What is a Featured Snippet? & How to Leverage it for Your Website

In the quest to get on the first page of Google, a significant opportunity is more coveted than any other: Featured Snippets.

Landing Featured Snippets for your target keywords is the best way to get visibility on page one of Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Amid the increasing competition, there are many smart content marketing techniques you can employ to increase your chances of getting that top spot.

Before we dive into that, let’s answer the obvious question first – What is a Featured Snippet?

After that, we’ll explore how it works, giving you the insights you need to turn this feature to your advantage.

 

What is a Featured Snippet?

Featured Snippets are brief text snippets that appear at the top of Google’s search results to provide quick answers to the searchers. The content appearing inside a Featured Snippet is automatically fetched from web pages in Google’s index.

If any sponsored ads target your search term, they will display above the snippet, which ranks as the top organic result. Google shows what it considers high-quality content in this space as it focuses on fulfilling user intent.

Why Are Featured Snippets Important?

The following are some of the reasons why Featured Snippets are important:

• Close link with voice search – Quite often, websites that earn the Featured Snippet are also the answer to related voice searches. In fact, 80% of Google Home answers are fetched from snippets. Also, around 40% of voice search results fetch answers from featured snippets.
• Brand exposure – Being at the top positions of SERPs offers more visibility than any other place. Being on top snippets tend to have a good click-to-impression (CTI) ratio than the rest of organic results, moreover, they offer you massive brand exposure.

How do Google’s Featured Snippets work?

Featured Snippets originate from web search listings. Google’s automated frameworks decide if a page would make a good featured snippet to respond to a particular search request. Fortunately, as a type of organic content, the Featured Snippet box is accessible to everyone who understands how to upgrade their content accordingly.

Google’s algorithms scour numerous websites to identify the content that will best answer a searcher’s queries. When the crawlers find it, they show the content in the form of a featured snippet, making it easier for users to find the info they’re searching for.

For some searches, Google offers a quick answer or summary with a content snippet from a related site. These featured snippets have more chances of appearing when your search is in the form of a question.

Featured snippets are in a special box at the top of the SERP with a text description above the link. If you search using Google Assistant, these snippets might also be read aloud.  Most featured snippets only include one listing.

Featured snippets have the following basic elements:

• Info fetched from a third-party site
• The page title
• The URL of the page

Featured Snippets can include a paragraph, a list or set of steps, or a table.

Kinds of Featured Snippets

The following are the main kinds of Featured Snippets.

1. Paragraph Snippets

Paragraph Snippets are the most common type of Featured Snippet, which provides users with a direct answer to their question. Often, they’re shown along with a picture selected from another source. You’ll see Paragraph Snippets for keywords, which include terms like:

• How to do/get?
• Who is?
• Why is?
• What is?

2. Numbered List Snippets

Google shows numbered list snippets when the question shows the user is searching for a list of steps to accomplish a task. To optimize your content for these snippets, include a short overview of the steps in a numbered list at the beginning of your content.

3. Bulleted List Snippets

Who doesn’t love list posts? Google is also a fan of listicles. For bulleted list snippets, Google formats a listicle post’s headings into bullets to show a compressed view of the content.

4. Table Snippets

For structured data, Google shows a table snippet for better readability. It doesn’t pull the exact table from the content. Instead, it reformats the content to make it more beneficial. You don’t have to include a succinct table to earn this type of snippet. Any info that can be displayed as rows and columns can get this opportunity.

5. YouTube Snippets

Google can also create featured snippets from external data sources, like YouTube. Answers are mostly taken from the description of the video. This snippet contains the thumbnail, title, and link to Youtube video in which the answer of the search query is available, even it could come with the timestamp of the video where the answer is available, this timestamp should be set while saving description of the video with new “key moments” feature.

6. Carousel Snippets

Google uses carousel featured snippets to suggest related keywords a searcher may be looking for in little bubbles at the bottom (or top) of the featured space. When you click on the bubble, the snippet is changed and you get new suggested bubbles according to new snippet.

7. Double Featured Snippets

In the double featured snippets, Google shows two featured snippets instead of just one. With the double snippet, Google is directing to address the queries that might be many-sided or require multiple perspective answers. In other words, Google must deduce two different questions that the user might have intended to ask, then shrewdly answer the query.

8. Two-for-One Featured Snippets

The Two-for-one Featured Snippet is also called a Combined Featured Snippet. Sometimes Google fetches data from more than one website to answer a user’s query. Upturn your chances of ranking for a featured snippet by including supportive, descriptive imagery with your content.

What Isn’t a Featured Snippet?

