A Complete Visual Guide to Google SERPs: What Keywords to Use And How to Get Featured

Google uses its own knowledge base to form the answers at the Answer box block and no link is added. That's why there are no chances to get there. However, you still can profit from this block. Create a list of keywords within your niche for which the Answer box is displayed and never use them as Answer box highly decreases the CTR of organic results.

Bottom paid block — is another type of paid blocks. It's the same as the previous one, but has a different location in SERP.

Ad position is the order of your ad in the auction results as compared to other ads. For example, an ad position of "1" means an ad was the first ad shown, with no other ads ahead of it. An ad position of "2" was the second ad shown, and so on.

The ad auction is how Google decides which ads to show and how they're positioned.

Right paid block — is another type of paid blocks. It's the same as the previous ones, but has a different location in SERP.

Shopping Block is a Google service that allows users to search for products on internet sites and compare prices between them.

Such a special element is displayed in response to requests containing commercial intent, and can usually be displayed:

• over the results of search results by a block of goods;
• in the side part of search results by a block of goods;
• in the side section with information about one item

Here, Google only displays the most important information about a product: its name, price, photo, and the online store where the product can be purchased. All this data is constantly updated to avoid unnecessary costs.

This block of purchases is no different from the previous one, only the location in the search results. What determines the location and what to do to make the ad appear above the SERP, read the Google instructions.

As well as local Knowledge graph, Local pack is definitely what you need if you're running a local business.

1. Add your business to Google Maps: go to Google Maps, zoom in to the appropriate location and click on "Add New," then select "Add a Place."
   
   
2. Set up Google My Business account: choose the appropriate category for your business, add profile and cover images, double check the contact info.
   
   
3. Ask your loyal clients to leave their reviews.
   

When searching for keywords related to current news, Google shows Top Stories SERP feature. This data is parsed from Google News — computer-generated news site that aggregates headlines from news sources worldwide, groups similar stories together and displays them according to each reader's personalized interests.

It can be displayed as a listing without images (similar to mobile search) or as carousel with a title and image for every carousel card.

If you're running a news website, make sure to get to Google news. Google has a detailed guide on how to submit your news website to Google news. Follow it.

In response to queries which Google believes are related to images, Images block is displayed. The SERP feature looks like a horizontal list of different images. It isn't pinned and thus can shown anywhere between organic results.

The title above this images is clickable and leads to Google's Images tab. By clicking on any image result there, you'll see the link to its source. Google has a special algorithm for images ranking, which is totally different to common organic search.

At the very bottom of search page Google almost always displays Related search block — it's a list of search queries related to the initial query. This block appears for all analyzed keywords Google shows suggestions for. By clicking on any option in Related search, you'll get to a new SERP.

The only point to mention here: high volume keywords are more likely to get to this block. Unfortunately, there are no recommendations for this block.

Knowledge graph provides a detailed and structured information about the objects, usually proper nouns. It could be a famous person, book, movie and many other types of things.

Knowledge graph uses Wikipedia as a primary source to parse the main information about the object. Apart from the block that briefly answers the question "what is this?" or "who is this?", Google knowledge graph could also include some additional info (like quotes, artworks for painters, books for writers, etc.) social media profiles, and "People also search" block.

The last one is formed based on the closely related objects, so if you're searching for Michelangelo, Google will include other famous painters of that time.

Unfortunately, there isn't no-failure way to get to knowledge graph, but by following the steps below you can highly increase your chances to be displayed there:

1. Get to Wiki

As Wiki is the main source Google parses data from, make sure to get on there. Start with Wikidata — a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines. Here's the guide to help you get there. Then create a Wikipedia page for your brand, you can try to do this on youк own following the Wikipedia guidelines or hire an experienced Wikipedia writer.

2. Verify your social media accounts

As you can see, social media accounts are also included to knowledge graph. To help Google identify your accounts correctly, have them verified. The verification badge on a page means that social network confirmed that this is the authentic page. Each social media has its own guidelines and request form, here they are: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

3. Use structured data markup to enhance your site's attributes.

Data markup is code that you put on your website to help the search engines return more informative results for users. The info you put there is visible for search engines only, not people. Follow this Google guide to enable your business and marketing details for search results.

