This refers to the list of results that is displayed after a search request has been made with a search engine. The term SERP was defined in the field of search engine optimization, because the aim of such optimization is always to be at the top of the list of results as far as possible and thus to receive the highest possible traffic of search queries.
A search result list is essential for every type of search engine: Google, Bing, Yandex, Baidu and other text-related search engines. Language-related search queries, e.g. Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant, also trigger the playback of a search result page, which can be very short, especially regarding voice search.
A SERP can also be output in web shops, price search engines, forums and portals – wherever a user can make a search query and a list of results is returned.
SERP on Google
The “Search Engine Result Page” at Google has developed and changed a lot over the last years. In former times the Google SERP was a pure listing of titles, meta descriptions and URLs. Due to various algorithm changes, the most diverse search results are displayed on Google today, depending on the search query. The “mechanism” behind this is called “Universal Search”, which combines text, image, shopping, video and local search results. In addition to the 10 organic hits, paid ads (Google Adwords) are usually displayed above and often below the hit list.
SERP on BING
The Bing SERP is similar to Google. Here, too, different types of search results are combined. As can be seen in the example picture, Bing prioritizes the local results in the search result list as soon as the user submits a location-related search query. In contrast to Google, paid ads are not only displayed above and below, but also next to the organic SERPs. Also with the filter setting under the search field the representation with Bing resembles that of Google very strongly and also the structure of the individual search results in the list corresponds to the same scheme.
SERP on Amazon
Often forgotten in terms of search engines but just as important as Google is Amazon as a product search engine. Search Engine Result Pages are also displayed here, but some of them are very different from conventional search engines. Depending on the category depth, the results are displayed differently. The Amazon SERP can be seen as a list in the respective main category or in the “All” area. If the user is in a subcategory, the search results list on Amazon is usually displayed as a gallery with three results in a row.
In contrast to Google & Co. the SERPs on Amazon are “product-driven” and include the title, a product image, price, delivery time, shipping costs and (if available) the number of product reviews. In addition, the Amazon search results in certain categories, include the notes “Bestseller” or “Amazons Choice” next to the thumbnail depending on the search and the sales performance of the product.
In order to be listed further up on the SERPs, a targeted Amazon optimization of the product data with regard to potential search queries can help. As an Amazon agency, intomarkets has specialized in exactly this area.