Featured Snippets on Google: A Complete Guide

Ah, featured snippets.

Are you wondering about Google’s Featured Snippets? Then you are at the right place to know that how to get featured snippets for your website.

If you haven’t noticed, Google’s search features and SERPs are evolving constantly and rapidly.

You may have learned how they work so you can gain ranking for your website.

Content creators, SEOs, and digital marketers continue to optimize their sites with technical SEO, on-page SEO, improve the quality of their content, and build backlinks for the opportunity to move into Position 0 – Google’s featured snippets.

If you heard “Google’s featured snippets” for the first time then definitely you are confused about what is Google’s feature snippets?

Well, let’s take a deep dive into a comprehensive guide on how to get Google’s featured snippets for blogs or websites?

What is Google’s Featured Snippet?

When you search for any query or a specific keyword in Google, Google will show a result that may be accompanied by a specific informational box, which known as Google’s Featured Snippets.

let me show you with example what is a featured snippet exactly.

Here’s an example of featured snippets:

Through featured snippets, Google shows snippets of related content from web pages, often selecting meaningful and ordered listings and displays them in a box directly below paid listings and just above the first organic result in the SERP, which is why it’s also called “position 0”.

This increase visibility and also other big benefits of featured snippets: higher organic click-through rates.

This featured snippet block includes a summary of the search result, extracted from a webpage, plus a link to the page, the page title, and URL.

Featured snippets usually include:

• An image
• Source page title
• Source page URL
• The short answer to the query

Featured snippets make people’s online search straightforward since they can see the answer they’re looking for at first sight. These featured snippets make it easier than ever before to find answers because youdon’t have to click anything to see the information.

What google says about featured snippets:

Google describes what featured snippets are, the different user interfaces and treatments you can get from these featured snippets and how they engage with the desktop, mobile, and voice search results.

Google says featured snippets are major important for mobile search and with voice-activated digital assistants.

Google said, “in such cases, the usual ’10 blue links’ format doesn’t work as well, making featured snippets a specifically useful format.”

What You Need to Know About Google’s Featured Snippets

Before we get into how you can start ranking for featured snippets, let’s know some facts about the featured snippets. This will help you understand the importance of getting something for your site.

1. Featured snippets are also called as Google’s rich answer box.

2. Featured snippets are usually stated as Position 0 because snippets show up above the first organic search result.

3. In accordance with Ahrefs, over 99% of featured snippet pages already rank in the top 10 SERPs in Google for a specific search query and 31% of these featured snippets are on position #1.

4. When the featured snippet is on the #1 position, it gets an average of 8.6% clicks, while the page below it will get ~19.6% clicks. Regular rank #1 with no featured snippets gets 26% of clicks on that page.

5. According to research by Stone Temple, about 97% of featured snippets give a correct answer to the user’s query.

6. Ben Goodsell reports the CTR (click-through rate) on a featured page increased from 2% to 8% once it’s placed in featured snippets, with revenue from organic traffic increasing by 677%.

7. Eric Enge research on featured snippets: 20–30% increase in traffic for ConfluentForms.com while they held the featured snippet for the query.

8. In the case of voice search, it borrows its answers specifically from featured snippets. As reported by Moz: As a matter of fact, more than 85% of paragraph snippets result in voice search responses.

10. After all, according to SEMrush reports that 10.16% of all queries searched on Google return featured snippets at the top of the results list.

Google search engine gives you multiple options in specific featured snippets to help you get more perfect answer for your query.

Types of Featured Snippets

Typically, featured snippets are categorized into three types: Paragraph, List and Table, that showing up most often in Google’s search results.

Type #1: Paragraph Featured Snippet (The Definition Box)

The paragraph featured snippet configured to provide searchers a direct, brief definition or description.

It may be a box with text inside or a box with both text and an image inside.

This featured snippet shows paragraph-type answers to questions like how, who, why, when, and what. Paragraph snippets are the most popular type.

Type #2: Table Featured Snippet

This type of featured snippets provides answers to search queries in the form of tables. Where Google drags data from a web page and displays it as a table.

Frequently you will see table snippets for posts that have a comparison chart. Google features well-structured content with prices, rates, years and other statistical information.

Type #3: List Featured Snippet

An answer is presented in the form of numbered lists or bulleted lists in this snippet type. List snippets apply mainly to posts about step-by-step instructions and recipes.

There are two types list: ordered list and unorderedlist.

• Ordered List: This is a list of things that presented in a particular order. Google has a tendency to use an ordered list for queries that need a group of steps.

It also shows the order list for those rank things in a specific number.

• Unordered List: This is a list of things that presentedwithout any need to be in any specific order.

Google just presents that we list as a simple list, without any information that ranks them one way or the other.