Note, that if your brand is already displayed in the knowledge graph, but some info is incorrect, contact Google and request changes.

This feature is shown in response to local brand queries like restaurants, cinemas, theaters and so on when the searcher is looking not for the general information about the business (foundation date, CEO, income), but for more specific data like location, open hours, or reviews. Note that local knowledge graph is displayed only for single places, not chains.

This knowledge graph usually includes the following blocks:

• photos and a piece of google map with a pin;

• contact and address data;

• open hours;

• popular times;

• Google reviews (score and examples).
  

If you're running a local business, this SERP feature is definitely what you need. Follow these steps to get there:

1. Fill out Google My Business account

Filling out Google My Business account is a crucial step for every local business. Double check everything to make sure that contact info, address, open hours are correct. Pick an attractive picture that represents your business (mouthwatering photo of your best dish if you're running a restaurant i.e.).

2. Pay attention to Google reviews

At the knowledge graph, Google displays the review score (the average value of all reviews) and all reviews ever left. Ask your loyal clients to leave reviews to increase the Google rating and in turn, more people will trust your business.

3. Build citations

The main rule here: the more, the better. Create your business accounts on as many sites as possible. Provide them with all info about your business. The most popular are Yahoo, Yelp, Trip Advisor, Yellow Pages. Double check all crucial info just like for Google My Business.

This SERP feature shown in response to medicine related queries is to provide the searcher with the most crucial info about the disease such as symptoms, treatments, transmission, etc.

Google parse this info from high-quality websites like government agencies and partnerships. According to Google Help article, they analyze the info from quality sites across the web and then a special team of doctors reviews and refine the info.

Well, it's possible only for medical agencies' websites. We assume that to get there, the health care facility you're promoting should become a Google's partner or/and the disease description you provide on your website should be approved by Google's teams of doctors.

Getting to these block may lead to awareness and trust growth of the medical agency. By the way, here're the utm parameters added to URL if clicking on Learn more: utm_source=Google&utm_medium=abstract&utm_content=Asthma&utm_campaign=Knowledge-panel

This SERP element occurs when to Google's understanding, the query you're searching for may have several meanings. If this block is included to the SERPs, it usually goes after the Local knowledge graph feature.

In the freak SERP example, we searched for "orange" and Google displayed french telecommunications company named "Orange" in the local knowledge graph, but as "orange" query is quite ambiguous, at "See results about" block Google offers two other companies with the same name and an Australian city. Clicking on any of these variants triggers a new search.

Hmm, I don't think you can somehow profit from this feature.

Help users find your recipe content by telling Google about your recipe with structured data.

• reviewer ratings;
• cooking and preparation times;
• nutrition information.

Such structured data will be displayed in a numbered list along with reviews, rating, cooking time, and a picture of the dish will be displayed both in the search results and in Google Images.

A numbered list snippet appears for pages that have step-by-step instructions. It can significantly increase your CTR by providing useful information to users, encouraging them to visit the site to find out more.

Break up your content with headings and subheadings, use numbered lists. Google also displays step-by-step instructions in snippets, especially if they are question-based, and scans words such as Step 1, Tip 1, Point 1. etc. This way, the entire paragraph from your article can be shown in the snippet.

The list will entice users to go to the site to see accompanying pictures, videos, or a complete list of steps.

Serpstat Search analysis and Rank tracker will help you determine which featured snippets in SERP should be targeted when optimizing your site. Pay attention to specific search results when doing keyword analysis.

If you want to create a specific snippet for a website, you can filter the keywords.

The Keywords report displays icons of featured snippets that were found for the analyzed domain in Google SERP for a given keyword for the selected date. If a period is selected in the report, the tool shows the presence of featured snippets for the last piercing.

• Gray icon: a featured snippet appeared in the SERP for a keyword with a page from a domain other than the monitored domain.
• Blue icon: a featured snippet appeared in the SERP for a keyword with a page from a monitored domain

Featured snippets function can help generate more traffic for a site, as determining the site's positions will help you choose the right strategy for its development. Just pick those snippets that are relevant to your industry / company and optimize a web project according to the tips described above.

Visual memorization is always easier. Here's an infographic that you can save and peek at, so you don't forget anything while creating featured snippets.

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