Search Results

Search results, also called snippets, it sounds like a simple concept. Yet there is more to it than meets the eye. In this article I explain what it entails and why they are so important for SEO.

What is it?

Search results are the collection of results provided by the search engine. The results contain answers to the question that led to the search. Once you perform a search, a list of search results appears.

Each search result begins with a title and url. Below that is a short text about what the website or landing page is about. This causes the searcher to click the link. The landing page is the page the searcher lands on when they click the link. Thus, the results are determined by the search query.

Ranking of search results

The ranking of results is very important here. Ranking refers to the order of results. It is, in essence, what SEO is all about. There are several factors involved in ranking results. These include authority and relevance. There are many possible positions to end up on the results page. Result No. 1 generates the most organic traffic. It follows that you want to achieve the highest possible position within the search results.

SEO is all about optimizing your website. The goal here is to achieve the highest possible position on the results page. Link building and content creation are important to get as high as possible on the results page. Continued analysis and optimization of the technical side are also important here.

Organic search results

There is a difference between organic search results (SEO) and paid search results (SEA). The difference is that organic search results are sustainable and paid search results are not. In fact, attracting organic traffic requires a one-time investment that produces lasting results. This makes organic traffic generation efficient and sustainable.

Conclusion: search results are crucial

In short, search results determine whether the searcher lands on your Web site. The goal is to achieve the highest possible position with your website. As a result, bringing in more organic traffic. The trick is to match keywords exactly to the searcher’s query.

This way, you gain more authority from Google and are more relevant to the searcher. Authority, alongside relevance, is one of the factors Google looks at when rating your website. This results in higher rankings and more organic traffic on your website.

Senior SEO-specialist

Ralf van Veen

Senior SEO-specialist
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I have been working for 12 years as an independent SEO specialist for companies (in the Netherlands and abroad) that want to rank higher in Google in a sustainable manner. During this period I have consulted A-brands, set up large-scale international SEO campaigns and coached global development teams in the field of search engine optimization.

With this broad experience within SEO, I have developed the SEO course and helped hundreds of companies with improved findability in Google in a sustainable and transparent way. For this you can consult my portfolio, references and collaborations.

This article was originally published on 17 January 2024. The last update of this article was on 30 May 2024. The content of this page was written and approved by Ralf van Veen. Learn more about the creation of my articles in my editorial guidelines.