Reasons to Rank For Featured Snippets

Google’s featured snippets have been since 2014, with aims to provide great user experience by showing users better search results.

You’re familiar with Google’s featured snippets. Bloggers and publishers work hard to get them because featured snippets arebeneficial in various ways.

So, here are some benefits of Google’s featured snippets:

1. Steals website traffic from the first search result

The most obvious benefit of featured snippets is thatmore traffic to your website.

Ahrefs’ study of 2 million featured snippets and they found out that a featured snippet that showed for a search query will always get more traffic than the first organic search result.

2. Increase in Conversions (CTR)

One of the most amazing benefits of getting featured snippets is increasing your site conversions.

When a user gets an answer preview of the query at position #0 on the search result page, it draws more attention and a user clicks on it.

3. Become a Trusted Brand

This is a good reason to get featured snippets. On the basis of a potential customer’s point of view, you become more acceptable by being in a featured snippet.

As a source of reliable information recommended by Google,  you become the go-to website when specific people in your niche want advice.

That’s why Google’s featured snippets are important.

Even now that you know what the featured snippets are, the things to consider and the reason for getting featured snippets, the question now is how to get featured snippets?

Don’t worry, now I am going to tell you all about how you can get featured snippets for your blog or content and also, about optimization of your content for featured snippets.

The probability to get into featured snippets

According to the analysis performed in a study by Getstate the following types of search queries get featured results most often:

• DIY processes
• Financial
• Health
• Mathematical
• Status
• Requirements
• Transitional

If your niche is DIY, health or finance, you have the highest probability of getting featured.

Ahrefs’ study expands the list of popular topics with their most frequent words that appear in featured snippets:

How to find opportunities for featured snippets

1. Research On SERPs That Have A Featured Snippet

To optimize for featured snippets, you need to look at a search results page that already has featured snippets.

In this way, you will know that Google is showing the featured snippets for which query.

With this, you will know what kind of featured snippets Google is showing for that query, such as paragraphs, lists, and tables.

Also, you will understand a little bit about how to optimize your page for featured snippets.

Let’s understand through an example: I searched for “What is the full meaning of ph?” in Google, now you can see that Google is showing the results of my query with a definition snippet(answer box).

Let me tell you the way to search for such featured snippets.

One way is to create a list of keywords that you need, now you have all the keywords on which you want featured snippets. Now you can note all the keywords by search in Google, on which keywords google not showing featured snippets.

Some people find it boring to find one by one there are featured snippets or not for each keyword.

So, there is another way through it you can find keywords for featured snippets.

You can use the tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs to find out the featured snippets of a website.

Through this, you will be able to know all the keywords which Google hasn’t ranked in featured snippets.

Let’s understand it in a practical way: When you run an organic keyword report on any www.website.com using Ahrefs, you can filter out any keywords that are not already displayed featured snippets.

2. Research for a good keyword

The majority of featured snippets are triggered by long-tailed keywords. In fact, the more words typed into a search box, the more probability there will be a featured snippet.

Keyword research is an invaluable process for Informative and influential content that ranks for featured snippets. Start researching your keywords, it’s always a good idea.

When you are doing keyword research for featured snippets, then definitely keep the focus on some points given below.

• Make sure to focus on questions that most of your targeted audience ask.
• You have to do research for a question-type search query. This type of keyword starting with interrogative words, such as “how-to”, “what is”, “How to do”, “why”, etc.
• Featured snippets aim to answer the user’s question immediately, question-type queries are not the only types that trigger those selected results. Therefore target informational intent, not just questions.

There are many tools to do keyword research that help you in keyword research. You can use SEMrush, Ahrefs, Google’s keyword planner or any other.

3. Browse Google for more question-type queries

Doing keyword research is definitely a useful process, but while you do keywordresearch, never forget to browse Google’s own “People also ask” box.

It gives you great insight, in which Google shows you the questions related to your query.

Once you click on any question, more and more questions will appear there

By selecting keywords with the help of “People Also Ask” box you have more opportunities to choose a topic. You will be able to answer more and more questions in a single blog post. This is a great step to rank in featured snippets.

4. Use Answer the Public to get keyword and content ideas

You know that there are more chances of getting featured snippets by questions, which start with how, who, what, when, why, where, etc.

“Answer the Public” is the best to find out the types of questions asking by people about a particular subject.

Suppose, that you want to learn about web design.

Just type it in the search box and immediately you will get lots of suggestions for questions related to the topic that you can answer in your content.

Now you have to make sure which element you have to go with, then just focus on it. like, if you have chosen “how”, then focus only on the section “how”.

5. Give the best answer to questions

Just by answering the questions, you’ll get the featured snippets, No, that’s completely wrong.

Keep in mind, Google always wants to give the best result to users.

You must have seen that the answer given in the featured snippets is absolutely correct and well.

