How To Do A SERP Analysis

Google processes more than 3.5 billion searches in a single day. It’s easily the most popular search engine. And, every webmaster’s goal is to get maximum visibility on Google.

But, more than 99% of those searches find what they were looking for on the first page. The second page gets a mere 0.78% traffic.

So, you need to rank on the first page to get traffic. And, although ranking on the first page can be tricky, effective SERP analysis can help you put your site at the top of it.

In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to learn about SERP analysis to outrank your competitors on Google’s first page.

Let’s dive in.

What Is SERP Analysis?

SERP stands for “Search Engine Results Page”, and analyzing the first SERP for profitable keywords is SERP analysis.

So, how it works is:

• You put your target keyword into Google search
• Google returns relevant results against that keyword
• You analyze the first page websites and see if you can outrank any of those competitors

Then, to outrank those websites/blogs, you produce better-optimized content.

Let’s tell you how you can analyze the first SERP.

Doing SERP Analysis the Right Way

Find the Right Keywords

Of course, one of the first things you want to do is find a keyword that your prospects are putting in Google’s search bar.

You also want to make sure that it has a decent enough monthly search volume, which will make it worth targeting.

Fortunately, you don’t have to invest in an expensive tool to find the estimated monthly search volume of a keyword.

Tools like Ubersuggest and Google Keyword Planner can be enough to find out a list of keywords to target.

Note: You do need to run a Google ads campaign to see the monthly search volume of keywords.

Alternatively, you can outsource the whole task to a keyword research expert on Legiit.

Get an Idea of the CTR (Click Through Rate)

Contrary to what you might think, Google doesn’t want the users to leave its pages. This is where SERP features play their part.

SERP features like featured snippets and maps allow a user to get the information they came for right from Google’s first page.

Why would anyone click on a link when they got everything they came for, right?

So, ranking at the top of the first page doesn’t always mean more traffic.

What you can do is, see if a search query returns a direct answer from Google or not.

Here is an example: “How old is the earth?”

So, if there is a featured snippet at the top that addresses the searchers’ intent, you shouldn’t expect to get traffic from that keyword.

Check Referring Domains

Referring domains are the number of unique websites that link to a website. And, backlinks are the total number of links pointing to a domain irrespective of where they come from.

For instance, if a single website links to your website 10 times, you get 10 backlinks and 1 referring domain.

Research suggests that referring domains are an important ranking factor. Of course, whether they work for a website or not majorly depends on their quality.

So, how do they fit into SERP analysis? Well, the higher the referring domains of the first-page websites, the tougher will be to outrank them.

Luckily, you don’t need a paid tool to check the referring domains of a website. Just put the web page into Ahref’s free backlinks checker and it’ll tell you.

But, before checking the backlinks and referring domains of your competitors, see where you stand yourself.

Check how many referring domains your website is getting and how they compare with your competitors’.

Note that even if you find a competitor with a lower number of referring domains, it’s always a good idea to keep on building them for your site.

More high-quality backlinks would help you rank for more competitive keywords.

If you want more high-authority links to your website, you can buy them on Legiit.

Analyze Page and Domain Authority

Referring domains and page/domain authority go hand in hand. More backlinks generally mean a higher PA/DA score.

Look for websites that have a domain authority score comparable to your site. For instance, if your site has a DA of 35, a site with a DA of up to 40 could be your competitor.

Moreover, web pages with page authority in single digits would be your ideal competitors.

One of the best tools to find the PA and DA of competing sites is the Mozbar Chrome extension.

You can download and sign up for free; it’ll show you the PA and DA of the first page results against a particular keyword.

Analyze SERP Intent

Finding the search intent behind a particular query is imperative if you want to win Google ranking and retain it.

The intent is essentially the “Why” behind any search query. And, if you are not addressing that “why” you can’t expect to rank on the first page.

So, understanding different types of search intents is a must for every content creator or SEO enthusiast:

Navigational

This is when a searcher wants to “Navigate” to a particular website. So, even if you rank for such keywords, you’d be redirecting these visitors to that website.

For instance, the query “Facebook login” doesn’t have anything to do with you. Anyone landing on your site would just go to Facebook.

Informational

Informational intent keywords are relatively easy to identify. These are the keywords that people search when they are looking for some kind of “information”.

For instance, any search query that has “How-to”, “Why”, “Tips”, “Guide”, and “Where” in it can be classified as informational.

Here is an example:

Commercial

This is where every blogger gets their money back. Commercial intent keywords (or money keywords) fetch web pages with reviews and comparisons.

People search these keywords when they want to buy something but are not sure if it would be worth their buck.

Or, they may have a few options in mind and want to select the best out of them.

For instance, “Best hiking backpacks” suggests that the user wants to read product reviews or comparisons before going through with their purchase.

