Are you looking for a quick and easy way to grow your online presence while simultaneously building brand trust? Then you need to land a featured snippet spot on Google.
What Is a Featured Snippet?
A featured snippet is a summary of information that relates to the topic you are searching for on Google. Also referred to as "Rank 0," they appear at the top of enhanced search results.
You can even search on Google for "What is a featured snippet," and a featured snippet will give you the answer.
Featured snippets also typically include a link that takes visitors to a website to learn more about the topic. This makes it a great option for bringing in more traffic to your brand's site.
Why Are Featured Snippets Important?
Snagging a featured snippet spot on Google can increase organic traffic and click-through rates on your website. It also helps you establish an online presence and build brand trust.
According to a 2021 study by STAT Search Analytics, there are approximately 3.6 million SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) generated each day in the United States. Roughly 2 million originate on a desktop computer, and about 1.6 million are on a smartphone device. Featured snippets appeared on 15% of the desktop SERPs and 8.7% of the mobile SERPs. That translates to around 300,000 desktop SERPs and 139,200 mobile SERPs daily.
That's a lot of eyes!
Featured Snippet Types
As of now, there are four different types of featured snippets, and they all are not created equal.
70% are paragraph snippets.
22.7% are list snippets.
4.5% are table snippets.
2.8% are video snippets.
**Please note that these numbers are averages between desktop and mobile snippets.
Based on data collected in 2021, paragraph snippets make up approximately two-thirds of all featured snippets.
Getting Answers with Featured Snippets
When boiled down to the basics, featured snippets are simply answers to questions. At this point, you may be wondering which questions are the most popular. To that, we can observe the data collected from the six Ws - Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.
According to the same study by STAT Search Analytics, the most popular question starter in 2021 was "Why." Questions beginning with "Why" were searched for on Google about 68% of the time.
Ranking in the second spot is "When" at 59%, and "How" comes in third at 54%.
The last three spots go to "What" at 44%, "Who" at 43%, and "Why" at 28%.
**Please note that these numbers are averages between desktop and mobile snippets.
How to Snag a Feature Snippet Spot
Using your keywords for SEO, you can run a Google search to see if you have any competition for featured snippet spots.
If you find some, don't fret! You can analyze your competitor's content and use it to your advantage.
Can you answer the question better or clearer than your competitor? Do it, and Google's algorithm may reward you with the featured snippet spot and a better ranking.
How to Structure a Featured Snippet
To make it even easier for Google's algorithm to crawl to your site, you should structure your content for featured snippet optimization. In other words, edit your format to be more appealing. You can do this by following these tips:
Answer questions regarding your SEO keywords
Keep the answers brief
Write the questions in your H2 subheadings
Secure a spot on page one of the SERPs
In other words, keep your website content simple and precise. This includes page titles, H1/H2 tags, and even your content body paragraphs.
According to Moz, these are the breakdowns of various featured snippets.
Paragraph - Keep it between 40 - 50 words or about 300 characters.
List - There is no limit to list items, but it should be at least 4 - 8. Table - Again, there is no limit, but it should be at least 3 columns and 9 rows. Video - These are YouTube videos with appealing thumbnails/titles.
Note: Local and shopping searches do not appear in featured snippets. Neither do images.
Featured Snippets: The Wrap Up
If you haven't already figured it out, every aspect of digital marketing comes back to SEO and keywords - including featured snippets.
To start creating content that boosts your online presence, get in touch with Clever Girl Copywriting today!
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