What is organic listing?

By | September 15, 2021

Under Organic Listing are organic search results to understand by search engines. The organic search results list websites that have been recorded, rated and indexed by the search engine crawlers. The counterpart to the organic listing is the paid listing, which allocates paid ad spaces (Google Ads). The following definition of organic listing provides more detailed information.

Differentiation from paid listing

The extent to which organic and paid search results can be differentiated depends on the search engine. On Google, the paid search results are labeled, for example, with the designation “Advertisement” and are both below and above the organic search results.

How are the organic search results created?

The organic search results depend on the algorithm of the respective search engine. Since this is different for each search engine provider, the results for the same search term also differ.

As an example, the search results from Google compared to Bing:

The algorithm is influenced by numerous aspects. According to Google, for example, more than 200 signals play a role. These include:

– Content of the HTML headings

– loading speed

– Links – internal and external

– fire

– Trust

The search engine algorithm is not a fixed, immutable scheme. It is adjusted regularly, sometimes on a smaller scale, sometimes on a larger scale. Larger updates such as the Penguin Update or the Panda Update can have massive effects on the organic search results.

In the case of a search query, of course, the search engine does not search all existing websites with regard to these signals. It uses its extensive database for this, in which the websites are already sorted according to certain aspects, including relevance.

Number of organic search results

The number of organic search results is not fixed on Google. On the one hand, because Google regularly changes / adapts / tests the layout of the search results and thus different results appear. On the other hand, settings or restrictions affect the search results.

Further information on changing views in the SERPs:

Secrets of the 7-Result SERP

SERP Crowding & Shrinkage: It’s not your imagination

Influence Organic Listing

According to PHONECATIONS, the organic search results can be influenced with the help of search engine optimization. In this case, influencing means: optimizing the page with regard to the ranking factors of the search engines. The measures implemented can be roughly divided into the following two areas:

Onpage SEO: includes all measures that arecarried out on the page itself. This includes internal link structure,optimizing content according to keywords, pagination, robots.txt, loading speed and redirects.

Offpage SEO: This includes all measures that areimplemented outside the page, i.e. strengthen the page from the outside or make the offer better known. Off-page measures include, for example, link building and the use of social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest or Twitter.

How these measures are implemented depends on the industry, the objectives, the product, the company size and the website. For example, local optimization (Local SEO) requires different approaches than Germany-wide optimization. The scope of the measures and their duration depend on these factors.

Again regardless of these factors, the fact that SEO is an ongoing process that doesn’t simply end at some point is a fact. Perhaps a few basic SEO measures have been completed so that the page is technically “clean” and therefore easy to read for the search engine. However, just maintaining the website, e.g. creating editorial articles, can cause numerous problems for the website due to ignorance, so that regular control and coordination by experienced SEO consultants is necessary.

What is organic listing