How to read a SERP before you target a keyword
A SERP (search engine results page) is the page Google shows for a search. This Google SERP checker fetches that page for the country and device you choose, so you see what your customers see instead of results shaped by your own location and search history.
Read the results page before you write a page or chase a keyword. It shows what Google thinks the searcher wants and how strong the competition is. Work through it in four steps:
- Identify the page type. Are the results guides, product pages, category pages, tools or videos? Plan a page of the type that already ranks.
- Check the authority scores. If every result has a high score and your site is far lower, the keyword will be hard to win. A few low-authority domains in the top 10 point to an opening.
- Look for weak results. Forum threads, outdated articles and pages that only half answer the question are signs that a better page could compete.
- Note what the top pages cover. Open them and list the subtopics, formats and questions they share. That is the baseline a new page has to meet.
What the authority score tells you
Each ranking domain gets an authority score from 0 to 100 based on its backlink profile. It is our own measure, not Moz Domain Authority or Ahrefs Domain Rating, so the numbers will differ from those tools. Use it to compare the sites on one results page, and check your own domain with the website authority checker to see where you stand.
Keep in mind that authority describes the whole domain, not the single page that ranks. Smaller sites do win spots when their page answers the search better, so treat the score as one signal among several.
SERP features and AI Overviews
Organic results are only part of the page. Google can add an AI Overview, People also ask boxes, videos, images, a local pack, shopping results and more, and the checker lists every feature it finds. Here is what the common ones mean for you:
- AI Overview. An AI summary appears near the top of the page. Ranking in the top 10 still matters, but you may also want to be one of the sources it cites. The AI Overviews tracker shows the summary and every cited source.
- People also ask. These questions show what else searchers want to know. Answer them on your page.
- Videos and images. Media results are a chance to appear on the page with a video or image, not only with text.
- Local pack. The search has local intent, so a Google Business Profile is part of the competition.
- Shopping results. Product listings point to buying intent, so product and category pages tend to fit better than articles.
Desktop, mobile and country results
Google can show different results and features on phones and computers. If most of your customers search on mobile, check mobile first. Comparing both also shows whether a feature, such as a local pack or a video carousel, appears on only one device.
Country matters just as much. Run the same keyword for each market you target, because the top 10 in the United Kingdom can look very different from the top 10 in the United States, with other competitors and other features. That tells you whether one page can serve both markets or each needs its own.
Turn the results page into content ideas
People also ask questions and related searches show how real searchers think about a topic. Add the questions to your outline as subheadings or FAQ entries, and use related searches to find terms that deserve their own page. To expand any of them into a full list with volumes, run it through the keyword generator.
The checker also shows the keyword's monthly search volume, keyword difficulty and number of results, so you can judge demand and competition in one view. That makes it a quick SERP analysis tool for every keyword on your shortlist.
When to check the SERP again
Results pages change as sites publish, update and earn links, and features come and go. Check again before you update an important page and a few weeks after you publish. Results are cached for up to 24 hours, so repeating the same search within that time shows the saved result.