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Optimize for Google Featured Snippets

by Pavel B. SEO and Marketing expert

Here are our top tips on how to optimize for Google’s featured snippets and create content for each type of featured snippet.

A featured snippet, once known as position zero on Google, is a piece of information that usually appears at the top of the search engine results page (SERP).

The purpose of a Google featured snippet is to provide short, relevant answers to a searcher’s query by lifting content from the top ten ranking pages. Often positioned as the most relevant result for the user, the featured snippet on Google is a helpful feature designed to streamline searches and promote website organically.

In January 2020, Google introduced featured snippet deduplication, making the featured snippet one of the ten results on the SERP, removing the double URL and the position zero. In February 2021, Google introduced passage ranking, which is similar to the featured snippet. Passage ranking helps Google analyze and understand long-form content, pulling out the most relevant text to answer search queries.

Using our methods, we have listed our top tips on how to optimize for Google’s featured snippets, explained how to create content for each type of featured snippet, including People Also Ask boxes and Related Questions, and why featured snippets are important for SEO.

How to Optimise for Featured Snippets

1. Identify the Right Opportunities

Start by using an SEO tool like Moz or Conductor to find featured snippet opportunities in search results. These tools show where your content ranks, if there's a featured snippet opportunity, and where your competitor has captured a snippet.

2. Consider What Your Competitors Are Doing

Look closely at your competitors' featured snippets. Use your SEO tool and search results for your target keyword or query to understand the length and form of their content and how often they use the keyword. Use this information to shape your content and compete for featured snippets.

3. Create Quality Content

To capture a featured snippet, write good content that provides enough detail and gets to the point quickly. Longer content is better as long as it's helpful to the user. Google’s passage ranking update can rank parts of a page separately, so detailed content is useful.

Understand the context behind a search query and avoid keyword stuffing. Google uses latent semantic indexing (LSI) to understand how words and phrases relate to a wider topic. Use a variety of phrases and synonyms to show a broader understanding of the topic.

When brainstorming new content ideas, aim to target relevant keywords. Winning a featured snippet is a bonus. Use your SEO platform to find potential snippet opportunities and target the best keywords. Format and structure your content correctly, avoid long sentences and use language your audience uses.

Without a tool, conduct a Google search to find snippet opportunities. Look at the Related Questions section of the SERP to see what questions people are asking.

4. Optimise for the Specific Type of Featured Snippet

There are three common types of Google featured snippets you can optimize for:

- Paragraph

- Table

- List

Different snippets appear based on the search intent of a query and the relevance of the information.

Optimizing for the Paragraph Featured Snippet

To capture this snippet, answer the question quickly in your content, right under the question heading if possible. Then, add more information to encourage the reader to click through. The ideal length for a paragraph snippet is 40 to 50 words.

Optimizing for the Table Featured Snippet

Formatting is key. Google can create its table from your data, but often it lifts a table directly from your page. Include a relevant table in your content. Make your table longer than four rows to increase click-through rates.

Optimizing for the List Featured Snippet

There are two types of list snippets: numbered lists and bulleted lists.

- Numbered Lists: These explain steps to do something, like “how to” tasks, DIY, or recipes. These snippets encourage clicks for additional information.

- Bulleted Lists: These are great for ranking or listing items. The ideal list length is around seven points to ensure all items show up in the SERP.

5. Optimise On-Page SEO

Optimizing and republishing your content is the best way to improve your chance of getting a featured snippet. When your content is the best it can be, your search rankings can improve. According to an Ahrefs study, you can't rank in a featured snippet if you're not already on the first page of Google. 99.58% of featured snippets come from pages that already rank in the top ten.

Start your on-page optimization by targeting relevant search terms and optimizing your content for readers. Aim to answer Google-related questions in your subheadings. Here’s a short checklist to optimize your page for each type of featured snippet:

- Optimise page titles, image alt tags, and metadata with your target search terms.

- Optimise headings (H1-5 tags) to help search engines understand your page.

- Use internal links to connect to your other relevant content.

6. Use Keywords in Your Headings

Adding keywords to your headings, especially question keywords can help structure your content and answer the featured snippet query more concisely. Many featured snippets appear in a question-and-answer format, right after the heading.

7. Optimise for Long-Tail Keywords

Optimize your content for long-tail keywords, including those in question format or with informational intent. Long-tail keywords often generate higher click-through rates. Ahrefs found that most featured snippets appear when people search using long-tail keywords. Optimize for niche, industry-related keywords to capture these opportunities. Long-tail keywords and questions are also increasing due to voice searches.

8. Answer People Also Ask Boxes

Optimizing for People Also Ask boxes in your content is important since question-related searches make up 14.52% of searches. These boxes answer user queries directly and are chosen by Google based on relevancy and search intent. Optimizing for this feature can help with passage ranking, offering users the most relevant results.

The Ahrefs study found that once a page gets a featured snippet, it often appears in similar queries. Google is better at understanding keyword semantics and entities.

To appear in a People Also Ask box:

- Perform a keyword search for your topic to understand the current landscape.

- Look at the current snippet winner to see how Google interprets the best answer.

- Include related questions in your headings. For FAQs, pick popular questions to answer in your content.

- Answer the question quickly under the heading with a direct response.

- Add extra information to encourage readers to click through.

- Optimise your page copy, focusing on long-tail keywords or questions.

- Consider marking up your FAQs with FAQ schema to help visibility in search and voice search results.

9. Use High-Quality, Eye-Grabbing Images

While not essential for winning a featured snippet, using high-quality images is an SEO best practice. Choose attention-grabbing images that are good quality and optimized with alt text, as these may feature alongside your text in a snippet.

10. Monitor the Performance of Your Content

After optimizing your content, assess the results two weeks to a month later. If your copy isn't winning any featured snippets, repeat the research stages to ensure your copy meets or exceeds your competitors' standards. Metrics to measure include click-through rate, visibility, number of impressions, and page traffic. Remember, SEO is a long game, and results don't always happen overnight.

Why are Featured Snippets Important for SEO?

Dominate More of the SERP

SERPs have changed a lot over the years, mainly due to the introduction of SERP features. A featured snippet lets you capture more of the SERP landscape and show your page as the most relevant answer to a search query. This is especially important with mobile-first indexing, as the featured snippet often takes up most of the SERP.

When the snippet takes up more of the page, traditional organic results and your competition are pushed further down and out of view. Knowing how to optimize for featured snippets helps you gain valuable exposure in the most prominent position, making it easier for users to find your website.

Improve Your Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The featured snippet usually gets the largest proportion of clicks compared to other organic listings.

Having a featured snippet means you can jump to the top of the page and get more clicks to your website because users see that you have answered their query right away.

In the past, there was concern that if the snippet alone provided the answer, users wouldn't click through to the website, leading to fewer clicks and traffic. However, research shows the opposite. A page with a snippet still boosts CTRs.

Data from Ahrefs showed that, of the 2 million Google featured snippets analyzed, 8.6% of all clicks were claimed by the featured snippet. So, optimizing for a featured snippet can "steal clicks from the #1 ranking results," according to Ahrefs.

Be There for Voice Search

According to Quoracreative, “If your content has won a spot for a featured snippet for a regular query, there is more than a 40% chance it can rank for the same query done via voice search.” In short, capturing the snippet puts you in a good position to feature in voice searches, which are growing each year.

Voice search has become a major way people find answers. Since Google often uses featured snippets for voice search results, you must optimize your content to match the natural language used in voice searches. This includes targeting long-tail keywords and question format queries in your content.