The Google Featured Snippet’s position has become the new, coveted Google search engine position for both small business owners and marketers; and understandably so, as winning the Google Featured Snippet position allows for a ranking higher than the most traditionally desired position, of ranking #1 in Google.
Getting Traffic through Organic Search Has Increased in Difficulty
It has now become increasingly more difficult for your website to gain the organic search engine traffic of old. Now, with sometimes, the paid ads listings appearing at the very top, followed by the featured snippet, then the “People Also Ask” section, the #1 ranking organic search listing can now appear just under all of these.
This can sometimes leave only a portion of the #1 ranking organic search listing above the fold, on the first page of Google. The #2 ranking organic search position, and under, may just be below the fold. This is why it has become increasingly more difficult to get the standard amount of traffic from organic search engine rankings alone.
Simple Tips to Winning a Google Featured Snippet
When it comes to winning a Google Featured Snippet, there are some key things that cannot be overlooked:
- Keep your formatting clean
- Focus on Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, and Should query search questions, in your headings
- Answer the query question in 50 words or less, as Google favors this for Featured Snippets
Choose a Common Query Search Question for Your Heading
This cannot be overlooked. Use your favorite keyword tool, or if you know your niche well enough you can go with that, but it’s important that you choose a common who, what, when, where, why, how, or should question to center your content around. This question should be in the h1 (title), or h2 heading.
Keep this in mind. The Featured Snippet section was created in Google’s quest to answer the user’s question in the search result listings, without them, necessarily, having to click-through to a website. Through this, Google is seeking to provide the user with immediate results and immediate gratification, as is the desired way of today’s society.
Clean Formatting and Organization
Organize your post content using the proper hierarchy.
- H1 (post title)
- H2 (subheadings)
- H3 (list items)
What should you consider when it comes to clean formatting as it pertains to code? In a nutshell, you should make sure that your headings are not bolded, or contain any extra tags, aside from the h1, h2, or h3.
So, normally bolding your headings, if you prefer, would not be an issue, but in the case of trying to win the Google Featured Snippet position, the extra code can be a hindrance. So, make sure there are not extra things such as <span>, <strong>, etc. included in your heading tags.
Also, if you are numbering (h3) list items it may be best to use “10.” instead of something like “10),” as the former looks cleaner in the Featured Snippet.
Answer the Question in 50 Words or Less
Under your h1 or h2 heading, where the query question is asked, write a paragraph answering the question as concisely as possible. Aim to completely answer the question in this one paragraph, and then you can use the rest of the content on the page to elaborate further and add more valuable content.
The ideal length to keep this paragraph under is 50 words or 293 characters. This is the average length. However, the absolute maximum can go up to 97 words or 752 characters. It is also important that you mention your query question in this paragraph, if possible.
These tips should help you better optimize your blog post for winning a Google Featured Snippet in your niche.
Contact WriterAccess, if you are seeking to add more search presence and authority to your website.
R.M. She thoroughly understands SEO writing, through owning and ranking her own blogs, and freelance writing for a variety of long-term clients, getting them their desired results. She will easily write in the voice of your company. Her goal is to attract more sales: Her work is proven, not only with engaging your target audience, but also in SEO performance and higher rankings in Google! 1) Client ApartmentList is ranking #1 in Google out of 2.8million other results using her SEO Article Writing Services. 2) Facebook Ad Copy Engagement: Facebook consistently says that her ad sets are performing better than 90% of other similar ads!