Today's search engine results pages (SERPs) are growing ever chaotic from the online marketer's point of view. From the early search engine days of relative stability and predictiveness, SERPs today are less predictable and less stable. In the following article, I will describe:

Ways SERPs are growing more chaotic Macro causes behind it How it is expected to change the search engine channel as a whole How advanced SEOs will adapt and even improve value to clients Causes for growing SERP chaos and instability Personalization: based on multitudes of parameters, which among others, include cookie set (user profile), IP (user location) and past preference for particular websites, SERPs are now serving different SERPs to different users. Shifting and shuffling search results: more and more frequently, significant variance in SERPs appear within very short time frames – even hours. This reflects the frequency and scale of testing and changes that are performed in search engine algorithms Listing appearance on SERPs: search engines are now customizing the listing details (headline + description) of web pages included in the SERP, according to the search query, (ODP) listing and/or user profile. In the past, the listing usually contained the page title as the headline and meta description only. Why search engines produce more chaotic SERPs Relevancy: the holy grail of search is always relevancy. This dynamic process is meant to serve end users with customized results, more relevant to their specific preferences and needs. Financially: search engines want to drive advertisers to purchase sponsored links. The more unstable and insecure site owners feel with their search engine visibility within natural results, they will tend to resort to paid search. How will the search engine landscape change? The direction as a whole, is driving search improvement and growth. What is certain, is higher SERP relevancy, which leads to higher click through rates (CTRs) and lower abandonment rates. The result is overall higher search traffic and enhanced user trust in search engines. Higher CTRs and user trust are good to the channel as a whole and to all those engaged in online search, inclusive of search engines, website owners and SEOs.

The new reality requires adjustment of expectation SEOs and website owners cannot expect to gain a stable placement that is relevant to all users, nor for a lengthy time period. Furthermore, they cannot expect to have full control over the way listings are presented on SERPs.

How can SEOs cope in a chaotic SERP environment? The more chaotic environment is not necessarily bad for SEOs. While it presents serious challenges, it also presents opportunities for the daring and adaptable. The nature of services will change, however.

Traffic is the key, not rankings It is always easier for the SEO to showcase success of its activity by showing clients high rankings. After all, what client would not like to see the brand ranking first on Google?

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