What Are Featured Snippets and How Do They Improve Website SEO?

Vũ Khôi

Author at Wotech Electronics Blog

Have you noticed that website SEO is becoming increasingly difficult when it comes to building referral traffic from Google? The problem lies not only in the fact that more and more businesses are focusing on website SEO, but also in the changes taking place within search engines themselves — Google in particular. One of the most notable changes Google has introduced recently is the Featured Snippet, which has changed the SEO game between websites and is predicted to be the dominant trend in the SEO industry in 2019. Let's take a look at what Featured Snippets are and what role they play in improving SEO services.

Featured Snippets – a new opportunity and challenge in website SEO

According to expert predictions, the Featured Snippet (FS) is the target many companies pursuing website SEO will be aiming for in the coming year. Why is that? First of all, if you are still unfamiliar with the term, an FS is a piece of text selected to answer the questions users type into Google, created primarily to answer the user's question directly. This is why they are often better known as "answer boxes," although that name is not entirely accurate. Specifically, for a given question, Google tends to provide a direct answer (such as a definition, the result of a calculation, etc.) at the very top WITHOUT A LINK. An FS, on the other hand, is also a search result, but one that includes a URL link to the relevant page. What sets it apart from other search results is that it is boxed and always appears at the highest position on the search engine results page — SERPs (excluding ads) — or occasionally on the right side of the screen. These positions are known as "position zero" in website SEO and are worth more than any other top-ranking position.

The types of Featured Snippets to watch out for in website SEO

There are 3 main types of Featured Snippets (figures from Getstat):

· Paragraph (the answer is provided as text). These may consist of text only, or of text combined with an image. They account for 81.95% of all FS, of which 27.58% contain an image.

· List (the answer is provided as a bulleted or numbered list). They account for 10.77% of all FS.

· Table (the answer is provided as a statistical table). They account for 7.28% of all FS.

In the latest website SEO study, covering 1 million high-CPC search queries, it was found that 9.28% of them contain an FS, and the number of FS related to hot keywords is twice as high as for other keywords. In addition, Featured Snippets were found to appear more often in longer queries (queries with 6 or more words account for nearly 25%, while queries with 5 words or fewer do not exceed 15% for each type).

Why are Featured Snippets extremely important for website SEO?

If your website has an article selected as the FS for a question (or for several closely related keywords), it is undoubtedly a huge advantage in boosting traffic in particular and website SEO in general. Several studies have shown that the click-through rate (CTR) on the featured page (the page selected as the FS) increases by 2 to 8%, while traffic can grow by as much as 20-30% once it is pulled into Google's answer boxes. By examining Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest, researchers found that featured pages receive on average 12.5% more shares on social media. Being selected for the answer box not only means being seen by more people, thereby increasing brand awareness for your website, but by pushing your page to the very top, Google also inadvertently helps you beat competitors in the same website SEO niche. On top of that, it serves as proof of the reliability, accuracy and informational value of the content you provide.

Is it easy or hard to become a Featured Snippet in website SEO?

If you are still wondering whether there is a proper formula in website SEO for turning one of your pages into a Featured Snippet, the official answer from Google's Search Console Help is no. Google determines whether a page may contain the answer to a user's question and displays it as an FS through its pre-programmed processes, and no business or company can interfere with that — except Google itself.

To be honest, in the field of website SEO, achieving good results depends on many factors that must be weighed carefully, and Featured Snippets are no exception. Winning position zero today may only last until the day Google decides that another page has more suitable content. So the most effective way to secure an FS position is to produce quality content presented in the format Google favors. In other words, you have to make your content stand out so Google can easily pick up your links. If you already have a few links with high rankings and your website SEO efforts are paying off, then you are in luck: according to statistics, 99.58% of FS pages already appear in the top 10 of the SERPs for the specific search query they relate to. However, don't celebrate too early and assume a top spot guarantees you an FS, because many studies have also shown that 70% of snippets come from pages that are NOT in the top organic ranking positions. Conversely, if you do not have a high ranking, this too can be seen as good news, because you still have plenty of room to compete for Featured Snippet positions.

In addition, the industry your business operates in also affects whether you can rank as an FS. Websites covering DIY (Do It Yourself), health, finance, mathematics and similar topics have a better chance of becoming an FS than websites publishing content in other industries. Furthermore, the keywords in search queries also influence Google's choices and your website SEO results. The 5 keywords most frequently found in FS are, in order, "recipe" (2.3%), "best" (2.3%), "vs" (1.4%), "make" (1.3%) and "definition" (1.3%). Meanwhile, searches such as image and video, local, and shopping queries generally do not return FS results.

As mentioned above, you cannot simply label your own web page as a Featured Snippet; however, there are a few ways to make it easier to put your website in Google's line of sight.

