SERP (search engine results page)

The SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is the page a search engine like Google returns after you type a query. It is no longer a plain list of ten blue links: it blends organic results, paid ads and many special elements — featured snippets, knowledge panels, images, videos, local maps, related questions and AI ✕ Artificial intelligence is a computer system’s ability to perform tasks we associate with human intelligence, such as understanding language, recognizing images or making decisions. More in the glossary → overviews — that take up space and push everything else down. Where you appear hugely affects how many people visit you: the top spots capture almost all the clicks. That is why SEO ✕ SEO (search engine optimization) covers all the measures that get a website to appear higher in Google's unpaid results and thereby attract more visitors. More in the glossary → and paid search ✕ SEA is paid advertising in search engines: ads that appear in the results, usually on a pay-per-click basis. It is the fast lane to traffic, as opposed to organic SEO. More in the glossary → compete for those places. Understanding how the SERP is built for a given query helps you decide which content format has a real chance of standing out.