No matter how long or short your article is, it matters whether it is written to its max level.

Some things that will help you to know how you have written the article in the details:

• Divide each step into small parts and write it down.
• Use lots of media to convince the user in the best way and with examples. Such as infographic, screenshot, video, etc.
• Make sure that the user of the initial(beginner) level will understand your article well.
• Ask yourself: “Is my content is best that it can be?” If not, write it better.

How to Optimize Your Content to Get Featured Snippets

It is absolutely necessary to optimize the content properly to get into featured snippets.

Before we know how to optimize the content for featured snippets, we need to know about the optimal word count for featured snippets.

1. Optimal word count for featured snippets

Also, it called optimal featured snippet lengths.

You must have seen the answer box of Google that Google gives priority to featuresuch an answer which was given within a paragraph.

According to the D study by AJ Ghergich, the average length of a paragraph snippet is 45 words.

So consider this as your guideline for how long each answer should be in order to get featured:

Through the above image, you can understand the word count for how many words appear in featured snippets.

2. Optimize For the Specific Featured Snippet

Finally, it turns to know how to structure to bring content get into featured snippets.

Here is how to optimize the article for 3 types of featured snippets.

• Paragraph Snippets: As you know, the paragraph snippets are known as a definition snippet.

You have to provide a short(as optimal word count for a featured snippet) snippet of text to Google, that they can directly use in the Featured Snippet.

This helps you with the question above the description. For example, “who is A?” and your answer is below that.

Actually, you can design little boxes that look like featured snippets.

Specifically, the more your content looks like featured snippets, the more chance that Google will use it as featured snippets.

It can be a wonderful key to bring your article to featured snippets.

Remember one thing that your definition should be objective, which means that do not include an opinion on the subject in any way.

• Table Snippet: I have noticed that the article in the table snippet contains a table. That means Google tends to get content for Table Featured Snippets from tables.

Using a table in your article increases the chances of a table appearing in featured snippets.

Google doesn’t collect data from different parts of your page to make your page appear in table featured snippet but collects directly from the table which is already present on your page.

• List Snippet: Your page has to be laid out so that specific steps or lists of items are presented in a way that Google can easily understand.

particularly, write each step in H1 and H2 text and present each item as a subheader.

To clarify the order of your items or steps to Google, you can include text like “Point #1” or “01” in each subheading. Each step in the process uses the exact same format (“Pont #1″, “Pont #2” )

3. Use Inverted Pyramid Style

Write your article using an inverted(reverse) pyramid method. Start by answering the question first, and then continue writing in details for the rest of your content.

4. Make every effort to rank on the first page of Google search results

Getting to the first page of SERP gives you the chance to display it in snippets. Almost all featured snippets are found on the first page of the Google SERP.

• Optimize on-page SEO

Definitely, it is a good idea to start with non-specific SEO best practices, simply because featured is only possible when you rank high for the query.

You have to write an amazing article to rank high in SERP.

Make your content findable to getting into the answer box.

• Structure your entire content around your keyword.
• Create backlinks that come from relevant and trusted sources.
• Link your internal pages (Internal Linking)
• Update an older piece of content to keep it fresh.
• Diagnose SEO problems and fix any penalties.
• Must use SSL.
• Pay attention to major algorithm updates.
• Choose good hosting for best site performance.
• Your site must be mobile-friendly

Additional benefits with the practice for featured snippets

Being featured in Google search results takes a lot of research and planning, and you can’t be sure when you will see results, especially when you don’t have many top 10 rankings yet.

Being featured in Google search results is an incentive to work hard on your content.Other important goals you’ll be able to achieve are:

• You will find out lots of new content ideas and thus will rank for different long-tail keywords.
• You will learn to structure your articles better and thus get a lower bounce rate as your articles will be easier to read.
• You will learn to better research each topic and thus will build more incoming links because people tend to link to depth articles.

Conclusion

Now you have all the tools to create comprehensive, detailed answers to your particular questions.

Make this optimization process a regular part of your content marketing strategy and see the results.

The solution to winning Google’s featured snippets and more organic search visibility is to understand the nuances of how you have to research for the perfect keywords, a stability of high traffic and low competition on your keyword, and include the key elements of featured snippet readiness such as question-based keywords, long-tail keywords in your content.

Here’s a quick review of the strategies:

• Research On SERPs That Have A Featured Snippet
• Research for a good keyword
• Browse Google for more question-type queries
• Use Answer the Public to get keyword and content ideas
• Give the best answer to questions
• Optimal word count for featured snippets
• Optimize for the Specific Featured Snippet
• Use Inverted Pyramid Style
• Make every effort to rank on the first page of Google search results

I hope this guide helps you, if you have any questions regarding this feel free to ask in the comment box.