Tip: Improve your SEO by considering SERP volatility when selecting keywords

A volatile SERP can be an opportunity to rank at the top and snag featured snippets. Boost your SEO by looking for keywords with search results that are in flux.

@Kevin_Indig of Growth Memo calls it "SERP volatility" and it's bad news for sites at the top, but good news for the rest of us. The gist is that Google continuously tests search results against each other. If it decides that the results satisfy search intent, then the SERP will stay relatively consistent. If not, the SERP will be volatile and there is an opportunity for sites to get a foot in the door by doing a better job of meeting search intent. You can measure it with SEMrush's Sensor tool, or you can take a look at Ahrefs' SERP position chart in the Keyword Explorer. Then, if the SERP appears to be volatile for a specific keyword, take the opportunity and try to satisfy user intent better than the current leaders.