Transactional

A transactional keyword suggests that the user is ready to buy something and is just looking for the website to buy it on.

So, you can’t really change their decision at this point.

Using SERP Features to Find User Intent

SERP features are just an improved way of showcasing the right kind of information against a search query.

You can identify the intent behind a search query by looking at the SERP features it returns.

Featured Snippets

Google shows featured snippets against queries with informational intent. It fetches the relevant information from a website and showcases it at the top of the first SERP.

Here is an example:

Shopping Results

Google shows shopping results for transactional queries. For instance, anyone searching for “Winter boots” might see Google shopping ads and buy right from there.

Here are a few more examples of SERP features telling you the search intent of a query:

• Maps: Local intent
• Google ads: Transactional intent
• Tweet box: Navigational
• People also ask: Informational

It’s important to remember that a keyword might have a mixed intent.

Analyze Content of Ranking Pages

The next, and one of the most important steps in SERP analysis is analyzing the content of your competitors.

So, analyze different aspects of the content that ranks on the first page and make yours better.

Here are the different aspects to focus on:

Content Length

Your content’s length can have an impact on its ranking because Google aims to provide answers to users’ queries effectively.

And, in most cases, the more you cover a topic in-depth, the better you are able to answer a query.

However, you don’t have to write fluff or add filler content just to reach a particular word count.

So, analyze the longest content on the first SERP and try to cover the topic in more depth.

Use of Visuals

Visuals are a great way to grab readers’ attention, but you don’t want to go overboard with them. So, analyzing the first SERP websites is important before uploading multimedia to your page.

Also, make sure that you include ALT text in every image. It makes it easy for Google to understand and eventually rank your images.

Plus, the lighter the images, the faster your web page will load. So, avoid heavy images.

Content Structure

Google prefers well-organized and easy-to-consume content. And, thanks to our ever-dwindling attention spans, many users just like to skim a piece of content to get the required information.

So, you want to produce content that’s skimmable and organized.

Content Type and Format

You can produce a great piece of long-form content, but if it doesn’t satisfy search intent, it’s no good.

One effective way to analyze the search intent for a keyword is by looking at the top-ranking pages.

For instance, if you see list-type blog posts for a particular keyword, you won’t be able to rank by producing commercial content.

Even if by some chance it gets ranked, it won’t stay there for long.

Want a seasoned writer to produce the right kind of content for you? Hire one a Legiit!

Analyze SERP Volatility

Google keeps on updating its algorithm to provide a better user experience. And, while that can be intimidating for SEOs, there is an opportunity.

In its efforts to provide the best user experience, Google keeps on shuffling the first SERP results.

So, if you see a lot of volatility in the search results for a particular keyword, you have an opportunity to rank for it.

You can use Ahref’s Keyword Explorer tool to observe how the results have been behaving for that keyword.

If you want to outsource the task, you can always get in touch with an SEO guy on Legiit.

SERP Analysis Tools

We’ve talked about a few free tools during the guide. Here are a few more tools to help you with SERP analysis:

Audiit.io

Audiit.io is literally the only on-page SEO tool you’d need ever. The good thing is, the tool makes on-page SEO ridiculously simple and effective.

It’s evidence that SEO doesn’t have to be complicated.

Here is what Audiit.io does:

It gives you all the information you “Need” to rank on the first page of Google. And, it’s pretty user-friendly.

All you have to do is, enter your target keyword and URL. Audiit.io will suggest improvements after analyzing your and your competitors’ website.

The suggestions include:

• Word count
• Keyword density
• Images
• Meta title
• Meta description
• And, more!

The best thing is, it’s up for grabs for a ridiculously low one-time price here.

Mangools SERP Checker

SERP Checker by Mangools analyzes Google SERP for more than 45 SEO metrics.

Using this tool, you can:

• Analyze your competitors’ weaknesses and strengths
• Detect SERP features
• Know SEO difficulty of a keyword
• Analyze link profile strength
• And, more!

SEOquake by SEMRUSH

SEOquake is a browser extension that helps you:

• Have an SEO overview of search engine result pages
• Identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses
• Find out keyword difficulty
• Analyze a competitor’s linking strategy
• And, more!

And, you get all that information right under a search result on the SERP.

Final Thoughts

You need to rank on the first page of Google against a particular search query to get traffic. Fortunately, ranking on the first page doesn’t have to be tough.

Effective SERP analysis can help you outrank your competition. Of course, you do need to put in the work and follow the right strategies to get the results.

And, it’s okay if you don’t want to do it yourself.

Here is the solution: Hire a freelancer on Legiit and have them do all the heavy lifting for you! Or, outsource a few tasks to take the burden off your shoulders.