Search engine results page

A search engine results page or SERP is a screenful of web pages listed by a search engine such as Google or Yahoo or Bing after doing a keyword query. For each web site listed on a page, there is a title for the web page, a link to it, and a brief description showing the particular search terms in context of the website. Frequent searches are sometimes held in a cache by the search engine and displayed instead of doing the actual search; while this speeds search time, it risks inaccuracies because sometimes newly-added web sites are missed.

Each search engine has particular strengths and weaknesses, and can include different types of listings, including sponsored listings, images, maps, definitions, videos, and suggestions for differently spelled terms. Sometimes users can choose, in advance, which type of search to perform; for example, on Google, a user can limit a search to images only.

Many SERPs have ads which fund their operations, which typically appear to the right side or above regular search results. Revenues from sales of advertising can be considerable and are increasing. There are programs which can compare SERP results from two different search engines side by side, so that a user can determine which one does a better job. One Wall Street Journal reporter set about trying to improve her own SERP (the page which she got when she searched for her own name) and listed her own search engine optimization strategies. One reader commented saying the best approach was to follow the search engine firm's "best practices" by interlinking information about her from different sites, and creating content that users will find valuable.