There are a few special search results that are NOT featured snippets. Some of these are:

Rich Answer

Rich Answers, also called Instant Answers (previously Quick Answers), are answered by Google immediately without giving credit to the website. These answers usually include brief, factual things such as how many seasons there are, what 10 + 4 is or any scientific question. According to Google, they don’t have to give credit as these answers are part of the public domain.

Knowledge Graph

Knowledge Graph often fetches answers from a range of sources. These answers appear on the right in an eye-catching box or above the organic search results in a photo gallery (or carousel). You’ll usually see these kinds of search results for businesses, people, and organizations.

Rich Snippet

A rich snippet improves an organic search result, and often slightly increases its real estate, as per info marked up on the website using structured schema data from Schema.org. These search results appear with rating stars, product availability, pricing info, and images for reviews.

Google’s Policies for Featured Snippets

Featured Snippets obtain unique formatting and positioning on Google Search and are often read aloud by the Google Assistant. Due to this treatment, Google applies a unique set of policies about what can appear as a Featured Snippet. However, these policies are only applicable to what can show up as a featured snippet. They do not apply to web search listings nor cause those to be removed.

Sexually Explicit Content

Featured snippets shouldn’t be inappropriately sexually explicit or include indecent language out of context with a search topic. Google does permit featured snippets with medical or scientific terms for human anatomy, like the phrases related to sex education.

Hateful Content

Featured Snippets shouldn’t malign, insult, nor advance or support brutality. Take care that your content doesn’t trigger hatred against an individual or group based on their race or ethnicity, religion, handicap, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual inclination, gender, or attributes related to systemic discrimination or marginalization.

Violent Content

Featured snippets shouldn’t trigger or glorify violence. They should not include extremely graphic or violent content published for the sake of disgusting others.

Dangerous and Harmful Content

Featured Snippets shouldn’t endorse harmful items, services, or activities. They should also not provide info in a way that can result in serious and immediate harm. This includes self-harm like mutilation, eating disorders, or substance abuse.

Contradicting Consensus on Public Interest Topics

Featured Snippets about public interest topics, including civic, medical, scientific, and historical issues, shouldn’t contradict well-established or expert consensus support.

How BERT Affects Featured Snippets

Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) is Google’s neural network-based technique for Natural Language Processing (NLP). Google uses BERT for search query analysis. The algorithm update enhances Google’s understanding of context, particularly with longer queries.

Now that long-tail keywords and queries are more prevalent due to the rise in voice search queries, Google must understand what searchers want. BERT allows Google to comprehend complex queries in which Featured Snippet content changes to better answer the question due to BERT.

 

Tips to Find Featured Snippet Opportunities

Achieving the top rankings on SERPs for your target keywords is not easy. It can take a considerable amount of time, effort, and expense to climb those rankings. For many brands, attaining that top position for most keywords is the biggest priority.

Featured snippets appear at the very top of the SERP, above all other results. This makes featured snippet opportunities worth capturing in two different scenarios:

• When You’re Ranked Number 1 – If your site is at the top position, you don’t want someone else’s featured snippet to take away your traffic. You want to earn the snippet as well. This will give you more website traffic from the search query.
• When you’re ranked between position #2 & position #10 – Featured snippets can be obtained from any page ranking in the top 10 search engine rankings. Just 30% of snippets come from top-ranking pages. So seizing a featured snippet opportunity can help you leap-frog pages ranked above you.

Substantial research is essential to find featured snippet opportunities for your website. There are three main types of research you’ll need to do:

• Research into where your website already stands when it comes to featured snippets.
• Keyword research to find quick-win featured snippet prospects.
• Question-focused keyword research to determine other opportunities.

Here’s how you can find more opportunities:

See Where You Stand

Before you start identifying new opportunities, you must know where you stand. This means determining how your existing content is performing when it comes to featured snippets. You can do so easily using different SEO tools.

Find The Easiest Featured Snippet Opportunities

Use your chosen SEO tool and analyze your own website. Look for search results with a featured snippet for a keyword that you rank in the top ten for. You can ignore where the featured snippet is already yours. The featured snippets on these SERPs are up for grabs. You know that Google already likes your page. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be on page one. All you need to do is look at the page that presently has the snippet and determine why. Use this info to improve your page. For example, you may work on the following:

• List Post Formatting – If you’re eyeing a bullet list featured snippet, you may want to check your content’s formatting. Google often compresses the H2 tags from listicles to create bullet list snippets.
• Step-By-Step Lists – Numbered list snippets usually provide stepwise instructions to answer a question. You may put a step-by-step summary of your page’s content right at the top.
• Strong Openings – Paragraph snippets offer concise answers to searchers’ queries. You can get these snippets by providing an equally concise explanation in your post’s introduction.

