SERP 101: How to Optimize Your Website for the SERP

The internet is the world’s largest marketplace, and if you want your business to succeed, you need to ensure that your website is optimized for search engine results pages (SERPs). Just as the algorithms change and evolve, so too must your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. 

With the competitive landscape becoming increasingly saturated, keeping your website ranking high on SERPs is more important than ever. The old saying goes, “if you’re not on page one, you might as well not be there at all.” 

What are SERPs, and how do they work? 

However, before reviewing these steps, it is crucial to understand what SERPs are and how they work. SERPs are the pages that appear in response to a user’s query in a search engine such as Google. The order of the results is determined by the search engine’s algorithm, which considers various factors such as the relevance of the content to the user’s query, the content’s quality, the website’s authority, and more. Users tend to click on the results that appear at the top of SERPs, so it’s essential to ensure that your website appears as close to the top as possible. 

There are two types of SERP results at the top of Google and other search engines: organic and paid. 

Organic results appear due to their relevance to the user’s query without the website has paid for the result to appear. Paid results are those in which the website has paid the search engine to appear in response to a user’s query. 

Paid results are tagged by a small “ad” icon, and they usually appear at the top and bottom of SERPs. While paid results can be effective, they are not as powerful as organic results, as users tend to trust organic results more. 

Now that we’ve reviewed what SERPs are and how they work, let’s review some essential tips on optimizing your website for the best SEO and organic results. 

1) Using Keyword-Rich, Authoritative Content

If you want your website to rank higher on SERPs, it’s important to have keyword-rich content. This means including relevant keywords and phrases in your titles, meta descriptions, and scattered throughout the body of your text. But beware of keyword stuffing, which is when a website packs so many keywords into its content that it becomes difficult to read. 

Keyword Research 

Before you start writing, it’s important to do your research and find the right keywords. To identify your target audience, you need to determine their needs. What questions are they asking? What keywords are they searching for? By understanding your target audience, you can create content that is relevant to them and meets their needs. 

Keyword Volume Tools 

Quick ways to identify these keywords include keyword research tools like Google AdWords Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer to find high-traffic, low-competition keywords that are relevant to your business. 

Using The “People Also Search For” Function 

An efficient, free method to find the right keywords is to use the “people also search” function on Google and other platforms. This will give you an idea of the keywords and phrases used to search for your product or service. By searching for your main keyword, you can also get a list of related keywords that you can use in your content. 

Long-Tail Keywords 

Long-tail keywords are phrases that are more specific and usually longer than the average keyword. They tend to get less traffic but have a higher conversion rate because they are more specific. For example, “men’s shoes size 10” is a long-tail keyword, while “men’s shoes” is a shorter, more general keyword. 

Adding these keywords into your organic search result snippet can make your result more relevant to what the user is searching for, thus increasing your click-through rate. This includes the following: 

• Page title (title tag) 
• Page URL 
• Meta description

Ensuring your keywords are included in these places can help optimize your website for SEO.

2) Continuously Produce Relevant Content 

Your website needs to have a continuous flow of fresh, relevant content. This could include blog posts, articles, infographics, e-books, etc. That way, when users search for keywords related to your business, they will find your website and be able to learn more about what you have to offer. 

By providing informative and engaging content, you can show search engines that your website is a reliable source of information, which will help improve your ranking on SERPs.

3) Build a Network of Referral Sites for Backlinks 

Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They act as a vote of confidence and can help improve your website’s ranking on SERPs. 

To get backlinks, you can reach out to other websites and ask if they would be willing to link to your site. You can also create high-quality, authoritative content that other websites want to link to. 

Guest blogging is another great way to build backlinks. By writing guest blog posts on other websites, you can include a link back to your own site. This helps improve your website’s visibility and can drive traffic back to your site.

4) Ensure Your Website Structure is Optimized 

The structure of your website is important for both users and search engines. A well-structured website is easy to navigate and use, which will help keep users on your site longer. Internal linking plays a beneficial role in website structure, as they route users to other relevant pages on your site, keeping them engaged.

It’s also essential to have a sitemap. A sitemap is a list of all the pages on your website. This helps search engines index your website to rank your pages on SERPs. You can create a sitemap manually or use a sitemap generator tool. It is important to submit this sitemap to Google Search Console so that search engines can find and crawl your website. 

Web crawlers are bots that search engines use to index websites, follow links to find new pages, and follow the same user experience path that a user would take. If there are any broken links or errors, the crawler will get lost and won’t be able to index the site properly. This can hurt your website’s ranking on SERPs. 

Optimize Your Website For Sitelinks 

Sitelinks are the links that appear below your website’s organic listing on SERPs. They help users navigate to specific pages on your website without having to click through to your homepage first. 

For example, if you search for “SERP” on Google, you will see that backlinko.com’s site links include: 

• Organic Search Results 
• Paid Search Results 
• Featured Snippets 

Sitelinks are generated automatically by Google, but there are a few things you can do to increase the chances of your website being eligible for site links. 

To ensure that your website is eligible for site links, follow these tips: ● Use a well-organized, keyword-filled navigation menu 

• Include links to your most important pages in the navigation menu ● Use keyword-rich anchor text for links 
• Have a mobile-friendly website 
• Avoid using Flash or other non-HTML elements 

Optimize Your Content for Featured Snippets

At the top of Google Search Result Pages, you may have noticed a featured snippet box containing a summary of an answer to your query and a link to the corresponding webpage. This is known as a featured snippet, one of the most coveted positions on SERPs. 

To optimize your content for featured snippets, follow these tips: 

• Answer questions or queries that are likely to generate a featured snippet
• Phrase your title and headers with these questions 
• Structure your content in an easy-to-read format 
• Use clear and concise language 
• Include images or videos 

By structuring your content in an optimized way, you can increase your chances of appearing in a featured snippet and driving more traffic to your website.

5) Optimize Your Website for All Devices 

In today’s mobile-first world, it’s important to optimize your website for all devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. More and more users are accessing the internet from their mobile devices, so it’s important to make sure your website is responsive and can be easily viewed on a smaller screen.

You can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to see how well your website is optimized for mobile devices. Simply enter your website’s URL, and the tool will give you a report on how mobile-friendly your site is. 

Now Take Action to Optimize Your Website for SERPs 

SEO is a complex and ever-evolving field, but by following the tips above, you can optimize your website for better ranking on SERPs. Keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process, so you need to continuously work on improving your website’s ranking. 

By following these simple tips, you can help improve your website’s visibility and drive more traffic to your site. Now go try out some of these strategies and let us know what works best for you.

Need help with your company’s SEO? Intensify’s SEO experts can help! Contact us today for a free consultation.