Google has launched a new help page that documents what Google calls the most common visual elements on the search results page. Here Google has laid out visually 22 elements found on the search results page, explaining what the elements look like, what they are called, and whether you can optimize your site for them.
Visual Elements gallery of Google Search. You can find this new document over here in the Google help area. It helps you identify the most common and “impactful visual elements of a search results page,” Google said. The document has 22 visual elements that are most likely to appear on search result pages, Google added. It is broken down into these categories:
Attribution. The attribution elements are elements that help searchers identify the source behind the search result with visual identifiers like the name of the site, the URL, and favicon.
Text result. The text results elements are what we use to call the “10 blue links” and/or “web results.”
Video and image results: The video and image result elements are based on the respective media indexed in the context of their respective landing pages.
- An image result element is a result that’s based on an image that’s embedded on a web page.
- A video result is a result that’s based on a video that’s embedded on a web page.
Exploration features: The exploration features element is also known as “People Also Ask”, or related searches group or related questions group. Google said these visual elements help users broaden their search journeys.
Why we care. This is a good way for us to get more details from Google on the type of search features in Google Search. It also helps us understand if we can help our sites come up with such rich results or other visual elements. This will also aid us in standardizing what some features are called within the search industry. Finally, Google plans on updating this document as more and more features come out.
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Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.