What are SERP Features?

​Search engine result pages (SERPs) are the web pages that appear when people search for a specific term or query on a search engine such as Google. SERPs typically include a list of organic results and some additional features, known as “SERP features”. These features are designed to give users more information about their search query and help them find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.
Featured snippets, for example, provide direct answers to someone’s inquiry right at the top of the SERP. Images, videos, local packs and top stories are all examples of SERP features that provide visual and interactive content related to the search query. Google also has knowledge panel results which provide helpful facts related to an entity or person in an easy-to-digest format. Additionally, you can find different types of rich snippets like reviews or recipes on a SERP page.
Google is constantly testing new SERP features in order to improve user experience. Some of these tests have been successful – like the introduction of hotel pack results – while others have been unsuccessful – like the removal of authorship markup from Google's algorithm in 2014. While not all changes work out, it’s important for marketers to stay on top of Google updates so they can adjust their approach accordingly and take advantage of any opportunities provided by new SERP features.
In addition to providing direct answers to searchers' questions, another way that SERP feature can be beneficial is by improving visibility in organic search results. Rich snippets like reviews or product ratings can help boost organic click-through rates by giving searchers more relevant information right away instead of making them click through multiple websites before finding what they need.
Overall, there are many benefits associated with using SERP features when trying to reach potential customers online. The key is understanding which ones will work best for your business and creating content that takes advantage of those opportunities. By staying up to date on new trends in SEO and leveraging SERP features where possible, you can increase visibility in organic search results and maximize your chances for success!

Google's ranking systems are designed to make it easier for users to find the information they need quickly and accurately. The algorithms behind these systems take a range of factors into account when determining what content should be served up in response to a query. These factors can include the words used in the query, the relevance and usability of web pages, the expertise of sources, and even the user’s location and settings.
The weight applied to each factor varies depending on the complexity of the query; for example, when searching for news stories Google puts more emphasis on timeliness than it does when looking up dictionary definitions. This is because news topics change quickly and answers can become outdated within minutes.
Google also considers how authoritative a source is in its decision-making process. For example, major news outlets like CNN or The New York Times might be given higher rankings than smaller sites or blogs that aren't as widely known but contain similar information. To determine an online source's authority or trustworthiness, Google looks at how often other respected websites link back to it. This is part of assessing a page's quality -- if reputable sites have linked back to it repeatedly, then Google views this as an endorsement of sorts and rewards it with higher rankings in search results.
In addition, Google takes into consideration whether certain pages are useful to people who are actually trying to get something done on their computers (i.e., transactional queries). It will prioritize pages that contain helpful instructions or other step-by-step instructions as well as those that offer an easy way to complete a task (like purchasing tickets online). Pages that don't provide any real, tangible benefit or offer little value are likely not going to show up very high in search rankings regardless of their other SEO elements.
Overall, Google's ranking system is designed with one main goal: helping users find relevant answers easily and quickly so they can get back to whatever task they were doing before launching their search query. By taking into account all these different factors (as well as others not mentioned here) when evaluating webpages for its index, Google can deliver accurate results time after time – making life just a little bit easier for all of us!
Google's ranking systems are designed to make it easier for users to find the information they need quickly and accurately. The algorithms behind these systems take a range of factors into account when determining what content should be served up in response to a query. These factors can include the words used in the query, the relevance and usability of web pages, the expertise of sources, and even the user’s location and settings.
The weight applied to each factor varies depending on the complexity of the query; for example, when searching for news stories Google puts more emphasis on timeliness than it does when looking up dictionary definitions. This is because news topics change quickly and answers can become outdated within minutes.