You’re probably familiar with featured snippets – they’re the quick, concise answers featured at the top of some SERPs. Google sources their featured snippets from around the web, and that presents a great opportunity for sites with strong content. For many businesses, snagging a featured snippet (known as “position zero”) is even more important than claiming the traditional number-one slot in search results. Here are nine things to know if you want to optimize your site’s content for featured snippets.

There Are Several Different Types of Featured Snippets

Featured snippets come in three forms: paragraphs, lists, and tables. Paragraphs are the most common format, making up more than 80% of all snippets.

81.95% of featured snippets are in paragraph form, while 10.77% are lists and 7.28% are tables. Source

List-style featured snippets are sometimes numbered and sometimes bulleted. On-page markup (like the <p> tag or the <ol> tag) determines what type of snippet Google pulls from a page. Here’s what a snippet looks like in the paragraph format:

A paragraph snippet. Google also includes a list of related questions underneath the main snippet.

 

Here’s an example of a list-style snippet:

This list is numbered, but bulleted lists are also common in featured snippets.

And here’s a table snippet:

A featured snippet in table form. You’ll often see these when you search for prices or comparisons.

Most Featured Snippets Are from High-Ranking Sites

The overwhelming majority of featured snippets – 99.58%, according to Ahrefs – come from pages that already rank in Google’s top 10 results. However, not all snippets are pulled from the site in the number-one spot.

First-page results – especially the top five pages – have the best chance of being featured in snippets. Source

So if you want to earn featured snippets, it’s essential for your site to rank well to begin with. If your site doesn’t currently rank on Google’s first page for your most important keywords, make that your top priority before you shift your focus to snippets.

Long-Tail Keywords Trigger Featured Snippets

The longer and more specific a search query is, the more likely it is to trigger a featured snippet. Questions often bring up snippets, since they tend to contain long-tail keywords naturally. However, non-question search terms often trigger snippets as well.

For you, this means that keyword research is as important as ever. Work relevant long-tail keywords into your content wherever you can, and you’ll increase your chances of getting a featured snippet.

Featured Snippets Are Short

The more concisely you can answer a question, the more likely it is that Google will feature it. SEMrush found that the average length of a featured snippet is just 46 words.

The average length of a paragraph-style featured snippet is 46 words. The longest one SEMrush found was 84 words. Source

A good length to aim for is between 40 and 50 words. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t go in-depth with your content. Optimize a long article for a snippet by answering a core question completely but succinctly, preferably right under a descriptive header or title. Then use the rest of the article to break your answer down into more detail.

Your Content Matters More Than Your Code

Google hasn’t revealed much about their algorithm for picking featured snippets. However, it seems to have more to do with content than anything else. Don’t worry about using any special markup unless you were going to use it anyway. For instance, schema markup is useful for some things, but it won’t increase your odds of getting a featured snippet.

Google Decides Which Image to Use in Your Snippets

Not all featured snippets have accompanying images, but some do. If Google decides to pull an image from your page to go with your snippet, you can’t control which one they take. This means it’s a good practice to make sure all your images are on-topic and branded. Avoid picking generic stock images to go with your content.

Featured Snippets Might Increase Your Traffic – Or They Might Not

Featured snippets give your site a ton of visibility, but they don’t always bring in more traffic. That’s because the purpose of a snippet is to answer somebody’s question quickly. If your snippet provides a complete answer, many people will stop at the search page instead of clicking through to your site. This is especially true with brief questions that don’t require an in-depth answer.

One way around this dilemma is to focus on earning snippets for complex questions. Another way is to force Google to truncate your list or table snippets. If your lists or tables are too long for Google to display, people will have to click through to your site to see the whole thing.

An example of a truncated list in a featured snippet.

 

You Can Get Multiple Snippets with the Same Page

A single page on your website can multitask when it comes to earning featured snippets. Ahrefs found one page associated with more than 4500 snippets in their database! To maximize your chances of getting featured, break each of your articles into sections to answer different (but related) questions.

Featured Snippets Are Subject to Change

Like rankings, featured snippets change all the time. Once you earn some snippets, it’s important to keep an eye on them to make sure your competitors haven’t nabbed them away from you. In addition, Google creates new featured snippets all the time. Even if snippets don’t exist yet for some of your highest-ranking search terms, that could change tomorrow – so it’s a good idea to optimize your content anyways.

The Takeaway

Featured snippets give you some incredibly valuable real estate right at the top of search results, so optimizing your content for them is well worth the effort. There’s plenty you can do to increase your chances of getting featured. Writing concise answers to frequently asked questions, including long-tail keywords in your content, and optimizing each page for multiple queries will all make a difference. The most important thing to do, though, is to keep your overall SEO strong. If your site ranks highly and your content is optimized, you’ll be well on your way to earning position zero.

Do you have any tips on optimizing your content for featured snippets? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

Feature Image Credit: responsivereiding.com