Do you want to improve your online presence? Then you need to be acquainted with all the Google features that you can use for Search Engine Optimization, and the Featured Snippet is one of them. A Featured Snippet is one of the features that refine a search result to answer user queries.
A featured snippet is a search result selected by Google and appears in the form of a special section at the top in response to the questions in Google Search. It is a small block that includes a summary of the result, page Title, URL, and some also come with an image/video. You will see the Title in bold and a short summary of the answer extracted from the source webpage, and the Source URL at the end. There are various types of Google search queries, and so thus the featured snippet. There are different types of Featured snippets, which we will discuss further. The four main types of Featured snippets that you will come across:-
- Paragraph.
- List.
- Table.
- Video.
Paragraph Featured Snippets
These are by far the most common that you will come across in Google search, with most snippets falling into this category. Google extracts the text from the source page to provide content in the statement featured snippets. It implements an instant answer to the user’s search query. However, it is the summary of the long answer that is present on the source page, which works as a satisfactory answer for the user’s question. Paragraph featured snippets appear in most searches that include keywords or a query asking:-
- Who is
- What is
- Why is
- How is
- Comparisons( X vs. Y)
You have a better chance of getting featured as a snippet when your content includes the question as a heading and a direct answer below it.
List Featured Snippets
The list featured snippets include both numbered lists and bulleted lists. The numbered list shows up when a searcher needs something in a sequence, a step-by-step procedure, like how to do something, DIYs, recipes, etc. If your page includes a list, then a snippet with a list and indicating more items below can attract a searcher to click the URL to access more information on the site.
Table Featured Snippets
Table featured snippets appear to show the collection of data. To get a table snippet featured from your site, you don’t necessarily need to format the table. Google can itself format the table when there is available data. However, formatting the table yourself will make your visitor happy that they clicked on the right source for the information.
Video Featured Snippets
For many DIY questions, how to do the task, and similar search queries, Google pulls out the videos highlighting the relevant clip of the video as a snippet. Video snippets are featured to provide the best guide and answer to the searcher’s question. Getting a video snippet featured is pretty easy since google favors video content.
Does it help to Gain Traffic to Your Website?
Google’s Featured Snippet is one of the SEO-friendly ways to jump to the front of the line on the search engine result pages or SERPs. Google’s rules are ever-changing. In the world of SEO, if you don’t adapt to the updates, you can quickly lose ranking. Featured Snippets are the newest holy grail of SEO, which might change your place in the list of Google’s ten blue first page links. A snippet that appears on the first page of search results will make your SEO game stronger and also help searchers by reaching your site more quickly.
Featured Snippets can increase CTR from 2% to 8% and organic Traffic Revenue up to 677%. However, Ahrefs’s Study of 2 million featured snippets also concludes that there can be a reduction in Click rates when there are featured snippets. Example: – A #1 result page can have 26% clicks in the absence of featured snippets, whereas the #1 page can get only 8.6% clicks when there is a featured snippet. Keeping aside the obstacles, the most beneficial idea about the featured snippet is that you don’t have to get the #1 position or top spot to get highlighted in a Google snippet. It means you can improve your overall rankings even if you are already ranking in the top 10 of the SERPs.
Example: – Assume you rank #9. Getting to #1 will be a gradual and slow process. However, getting featured with snippets can allow you to climb directly to #0 with a few changes and adjustments to your web pages. Featured snippets are attention-grabbing, especially when they come with images.
The three main reasons why Featured Snippets have evolved or can evolve into less clickable entities are:-
- Featured Snippets set next to the Knowledge panels or Explore panel. Both of these focus on the same specific topic, which reduces the click rate on the featured snippets and results in a click competition.
- Featured Snippets come with a direct answer, where Google has merged a featured snippet with a Direct Answer.
- A featured snippet with an absolute list is another reason why a site might receive less traffic than expected. Searchers might not find an immediate urge to click the site URL after previewing the list in the Featured snippet.
Featured Snippets may not be the traffic generators hoped for, but they can result in greater exposure and clicks for your website.
