Would you like to know how you can secure the top position on Google’s search engine results page (SERP) without needing to build backlinks or make significant changes to your content? Well, featured snippets are the answer.
Featured snippets can be very beneficial for websites that appear in them. They can lead to a significant increase in click-through rate (CTR) and organic traffic.
In this blog post, we will discuss how to optimize your website content for featured snippets.
What Are Featured Snippets?
Featured snippets are short excerpts of text that appear at the top of Google’s SERP for certain queries.
They are designed to provide users with a quick and easy answer to their questions without having to click through to a website.
The first step to optimizing your website content for featured snippets is to understand the intent behind them. What are the most common questions that people ask about your topic?
What kind of content does Google typically feature in featured snippets for your topic?
What Are The Four Main Types Of Featured Snippets?
1. Paragraph snippets
Paragraph snippets are the most common type of featured snippet. They are typically 40-50 words long and answer a user’s question in a concise and informative way.
- Paragraph snippets account for 70% of all featured snippets.
- The average paragraph snippet is 42 words long.
- Paragraph snippets are more likely to appear for informational queries than for transactional queries.
Paragraph snippets are a great way to get your content featured in Google’s search results.
2. List snippets
List snippets are numbered or bullet-pointed lists that answer a user’s question and need a set of steps. They are typically 6-10 items long.
- List snippets account for 19% of all featured snippets.
- The average list snippet is 6 items long.
- List snippets are more likely to appear for informational and transactional queries than for navigational queries.
List snippets are a great way to optimize featured snippets because they provide users with quick and easy-to-understand steps that answer their questions.
3. Table snippets
Table snippets are tables that answer a user’s question. They are typically 5 rows and 2 columns long and provide a concise and easy-to-read answer to the user’s query.
- Table snippets account for 6% of all featured snippets.
- The average table snippet is 5 rows and 2 columns long.
Table snippets are a great way to provide users with a concise and easy-to-read answer to their question that includes multiple data points.
4. Video snippets
Video snippets are videos that answer a user’s question. They are typically 6-10 minutes long and provide a comprehensive and informative answer to the user’s query.
- Video snippets account for 5% of all featured snippets.
- The average video snippet is 6 minutes long.
Video snippets are a great way to provide users with a comprehensive and informative answer to their questions.
NOTE: There are other search results that look like featured snippets but are not. It is important to be aware of these to avoid confusion.
Snippet-like Results
1. Knowledge Panel
A Knowledge Panel featured snippet appears on the right side of the search results page (SERP) for certain types of queries, such as those about people, places, organizations, and things.
This featured snippet are generated by Google’s Knowledge Graph, a database of real-world entities and their relationships to each other.
Knowledge Panel featured snippets typically include the following information:
- A name or title
- A brief description
- A link to the Knowledge Panel for that entity
- Other relevant information, such as images, videos, and social media links
2. Knowledge Card
These SERP features (Knowledge Graph and Knowledge Panel) are powered by the Knowledge Graph, which is a vast database of information about entities in the real world.
This means that they can pull information from a variety of sources, rather than just the top-ranking search result.
While they may include a link to the source of the information, this link is never in the form of a clickable title, as is the case with featured snippets.
How To Optimize Featured Snippets
To optimize for featured snippets, you need to understand what they are, how they work, and what Google looks for in content that it features.
1. Identify competitors’ featured snippets
The first step is to identify the keywords that your competitors are ranking for in featured snippets. You can use a tool like SEMrush to do this.
2. Gather the keywords for each featured snippet-owned content
Once you have identified your competitors’ featured snippets, you need to gather the keywords that they are using. You can use the SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool to do this.
3. Understand searcher intent
One of the most important things to do when optimizing for featured snippets is to understand the searcher’s intent behind each query. What are users looking for when they search for these keywords?
For example, if the user searches for the capital of Australia, it means the user wants to find an answer about what is the capital of this country.
4. Run a competitive analysis
Once you understand the searcher’s intent, you need to run a competitive analysis to see what your competitors are doing well. You can use the SEMrush SEO Content Template tool to do this.
5. Create/update the content outline
Now that you have all of the information you need, it’s time to create or update your content outline.
6. Create content better than the competitors
Your content should be better than the competitions in terms of quality, quantity, and relevance.
7. Validate the content
Once you have created your content, you need to validate it to make sure that it meets all of the requirements for featured snippets.
8. Organize your content for readers & Search engines
Your content should be well-organized and easy to read for both users and search engines.
9. Add question keywords in heading tags
Google often features content that contains question keywords in the heading tags.
10. Add relevant graphics
Graphics can make your content more visually appealing and engaging, and they can also help to improve your chances of ranking in a featured snippet.
11. Implement SEO tactics
There are a number of SEO tactics that you can implement to improve your chances of ranking in a featured snippet, such as using a perfect URL structure, creating a catchy title tag, and writing user-centric and keyword-specific meta descriptions.
12. Keep optimizing your content until you achieve a featured snippet
It may take some time to see results but keep optimizing your content until you achieve a featured snippet.
Conclusion
Google’s featured snippets are short excerpts of text that appear at the top of search results for specific queries. They are designed to provide users with a quick and easy answer to their question without having to click through to a website.
However, not all information can be displayed in the 40-45 words that Google allows for featured snippets. This means that featured snippets can be a great way to drive traffic to your website because they encourage users to click through to learn more.
Following the guide above, you can optimize your content for featured snippets and become a thought leader in your industry. This will boost your brand reputation and organic traffic, and conversions will follow if your site is well-optimized.