Find Other Featured Snippet Opportunities

Enter a seed keyword into your SEO tool’s keyword checker area. It will show related keywords, giving you a new list of keywords to potentially target with featured snippets in mind.

Also, use the URLs of those websites that presently have the snippets. Pop those into your SEO tool, and you’ll have a list of other keywords that they own snippets for.

 

How to Capitalize on Featured Snippet Opportunities

Here are a few tips to help you earn featured snippets for your target keywords.

Create In-depth Content Particularly To Answer Questions

Featured Snippets are instructive in nature. If your content doesn’t respond to questions, it won’t get into the featured snippet area. Google’s algorithms search through innumerable places to locate the content that will most appropriately answer a user’s queries. When the crawlers discover it, they show the content as a featured snippet, making it more straightforward for users to find the data they’re searching for. In light of this, you have to comprehend which questions your users are asking, and how you can customize your content to respond to those queries appropriately.

Figure Out the Queries Your Users Are Asking

19% of searches using a query earn a featured snippet on the first SERP. Usually, these queries fall into the following categories:

• How does
• How do
• How to
• What is

With these main categories in mind, think about how they may apply to your customers. Also, consider how you can customize your content to suit these query formats.

Develop Truly High-Quality Content

The essential thing you have to comprehend about Featured Snippets is that they don’t sidestep Google’s complex ranking system. They are among the subject organic results for a query. It’s essential to remember all the standard ranking prerequisites as you make featured content along these lines. This implies your content needs to check these points:

• Top-quality
• Comprehensive
• Entertaining (to engage the audience)
• Audience-focused

Provide the Best Answer

You can’t get a featured spot unless you’re the best at answering a given question. Keep this in mind, and step in your prospect’s shoes. They want answers that provide detailed info and include related keywords and terms. You can’t have superficial knowledge in your featured snippet content. You should:

• Provide in-depth content — address every question that could be related to the topic.
• Break down each step in the answer and use visual content to support it, from videos to infographics and screenshots.
• Customize your content to help beginners in your industry.

By outranking your competitors, you can ensure that your content ranks well in featured snippets across the internet. Also, users who find your content via a featured snippet are more likely to return to your website more often after seeing you as an authority in your niche.

Use Question & Answer Pages

Q&A pages can be a great tool to deliver value to searchers, consolidate queries, and improve your odds of making it into a featured snippet. As these sections already address searcher queries in almost the same wording searchers would use, they are ready to be picked up as featured snippets and can substantially increase your chances of getting on the front page.

For optimal results, make sure your Q&A page features all related queries, and each is well-structured with a complete answer. If you’re formatting your Q&A page aptly, it should help all your users find simple, complete answers to their queries. Avoid being long-winded, but at the same time, do not keep your answers so short that they don’t deliver much value.

 

FAQs About Featured Snippets

What happens when a user clicks a featured snippet?

Clicking a featured snippet automatically directs the searcher to the featured snippet text on the source website. There’s no markup required by webmasters to enable a featured snippet. If a browser doesn’t support the basic technology required, or if Google’s systems can’t figure out exactly where within a web page to direct a click, clicking a featured snippet will take the searcher to the top of the source web page.

Why does Google remove featured snippets?

Featured snippets can be removed if they don’t follow Google policies. Google’s automated systems do not display featured snippets that don’t follow their policies. But, as the scale of search is so massive, Google also relies on reports from their searchers.

User reports help Google enhance its search algorithms to prevent potential problems. Google manually removes any reported featured snippets if they don’t follow its policies. Suppose Google’s review finds that a website has other featured snippets that don’t follow its policies, or the website itself violates Google’s webmaster guidelines. In that case, the website may no longer be eligible for featured snippets.

Is there any specific site coding that can help content earn a featured snippet?

No. As of now, there’s no specific markup or code that can optimize your site content for a featured snippet.

Is Google the only search engine that has Featured Snippets?

No. Bing also offers featured snippets. It may even give you different results than Google.

Wrap Up

It takes an extensive amount of research and planning, and you can’t be sure when you’ll see the results. This is particularly true if you don’t have several top 10 rankings just yet. However, being featured in Google search results is a great incentive to work harder on your content. You’ll attain other significant objectives on your way there.

For instance, you’ll explore hundreds of new content ideas, ranking for a wide range of various long-tail keywords. You’ll also learn to research every topic more comprehensively, building more incoming links as sites tend to link to in-depth articles. Moreover, you’ll learn to structure your content better, which makes it easier to read your content. As a result, you’ll reduce your bounce rate and engage more readers.