Search is changing — again. This comes as no surprise to digital marketers, who have always had to wrangle with an endlessly changing search and SEO landscape. To better understand what direction search engines will take in 2025, Online Marketing Gurus explored the intricacies of SERP (Search Engine Results Pages, i.e. the first page people land on when you use a search engine) across 600 websites, leveraging more than 125,000 SEO data points among 19 industries.
The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has only compounded the complexity of the search facet of the internet, and forced marketers to stop and re-evaluate many of their processes and best practices.
“SERP features impact visibility and traffic, offering the opportunity to refine digital marketing strategies effectively.”
By examining click-through rates from positions 1 to 10 on Google, we’ve uncovered patterns and trends consistent across industries and unique to some. SERP features impact visibility and traffic, offering you the opportunity to refine your digital marketing strategies effectively.
Is your industry a factor in your SERP performance and CTR? What other nuances are impacting your performance? Remember that over 51 pr cent of all shopping decisions are researched on Google first, and 75 per cent of users never scroll past the first page of search results.
So, are you engaging in SEO best practices to rank high on SERPs?
Disclaimer: The study was done within an Australian context, but it was designed in a way that the findings are generally universal.
SERP, meet AI
The Search Engine Results Page, or SERP, the webpage you land on after typing a search query on a platform like Google or Bing, has become more diverse than ever in recent years, providing information to users in increasingly varied ways.
From knowledge panels to People Also Ask (PAA) sections, platforms like Google are doing their best to serve you the right information while keeping you from clicking on external web pages (which has resulted in an uptick in the phenomenon of zero-click searches, likely earning the chagrin of many websites).
For businesses, the importance of appearing on the first page of an SERP goes without saying. This is where most clicks occur, directly impacting your website’s traffic and visibility. High rankings mean you’re more likely to attract potential customers, making SERP optimisation a key element in any effective digital marketing strategy.
Food for thought: There is more emphasis than ever on marketers to create valuable and informative content, as AI summaries will often cite their sources, which could be a new way to rank highly on an SERP.
Feeling the heat from AI large language models (LLMs) that have come to challenge search engines’ authority for queries (Perplexity AI comes to mind), companies like Google are now experimenting with what they’re calling Search Generative Experience (SGE), a feature on SERPs where Google provides AI-generated summaries to search prompts.
While still in the experimental phase, we’ve noticed some key points. For example, for many queries, the auto-generated overviews often fill the entire screen on desktop, and require the user to scroll on mobile. If ads are added to the mix, either above or below the AI overview, regular organic results will get pushed even further down. This is a game-changer for marketers, and something they’ll need to work around.
Image courtesy: Online Marketing Gurus
With Google directly extracting and summarising information from websites, there is more emphasis than ever on marketers to create valuable and informative content, as these AI summaries will often cite their sources (à la ChatGPT and Perplexity AI when sourcing online info), which could be a new way to rank highly on an SERP. Food for thought.
Relationship between CTR, search position and industry
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: as per our findings, the highest CTRs are consistently found at position 1 on the first page of SERPs, across all industries. While this comes as no surprise, it reinforces the importance of aiming for top positions on Google’s first search result page. It is still the most valuable real estate in digital marketing.
Image: Online Marketing Gurus
The industries with the highest click-through rate at position 1—Electronics, Software/Technology/IT, Home & Furniture, Industrial Trade & Services, and Real Estate—are industries that tend to offer a wide range of products or services, where users are likely to compare different options before making a purchase. Based on our research, a high percentage of SERPs feature PAA and Thumbnail sections for searches within the electronics and furniture industries, given the nature of the products users are looking for.
Businesses in industries with high CTRs may want to focus on creating comprehensive and informative listings that cater to users who are doing comparison shopping.
Conversely, the industries with the lowest average CTRs in position 1—Pets and Animals, Beauty, Health/Fitness/Wellness, Healthcare, and Law & Government—are often those where users are looking for specific information or have a clear idea of what they want. For instance, in the pets & animals industry, users may search for information about a specific breed of dog or a particular type of pet food. Once they find a relevant result, they may be less likely to click on other listings.
