Improving brand awareness and RPK with On-SERP SEO

As search marketers, we all want to have as much as possible SERP real estate, as this means greater visibility and more traffic.

The problem is that the front page is constantly changing.

Organic search results now compete for a user’s attention with paid ads, information, maps, videos, featured snippets, and the like.

In this article you will:

• Understand the challenge of competitive SERPs.
• Learn how to effectively use On-SERP SEO.
• Develop a “traffic potential” mindset.
• Get seven effective tactics to increase your search presence right now.

Understand the challenges of competing SERPs

Search engine results pages (SERPs) are more competitive than ever.

We are starting to see many different types of classification of media elements.

The decline in organic traffic for top performing keywords stems from the presence of new items on the first page.

That organic position has now often fallen low behind ads, maps, media elements and featured snippets.

That’s why we call these elements “position zero” because they outpace even the best organic results.

One of the most competitive versions of SERPs is searches without clicking.

A no-click SERP is one where the answer is displayed directly on the search results page that meets the criteria user’s search intent without having to click next.

So how can SEO professionals stay effective as SERPs become increasingly competitive?

Use On-SERP SEO to stay competitive against zero search results

On-SERP SEO is the work of optimizing the entire first page.

The goal is to occupy as much real estate as possible on the first page, thereby increasing CTR and generating more organic traffic.

On-SERP SEO requires a paradigm shift for SEO professionals.

It is an integrated strategy to increase search visibility and brand recognition on the first page.

This is SEO taking ownership of Google traffic, regardless of which SERP elements it comes from.

To be competitive in the world of position zero SERPs, this means that SEO professionals must coordinate all kinds of different media sources to dominate every important aspect of the first page.

The ‘Traffic Potential’ Mindset You Need to Succeed in SEO Today

When you’re doing your thing keyword researchdefining your landing pages and choosing your target search terms, you need to make one important mindset shift to make your SEO strategy future-proof:

Consider the new reality of SERPs.

In a traditional SEO analysis, you are used to reviewing:

• Search terms.
• Monthly search volume.
• Keyword problem.

Today, however, you need to adjust your efforts to take into account:

• The presence of featured clips.
• Other media elements.
• Reduced CTR for organic results.

That’s why you need to factor CTR into your keyword research and decision making now.

To do this, the majority SEO tools factor in the traffic potential you can use.

This is an example from Ahrefs for a classic no-click search term with zero position: “Berlin time”:

Ahrefs shows us a significant amount of search volume, but we also see that 80% of all searches never receive a click.

You should start basing your analyzes on this click potential and not just monthly search volume.

This is the only way you will get the best CTR and a real organic increase in traffic for the content you create.

By reviewing true click potential, you’ll filter out keywords where good organic rankings still equate to viable search traffic opportunities.

7 Useful Tactics to Optimize Your Website in Competitive SERPs

Now that we’ve changed your mindset, let’s talk about tactics to increase your search presence.

Within these tactics, we’ll cover how to take over various SERP elements, including increased organic search presence, paid ads, knowledge panels, and images.

1. Optimize your top 10 keywords to win a featured snippet

Optimizing for featured snippets is not an exact science, but an art in itself.

It seems that Google usually pulls data from the current top 10 rankings to populate the featured snippet.

So, the first step is to check your current organic rankings and see which of those keywords are already showing a featured snippet (using tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, etc.).

These will identify your target keywords and landing pages to optimize for featured snippets.

The purpose of the featured snippet is to give a direct answer to the user without them having to click or search further.

There are four main ones types of featured clipsdepending on the purpose of the query:

• Lists.
• Tables.
• The text.
• Video.

Your second step is to note what featured snippet is displayed for each of your target keywords.

Featured Snippets are usually shown for long tail queries and more often question queries.

To optimize your featured snippet, add such questions or key terms as a subtitle to your content.

Create a detailed answer immediately below the subheading.

This can be a single paragraph (about 45 words on average), a list (ordered or unordered), or a table, depending on what Google favors for that keyword.

The more accurate and factual data you can get, the better.

Google likes to pull listings and data directly into search results.

You can even use Schema to mark up lists and comparison tables.

2. Optimize for Google Sitelinks

Sitelinks increase the visual space of search results by displaying the most important pages of your website directly in search results.

While you can’t force Google to show your sitelinks, you can create a clear navigation structure—with strong internal links to core pages and anchors and alt tags that are descriptive—to increase your chances of Google showing your sitelinks.

3. Add the schema tag when applicable

Product, company and rating marking scheme help Google understand what your pages and content are about.

You can see the scheme marking types at schema.org and implement them on your pages.

The transparency scheme tag can allow Google to display a star rating in your organic search results, increasing truth, credibility and CTR.

4. Use and optimize your Google Company Profile

You can gain a lot of local search space by checking and optimizing yours Google Company Profile.

This will also help your Google Maps presence.

All of your business features, benefits, and details should be listed and displayed to make your Google Business Profile listing visually longer and provide relevant information.

Collecting reviews for an entry will also allow you to apply it to the review scheme tag mentioned above.

Bonus: Make sure you collect questions about your list and answer them! This will add valuable length to your list.

5. Run branded PPC ads

Even if your heart belongs to SEO, organic search is your main traffic driver, and pay-per-click (PPC) is very expensive in your niche, you should run ads on brand.

Users searching for your brand name have the highest chance of converting from a search to a click.

Never let someone else take up your valuable ad space.

A basic Google Ads branded campaign should always run for your brand terms.

Fill in all available fields and add appropriate ad extensions for maximum visual impact.

A quick note: In certain niches it might be useful to run shopping ads or hotel listings as they occupy prime real estate for transaction terms.

6. Optimize your knowledge panel

The purpose of Google dashboards is to display all information about your business in one compact place.

They are available to display for businesses, non-profits, influencers, local businesses, media (film, TV, books, music), nutritional information and products.

If your business falls into one of the above categories, you will benefit greatly optimizing your knowledge panel.

7. Optimize images for display in SERP results and featured snippets

It is important to review your target keywords and see if images are included in their SERPs.

Why? Because it has many SERP features pictures.

If so, continue with basic image SEO to increase the chances of your relevant images ranking.

Make sure you include such images on a page where the title and URL match the image’s target keyword.

For your information, image SEO Sorting factors include:

• The image file names and alt tags: Choose appropriate names optimized for keywords.
• Image context: place your image in a part of the site where the surrounding content matches the intent of the keyword.
• Picture captions with short and relevant descriptions.
• Image sizes with common dimensions (eg width 900 pixels and 16:9)

Following these seven tactics will allow you to achieve effective first-page wins that go beyond ranking first.

They will strengthen your presence in competitive SERPs and increase your chances of getting a click that brings money.

The future of search queries and how to win with On-SERP SEO

The key power of SEO lies in your ability to analyze and leverage the entire search results page.

On-SERP SEO is a great example of this.

By following the seven useful tactics we’ve outlined, you can enjoy more SERP real estate—which means more opportunities to attract searchers’ attention and increase brand awareness, and CTR.

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