Google Search Result Listing - Taking a Close Look

When a search engine user submits a search query to Google the user will get a search result page with search listings in order of relevancy according to Google search algorithms.

This article will discuss the make up and components of a search listing within a search results page.


3 Parts to a Google Search Listing

A Google search listing is composed of three main sections which are listed and described below.

Page Title

The first and most obvious component of a Google search listing is the title. The title is blue, bold, underlined, and linked to the applicable page.

Description

The second component of a search listing is the description which is a snippet of text that describes the contents of the page. It is generally two lines of text.

URL Line

The final component of a listing is the URL line which has three parts to it. The main one being the site URL which stands out because of the green text.

Next to the URL is a link in light blue which reads "cache" if a user clicks on the link they will be returned a page that is a copy of the page that Google has in it's index. The cache page will also feature highlighted keywords that the user originally used in the search query.

Next to the cache link is a link that reads "similar pages." If the user clicks on that link then they are returned search listings of similar pages in terms of content as determined by Google.