Many people are familiar with SERPs, or Search Engine Results Page, however how many people fully understand what they are looking at. Maybe you are not even sure what a SERP is and are almost certain that you have never encountered one as that is not your style anyway.

A SERP is the page that Google, or other search engine, serves up after a searcher enters a keyword. The results page is the reason people use search engines to begin with, its how searchers find the sites they visit.

For anybody that spends a significant amount of time online an understanding of SERPs can be valuable knowledge. Whether you are someone who uses online resources for research and information or your job requires you to work online, taking the time to educate yourself regarding SERPs is a worthwhile endeavor. Particularly if you are an online marketer or business owner with a website the SERPs can be a valuable source of traffic and potential customers.

At present count there are hundreds of different search portals on the internet. Many search engines may look different and contain some variation overall most engines are very similar; they return relevant sites for specific keyword searches.

In the past search engines returned only web sites an pages, recent advancements in search have meant that many engines can now serve up audio, image, and video files as well. Of all the different types of resources found on SERPs the most important distinction is that between paid, or sponsored and free, or organic, listings.

Depending on the search engines the returned sites may or may not appear different, but their essential characteristic is the way the are ranked. Sponsored listings are ranked primarily by how much is being paid to the engine, organic listings are in the order of relevance as decided by the search engines free of any consideration for payment.

So even though all listings may look the category there are under is still an important difference; sponsored listings are a result of site owners paying the engines and the free listings are ranked solely on the merit of their content and external links.

Both of these types of listings serve different uses. A thorough knowledge of each one is the only way to make sure you can fully use the capability of search portals, either as a business service or information resource.

The writer is knowledgeable about online marketing and web technologies and has helped many companies make money online. Find other information about profitable internet business ideas including search engine marketing, email, blogging and lead generation.

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