What, Why & How to Format for Featured Snippets!

July 8, 2023 | Advanced SEO

featured snippets

Google is always attempting to ease the user by refining their algorithms. In the SEO realm, we know that as the Google Update. There is quite a buzz off in the last Google update. We saw RankBrain: The AI algorithm and before that, we got featured snippets. Arrr…Didn’t get quite hold of that right?

There are many webmasters, who still didn’t understand the application of the featured snippets. In this post, you will get to know all about featured snippets. What are they, why are they so important and how can you get those for your website.

So, in Bruce Buffer style, It is Time!!!!! Let’s get you started,

Featured Snippets: Intro

The simplest way to define featured snippet is, it is the answer (A Direct Answer) to the query which appears in the little-featured box just above the search results. This is an approach by Google to improve user experience and convenience.

google featured snippets

For Instance, you type a query like, How can you improve SEO? Google will first stop at the top results of the query and then select the most precise answer to that query, and then present it on the top of the search results. Commonly the place where the content is showing is the position zero.

Why Are Featured Snippets Important?

First, you need to understand what is in a snippet. Generally, a featured (rich/or not) snippet contains small summary of the query’s answer asked by the user. Not just a summary but also a link to a page, page URL and Title as well.

One of the exciting features for snippets is, you don’t have to be at the top. Your website’s position on the first page of the Search Engine will suffice. The click-through rate of the featured snippet is around 516%.

Now, let’s have a look at three types of featured snippets in this section of the post.

snippets importance

Three Types Of Featured Snippets

The three type of Google featured snippets are,

Table

In order to provide you with the best answer, Google shows the featured snippets in a tabular format. In general, this table consists of three columns and five rows (And this includes the header as well.).

If your design, colour coding or image is in minimal plain HTML, it is acceptable in the featured snippet.

List

Now, if a user’s query demands a list, then Google presents a featured snippet in a list format. For a list featured snippet, the source webpage must answer the query in a list or numbered format. Google shows at least five and at most eight items and this excludes the header of the post.

Paragraph

If your web post answers the user’s query in 40-55 words, then Google adopt the paragraph type featured snippet. Most of the time, questions that start with “why”, “what”, “when”, “which”, “was” usually show paragraphs in the snippet. So, when you are targeting for paragraph snippets, do some exhaustive research.

snippet format

Tips To Get Featured Snippets

Before we jump off to the actionable tips for featured snippets, let’s have a look at Google’s criteria for showing the featured snippet,

(It Is Quoted By Google, Not Our Words!!!)

When we recognize that a query asks a question, we programmatically detect pages that answer the user’s question, and display a top result as a featured snippet in the search results.

So, let’s have a look at these tips to get the position zero,

Capture Featured Snippets From Different Tools

First things first. You cannot create featured snippets!!! That’s a bummer. Google creates the featured snippets in accordance with their guidelines. It really doesn’t matter what you do to from the SEO perspective.

Analyse & Identify Opportunity & Target for Page One Of SERPs

The most important point while targeting for the featured snippet is, you must rank in the first page for the search query. Research’s conducted by various SEO tools clearly stated that 99.58 percent of the featured snippets are from the websites that ranked in top 10 for the search query.

After an exhaustive SEO process, you successfully ranked your website for a query. Now you need to take action to be featured in a snippet by Google. Try to address the query in the best way possible to maximise your chances to be displayed in the featured snippet. Provide better and improved experience for your user by directly answering the query. So, identify the opportunity and nail it.

Avoid Blunderous Grammar

Britney Muller  stated that – “if there is any sort of grammar mistake in the top header or description of the content. Google can remove it instantly from the position zero.

There is no official stated that (Clearly in Google nobody makes grammar mistakes often, but why to take chances!!!).

Inverse Pyramid Rule!

Have you ever heard of inverse pyramid rule? (Com’on marketers I bet you do) This is one of the major breakthroughs in the marketing world. This closely resembled the famous theory of Journalism, “Agenda Setting Theory”.

Don’t answer the question. Give answer first and then form a question from it. So, according to the query, address an answer and cater all the supplement for the answer to make it useful for your visitors. Once Google finds your content, you will be in the position zero.

Format Properly

featured snippet

We earlier discussed the three type of featured snippets. The formats of all the three snippets were different. Keep that format in mind and clearly define that format in your webpage.

If you are targeting for a bulleted list, you need to make sure that you also have that in your content, Same do with paragraph and table format. Make paragraphs and tables in your content and see it in the position zero of Google search engine result pages.

Conclusion

A featured snippet can be the first impression of your website if you follow the lead given above.

Let’s discuss in a nutshell what we have discussed in the post. This makes sure that you perceive it perfectly.

  1. The simplest way to define featured snippet is, it is the answer (A Direct Answer To Be Exact) to the query which appears in a little-featured box above the search results.
  2. The click-through rate of a featured snippet can rise up to 516%.
  3. You cannot create featured snippets. Google creates the featured snippets in accordance with their guidelines.
  4. You need to take action to be featured in a snippet by Google. Try to address the query in the best way possible to maximise your chances to be displayed in the featured snippet. Provide better and improved experience for your user by directly answering the query.
  5. If there is any sort of grammar mistake in the top header or description of the content. Google can remove it instantly from the position zero.
  6. Don’t answer the question. Give answer first and then form a question from it.
  7. If you are targeting for a bulleted list, you need to make sure that you also have that in your content, Same do with paragraph and table format.

I hope that you like my post. Did I miss something? Let me know via comments and I will get back to you. Till then, ADIOS!!!

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3 Comments

  1. This is a wonderfully written article which has helped me get an idea of what featured snippets are. Though I wanted to ask you if you could provide some pro tips to optimize content for featured snippets? This is something I have been facing issues with. Great post though.

  2. I used to struggle with getting my content featured, but the ‘what, why, how’ approach outlined here made it so clear and actionable. Thanks to this blog, my website’s traffic has seen a significant boost, and I’ve even started ranking for more featured snippets.

  3. I am a novice blogger and honestly, today is the first time I actually got to know that the featured box is known as a snippet, so thank you for that information. You have helped me realize that snippets are a great way to increase your traffic. Thanks! It was a nice read.

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