The SEO battle is fought on many fronts. It is just not enough to optimize your content. Several other factors contribute to a high rank in search results. One of them is featured snippets.
These snippets are comparatively new to the digital marketing game. Thus, many website owners and publishers are not well-aware of the technicalities of optimizing them. However, it is important to focus on featured snippets if you want to improve your Google rankings.
Here, we will acquaint you with the basics of optimizing your featured snippets. Additionally, we will share some tips and tricks for snippet optimization that will help you to increase search rankings and improve your digital marketing strategies.
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What Are Featured Snippets?
When you enter a search query on Google, you may find that short text snippets appear at the top of search results. These text blocks attempt to answer your query, so you don’t have to click any link to look for your answer. These are called featured snippets.
These snippets are automatically selected from web pages that feature in Google’s index. You may also find images or other relevant results with the featured snippet.
Types of Featured Snippets
There are three popular types of featured snippets:
- Paragraphs: Also known as definition box, these consist of text that attempts to answer why, what, when, and who-type questions. They often come in the form of concise descriptions or pieces of information.
- Lists: These are numbered or bulleted lists that answer your search query. They can be ordered, like that of a brownie recipe, or unordered, like best places for grocery shopping in Brooklyn.
- Tables: These come as tables of information, mostly for comparative or statistical data.
Why Should We Optimize Snippets?
There has been some back and forth in the digital marketing community about the impact of featured snippets in SERPs. However, there are certain undeniable benefits of optimizing featured snippets.
- You can steal some clicks from the highest-ranking search result.
- It lets you optimize for voice search as well.
- Getting featured as the Google snippet lends authority and credibility to your content.
- You get an opportunity to increase organic traffic without having to feature at the top of search results.
- It increases the number of no-click searches, as the user might get the required information from the snippet and exit the search without actually clicking any link.
However, Google’s algorithm makes it harder for your website to be on the first page of search results if it picks the snippet from there. This has led to confusion about many experts regarding which angle they must focus on, the on-page SEO or snippet optimization.
Yet, it has become essential for content producers to optimize featured snippets as they have become a popular way of increasing traffic to your website. If you are unsure about how to do that, we are here to help.
Tips to Optimize Featured Snippets
Here are some of the surefire ways to optimize snippets on your web page, so you can get a shot at being featured at the top of the search results page.
1. Optimize the length and content
The length of the snippet is crucial. Observations say that the ideal featured snippet should have between 40 to 50 words and definitely not more than 60. In this limited scope, you have to ensure the presence of the right keywords and phrases.
You should also focus on the “People also ask” section of Google. Ensure those questions are answered in your blog post, as that is likely to increase your chances of getting featured. You can also follow the inverted pyramid format in your blog post for better results.
There are certain words and phrases that have high featured snippet occurrence. You can research these keywords on tools and include them in your snippet. Make sure to also include graphical elements, if possible. And if you do, ensure your graphics are high-quality and accurate.
2. Search for related topics and competitors’ snippets
In digital marketing, it is crucial to keep an eye on your competition. To create a popular blog post, you have to be aware of the kind of content your competitors are providing and the questions your viewers are asking.
Searching for related topics on Google helps you to understand the trends and play your cards accordingly. You can also take a look at the existing snippets for these topics and build your own offering in a way that will fulfill all requirements.
3. Improve your keyword game
Keyword research is the most basic and important part of any kind of SEO. For snippets, you need to figure out which type of keywords work best with the topic.
Experts have observed that, generally, long-tail keywords are associated most with featured snippets. The same can be said of search queries in the form of questions. As snippets are more likely to pop up when the search term is a long-phrase or a question, we need to choose keywords accordingly.
You can use keyword tools to find out the questions that users ask about a topic. Then, you just have to ensure all those questions are addressed in your content.
4. Optimize for voice search
Voice search has become increasingly popular in recent times; what with AI assistants making it easier to get work done through voice commands alnd all. Optimizing your content for voice search helps you gain an edge in the snippet game as well.
As we generally tend to pose queries in the form of questions or conversations when using voice search, long-tail keywords are important in this aspect as well.
5. Don’t neglect the formatting aspects
You are already aware of the types of featured snippets. Now, if you are after a table format, include a table with detailed information in your content. Also, check the headers and image tags in your content to ensure they are optimized accordingly.
The most common snippet format is that of a paragraph. To get featured in this aspect, ensure your content is straightforward, professional, and devoid of any personal opinions. Google tends to choose the most impartial and informative snippet that it can find.
6. Keep a Q&A section on your website
If your website has the scope of a Q&A section, make sure you add it. This is a section where website owners or service providers address customer queries and concerns. This ensures your visitors are aware of your proficiency in the field.
Q&A sections often cover the most relevant questions regarding a topic, and hence they are important for optimization. They offer you more chances of showing up as a featured snippet, as some of your answers might directly relate to the question in the search query.
Final Thoughts
Creating a fully optimized web page is not very easy. A website owner or even an SEO company[1] might still be experimenting with strategies. In this dynamic market, you never know when the search engine algorithm might change again, posing unique challenges for digital marketers.
However, these tips to optimize your featured snippets are quite foolproof and, if implemented correctly, can fetch you the results you have been looking for.