Enrich your content to more easily become a Featured Snippet in the website SEO battle

As the old saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles." Indeed, making an accurate assessment of both yourself and the environment you will operate in lays the foundation for the most effective website SEO work. There is a highly effective analysis tool you can use to research both your own Featured Snippets and those of your competitors: SEMrush. All you need to do is enter the domain of the website you want to track and select "Organic Research"; the results will then show the number of FS pages that website owns in the "Featured Snippet" section at the bottom right of the screen. SEMrush even lets you investigate the keywords those FS contain using the "Advanced Filters" function below the statistics chart. Once you know which featured snippets your competitors own, you can fully optimize your content and your website SEO work around the same keywords and topics. Additionally, when reviewing the snippets you already own, don't forget to keep an eye on related keywords that you could rank well for. Of course, SEMrush is not the only research tool available — Google itself is the most optimal and comprehensive source — but if you are not yet proficient in website SEO, start with SEMrush.

If you have time to invest intellectual effort into analysis, you can also use Google to discover new opportunities. One of the most effective ways to find topics for content optimization is to think like an audience member. What questions do people actually ask Google to find answers? For example, put yourself in the shoes of someone new to website SEO who does not understand the terminology or common abbreviations. The way these people phrase their search queries will certainly differ from how professionals search on Google. To cover this, pay attention to the "People also ask" section on Google's SERPs. These are questions related to the topic the user searched for. With this approach you can identify new ideas and your competitors in one simple step, and then use that insight to upgrade your own content.

You can also boost the performance of your website SEO services by looking for other frequently asked questions in "Answer the Public," because question-based queries (how, what, when, where, why, who) are the ones most likely to trigger Featured Snippets. Enter a keyword related to your topic, collect the most frequently asked questions, and try to create appropriate content that answers them — the fastest way to turn your page into an FS.

Beyond that, don't forget to target the intent and purpose your content is aimed at — don't stop at merely finding questions. Although featured pages are meant to answer users' questions immediately, question-style queries are not the only type that triggers these boxed results; in fact, most keywords that trigger an FS are long, multi-word queries that contain no question words. One tool that can make your keyword research easier is Serpstat, which includes statistics on keywords associated with related Featured Snippets.

Website SEO optimization tactics to become a featured page

As noted above, the best way to become a featured page is to give Google the best possible answer to each question/search. If you pay attention, you will notice that most text-based FS displayed on SERPs are contained within a single paragraph. Experts in the website SEO field offer the following advice to webmasters on the ideal length of a Featured Snippet:

· For paragraph FS, the average length is 45 words (293 characters). The maximum is 97 words (752 characters).

· For list FS, the average length is 4.2 items (10.8 words per item). The maximum is 8 items (64 words per item).

· For table FS, the average length is 3.6 rows and 2.5 columns. The maximum is 9 rows and 3 columns.

This does not mean, however, that your articles must be kept within a single paragraph. On the contrary, Google nowadays seems to favor long-form content (also known as "cornerstone content," which is clearly a better way to describe it since Google does not judge by length alone), broken into multiple logical sub-sections and accompanied by eye-catching images. Not only that, creating long-form articles also allows you to address more related questions without having to produce too many separate website SEO posts, since experience shows that Google is very good at identifying synonymous or similar questions — so if one of your pages becomes an FS, chances are it will also be the FS for similar queries. Achieving this is practically like multiplying the performance of your website SEO work several times over. All you need to do is produce more content and adjust your writing style slightly: pose questions within your own articles (you can even turn them into H2 or H3 headings) and then answer each one in a single paragraph. This tactic not only gives your posts better structure and readability, but also contributes to user retention.

Include real data and eye-catching visuals when creating featured website SEO pages

The second thing to remember when optimizing your website SEO text is to provide real data on a regular basis. Google likes figures, well-structured step-by-step processes, and well-organized lists. So in the paragraph where you introduce the answer to a question, make sure you list relevant figures and useful, practical groupings. This is especially important and necessary if you are running website SEO for e-commerce.

Finally, don't overlook tangible elements when creating website SEO content — specifically here, content created in the race to become a Featured Snippet. Most people prefer to learn in the most visual and vivid way possible, which is why images and videos can give you an edge over other competitors. No one can control which image Google will suddenly pick from your article to display at the top as an FS, so the only way to influence users in website SEO is to make sure every image you insert into your articles is eye-catching, branded and well captioned, so that whichever image Google chooses, it will look attractive and appealing. Video is also a relatively significant contributor in this regard: 65% of users watch at least three-quarters of a video's length, and 59% of experts believe people prefer to watch videos with captions or on-screen text. The simplest solution is to add subtitles to all your videos, because Google might just read that text and select it as an FS. And don't forget to make sure your content and data are always of high quality.

We hope this article has given you a more comprehensive and clearer picture of Featured Snippets and their impact on website SEO. If you have any questions or needs related to SEO and digital marketing, don't hesitate to contact us — Markdao Agency Vietnam.

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