Let’s define a SERP feature as an add-on to the SERP that adds something new to the standard search results page with only green search result links and descriptions.
Google continues to explore and develop these unique features to provide usable information on its search engine.
Table of Contents
Featured Captions (Quick Response)
Featured captions appear near the top of natural results and are designed to provide specific answers to search queries that may or may not include specific queries or user intent. Google Featured Snippets may link to a domain that contains text/response/image related to a search query.
This feature is common in questions about people, events, scientific facts, sports, conversions, mathematics, color choices, etc. Sometimes it may appear in the form of a widget – for example, if your search query says “weather” or “convert to cm”.
Google Local Pack search results
The Local Pack appears in the SERPs if the query includes local service, a local purpose, or includes a place name such as “Coffee Shop near Me,” “Pizza nearby”, etc., and will include results near your current location.
An obscure question like “coffee shop” or “my coffee shop” will give you a local pack with a wide map area.
On the SERP page, the Google Local Pack usually contains a map with location maps, a 5-star rating scale for each location, and three search results, some of which could be ads. Local Pack sits at the top of the SERP under AdWords results, though it can sometimes slide under live links. Clicking the Location Package will take you to a map with a long list of businesses that you can explore.
Clicking on a business icon will give you more detailed information about the location, including working hours, phone numbers, photos, Q&A, popular times, and most importantly – updates.
Remember that 60% of smartphone users contact the business directly using search results (e.g., the “click to call” option). Also, many voice search questions contain “near me” questions, which adds to the popularity of this feature as voice search grows exponentially.
This makes Local Pack a very powerful marketing tool to attract customers. We recommend that you not only read advanced tips on improving your local SEO presence but also get your hands on Google My Business as most of the data used in Local Pack Search results is taken from there. Activating your GMB profile will allow you to manage this data.
It is important to note that the levels in Local Packs are determined by a different algorithm than the standards in the natural search. Therefore, Local Pack SEO needs a different approach. As well as general SEO strategies (mobile-friendliness, page optimization, UX, etc.), you should also focus on creating and configuring your Google My Business account, as well as local listings.
You can learn more about the Local Pack algorithm and how you can improve local standards from Google’s official guide.
Google Updates SERP features
Reviews (or, officially, review captions) are consistent with standard search results for the rating (yellow stars) and image.
You can get this feature as long as your content is not reviewed by users and has the right tag.
A 5-star rating is a global symbol, so it can be linked to a number in all search terms.
Studies have shown that search results that can be updated can reveal CTR in the upper middle.
Note that Google checks the reliability of updates and that reviews are considered “personal” or are suitable for a web page.
Site links
This feature enhances the natural search result by adding additional links to the same site sites under the description. Often, it comes from websites whose navigation system is easily understood by Google.
In addition to the additional links, your website may find the Sitelinks Search Box. You can enable it with your website’s internal search engine if you use organized data correctly.
Videos
The video SERP feature associated with the search query appears in the SERP among natural results. The feature includes the following components:
This SERP feature may be linked to a video hosting platform such as YouTube or a webpage with embedded videos.
Featured Video is another type of video SERP feature. It has an icon and can only have one video included in each SERP, appearing at the top of it.
Go here for more information on how to make your videos available to Google.
Top Stories
The SERP feature of Google’s top stories at the top of the SERP
Top News Block is a collection of icons linked to news articles, timestamps, and the publisher name displayed. Top stories can appear in the following forms in the SERPs:
Images SERP Feature
As a feature of the Video SERP, Image Packages appear where Google assumes that visual content will serve as a comprehensive results page. Image effects may appear as a line or block of images related to natural effects. Clicking on a result will take you to the “Photos” search tab, and from there you can only go to the website that captures the image. To find out more about image search results, you need to learn more about improving image search.
