Remember position 1? Neither do we.
Position Zero, or featured snippets, have gained notoriety since being introduced a few years ago. However, figuring out how to rank in the space still eludes many marketers. As these placements become increasingly important with the expansion of paid ads on the page (and therefore the reduction of organic real estate on the page), and the growing use of voice search, we knew we had to harness the potential of featured snippets.
In this article, we share some best practices and handy tips to increase your odds of capturing Google’s attention. Get details on how to develop content that’s featured-snippet-worthy and ranking for the key terms and queries you care most about.
What is a featured snippet?
Featured snippets answer commonly searched queries on Google. Snippets may include paragraphs, images, lists, or YouTube videos. Approximately 12.3% of search queries have featured snippets attached. As this trend continues, knowing which factors impact your ability to rank will become more important. Because they are also used as a primary information source for voice search, you’ll also be gaining traction in that area, even if you don’t see increased traffic.
Why are featured snippets important?
Visibility for featured snippets is valuable for brand awareness. Clicks from them will support your organic traffic goals also. According to Ahrefs, when there’s no featured snippet, 26% of the clicks go to the first URL . However, when a featured snippet is present, 8.6% goes to the featured snippet and 19.6% come from position 1. This shows that people are migrating to, and clicking on, the featured snippets. Another notable takeaway? If you can own both position 1 and position zero, you’ll garner over 28% of the clicks.
Focusing on optimizing your content for position zero can help you increase impressions, overall traffic, and brand awareness. When you’re creating valuable content for queries that matter to your target audience, you’ll be increasing brand awareness and customer consideration.
How can I rank for featured snippets?
Ranking for featured snippets is not dissimilar from ranking your traditional on-page content. It helps to follow some basic rules for success. Generally, a few factors influence whether your content will rank for featured snippets.
Be on the first page already.
Generally, the easiest way to get into a featured snippet is to already have established relevance and authority for the queries. If you are close to hitting the mark with your content already it helps make getting that bump up easier. However, we’ll also explore what to do when launching new content to help it get into position zero.
Offer relevant and succinct information.
The right answer, steps, or video content is crucial. Expanding the content on the page to be comprehensive can help as well.
Don’t forget the formatting.
For featured snippets, nailing the formatting is a critical element to getting the real estate you want. Whether it’s bullets, a numbered list, a succinct paragraph, or a table, you’ll want to provide the most important information in a succinct and scannable format.
Optimize your already ranking featured snippets.
If you’re already ranking for featured snippets, you can optimize them. How can you find out? You can do this through Ahrefs by looking at your organic keywords and selecting “Featured Snippets” from the SERP features. You can also check out what’s ranking in the Google Knowledge panel. Once you have your list, you can view how they appear online and determine if you need to clean up any of the HTML, or implement changes to the Google Knowledge Graph.
Research your competitors.
Look into the featured snippets competitors are ranking for, and see where you can out optimize them. You can prioritize this by search volume and your current ranking. For keywords and queries where you’re already on the first page, getting into the featured snippet is considerably more achievable. Focus on creating cohesive, clear answers to the query and place that content at the top of your piece. This provides the reader with easy-to-read information that also answers their initial question. By formatting this in a scannable way, you’ll be more likely to see rankings at the top of the page.
Use video when appropriate.
One of the biggest opportunities marketers have is to harness the power of video featured snippets. Google will continue to “learn” and be able to identify what search queries commonly lead to video views on YouTube. Featured snippets will continue to include more and more videos, so the searcher no longer has to go to YouTube. They may also highlight a certain clip from the video that answers the specific query. Think about how your brand might be able to supply information in this way. Visuals are the most powerful way to provide answers to search queries.
Whether you’re looking to grow your presence online, increase traffic, or simply provide value with high-quality content, featured snippets are a great way to reach a high volume of people. Take the time to optimize your content for readers as well as address any technical SEO needs.
We invite you to learn more about our SEO and digital marketing services.