Note, however, that these are just general trends, and each industry may have exceptions. However, understanding these patterns can help businesses tailor their SEO efforts to their specific industry and target audience.
For example, businesses in industries with high CTRs may want to focus on creating comprehensive and informative listings that cater to users who are doing comparison shopping.
Businesses in the lower CTRs category may want to focus on optimising their listings for specific keywords and long-tail phrases that target users with particular needs.
Distribution of SERP features per industry
Here is a breakdown of SERP features according to industry:
This chart is useful in helping you identify which SERP features are most relevant to your industry. For those in Law & Government, the PPA feature is crucial, as people look to find related information to their query. Within Autos & Vehicles and Fashion, thumbnails are critical. Each industry is best served by certain SERP features, and those are the ones you will want to focus your SEO efforts on.
Remember that the anatomy of an SERP is complex, with various elements vying for user attention. The distribution of these elements can vary significantly depending on the search query, user intent, and industry. Use the information presented as a starting point, not a definitive blueprint. To truly master SERP optimisation, you need to go beyond generic recommendations and tailor your strategies to the specific SERP landscape of your respective industry.
Level up your SERP game in 2025
While search algorithms are always changing, below are some universal action points that can help you up your SERP game in 2025.
Focus on featured snippets: Featured snippets are concise answers to user queries displayed in a prominent box at the top of the SERP. They provide quick and relevant information to users, often without requiring them to click through to a website. While this can be a double-edged sword, as it can lead to zero-click searches, it also presents a unique opportunity to establish your brand as an authority and capture valuable SERP real estate.
Industries that particularly benefit from featured snippets include those that provide informational content such as Education/Training/Coaching, Law & Government, and Healthcare.
To optimise for featured snippets:
- focus on creating high-quality, informative content that directly answers common user queries;
- use clear and concise language;
- structure your content in a way that is easy for search engines to understand, such as using lists, tables or bullet points;
- ensure your content is up-to-date and relevant to current search trends.
Leverage rich snippets: Rich snippets are enhanced search results that display additional information beyond the standard title and meta description. This can include star ratings, images, prices, availability, and other relevant details, making your listing more visually appealing and informative.
To maximise rich snippets, you need to implement schema markup, which is a structured data vocabulary that helps search engines understand the content on your website. A schema markup provides explicit clues about the meaning of your data, allowing search engines to display it in a more engaging and informative way.
Local SEO is critical: For businesses with a physical presence or those catering to a specific geographic area, local SEO is very important.
You’ll want to be among the businesses listed on the map pack (depicted above), an SERP feature that’s a key part of local SEO.
Local SEO gives marketers another playing field to compete on, one that is less competitive. It can be a significant source of traffic and business, as users conducting local searches are actively seeking solutions in their immediate surroundings, which means they are motivated customers. By optimising for local SEO, you ensure your business appears prominently in these crucial searches and captures the attention of high-intent customers.
Create in-depth content: Long-form, in-depth content has become one of the cornerstones of a successful SEO strategy, especially in the wake of Google’s recent algorithm updates. The Helpful Content Update of 2022 and the March 2024 Core Update have reinforced the importance of quality over quantity, emphasising the need for content that genuinely addresses user needs and provides valuable insights.
Even in the wake of generative AI, the need for high-quality content has not diminished. In fact, it has only created more demand for original, personalised content.
In 2025, turn your focus to SERPs
So, in 2025, take the time to analyse the SERPs for your industry and target keywords. Identify the dominant features and tailor your content accordingly.
Experiment and iterate; don’t be afraid to experiment with different content formats and optimisation techniques. Track your results and iterate on your strategies to find what works best for your specific SERP landscape.
By Andrew Raso, Co-Founder and Global CEO of Online Marketing Gurus
