Receiving quality traffic from Google is important for any business that is planning to make it big in the online world. But obtaining high-quality leads from the search engine giant means that businesses have to understand and implement new features rolled out by it every now and then.

To make things even more interesting, Google consistently launches new features. These new features mean that a business will have to optimize its site so that it can leverage them while keeping an eye on how the competition is deploying them. One such powerful feature from Google is its featured snippets.

Google’s Featured Snippets Decoded

First of all, let us address the elephant in the room. What is Google’s featured snippet?

Enterprises know that Google is packed with results that go way beyond plain links. When people search for something, the first thing they see is featured snippets. With each passing year, featured snippets are gaining more popularity.

A featured snippet is a short section of text that appears on the top part of Google’s search engine result pages or SERPs. Also known as an answer box, the featured snippet is aimed to provide the information that precisely answers the search query entered by a user.

The content appearing within the featured snippet is pulled by Google from web pages present in Google’s index. Some of the most common varieties of featured snippets comprise tables, lists, definitions, and steps.

Because of their location, Google’s featured snippets are considered as the prime real estate in SERPs.

Why Getting Content Published In Featured Snippets Is Important

Featured snippets affect SEO in more than one way.

First of all, featured snippets give the ultimate opportunity to receive more clicks from organic search results without even ranking high on Google.

As a matter of fact, most SEO experts call the featured snippet box as the #0 position in the first SERP. Why? Because it appears even above the conventional #1 spot.

As per a study published by a leading search engine news site, the featured snippet section receives the click-through rate of closely 8 percent. To be more precise, up to 19.6 percent of people interact with the organic search results while 8.6 percent of the searchers click with the featured-snippet section.

The bottom line is simple: If an enterprise is able to get its content published within the featured snippet section, it will give its website’s click-through-rate (organic) a powerful boost. One more thing to note before writing featured snippets: Google likes short and sweet content to be published as featured snippets that can be anywhere between 40 and 60 words. So, enterprises have to keep in mind to adhere to this limit and make their content ultra-readable.

Now, a business knows exactly how beneficial it is to get its website ranked on Google. So, it is time to discover the ways by which an enterprise’s content can get published in the snippet section.

Ways By Which A Website Can Get Ranked In Featured Snippets

Use Google To Uncover Different Snippet Opportunities

Businesses must leverage Google to unravel different snippet opportunities. Based on analyzing these opportunities, the business must optimize content that can successfully answer some of the burning questions of its audience.

The best way for an enterprise to get featured in snippets is when it starts thinking like its audience. The business will have to think that what sort of questions a business’s audience will ask, in the first place. For example, the enterprise must put itself in the shoes of its consumers and see what kind of questions they are likely to ask.

Once that due diligence is completed successfully, the business will frame content that answers these burning questions. For understanding the most important questions to be answered, a business must keep tabs on its industry news and then craft engaging content pieces to either cover or explain those red-hot news topics.

Kick-Start The Campaign With Keyword Research

Multiple studies have confirmed that the lion’s share of featured snippets is usually trigged with the help of long-tail keywords and phrases. As a matter of fact, the more the number of words typed in the search box, the higher is the probability that a featured snippet will appear for that specific keyword or phrase.

There are many keyword research tools present in the market that can help businesses search the most searched business-specific keywords. Once the hottest industry-relevant keywords are finalized, the business can frame content to answer some FAQs related to a specific keyword.

When an enterprise is initiating keyword research for featured snippets, it should factor in multiple question-specific search queries. For instance, it should incorporate a lot of words such as “why,” “how,” “what,” “when,” and the like. Why? Well, because these queries are the easiest and most natural to get typed. Also, the keyword research for snippets must always be having an informational intent.

No Featured Snippet For A Keyword Does Not Mean No Snippet Opportunity

Most of the time, a business may find a search query for which no featured snippet exists. But just because there is no featured snippet for a search term, it does not mean that Google does not need any featured snippet for that keyword. The reason behind this no-snippet phenomenon could be that Google does not have any quality content to feature in its answer-box section.

It may happen that a business may feel that a specific keyword must have a keyword snippet. If that is the case, then the business must understand the search intent behind that specific keyword. When all is said and done, the enterprise must create content around that keyword; the content must answer a lot of questions around the keyword.

Specialized Optimizing Techniques For Putting Content In Featured Snippets

Beginning With The Traditional On-Page SEO

The fact is that there is no specialized markup or magic button that will make sure the website gets featured in the #0 spot of SERPs. It is a no-brainer that businesses must begin with deploying traditional SEO best practices. Why? Well, because being featured in the answer box is all the more possible only when an enterprise’s website has a high ranking for a specific search query.

Focusing On A Single Question

As we have already mentioned, Google likes its answer-box content to be short and simple. But that does not mean the blog posts tackling a hot question related to a specific industry needs to be short. In fact, as per several SEO studies, Google prioritizes long-form content, which is also referred to as cornerstone content. So the actionable tip here is to stay focused throughout the long-form content on a single question, which is the most burning one. And break down the entire piece of content into logical and easily digestible paragraphs.

Unlocking High Web Visibility With A Strategic Digital Partner

Could an enterprise use these tips to really optimize its content and web presence to the extent that it gets featured in the answer box? Well, the answer to this question depends on who is asking. The thing is that if an enterprise has the experience and expertise to optimize its web content to get published on featured snippets, then it will be okay.

However, if the enterprise lacks either the experience or expertise, then it will be better to take the assistance of a qualified SEO Services provider. That is where we, at Flexsin, come into the picture. We have a team of digital marketing experts that have rich category experience in assessing intricate SEO frameworks or developing and deploying an SEO strategy from scratch.

The team has deep experience in helping clients’ web presence reach the first SERPs of leading search engines including Google, Bing, and Yahoo. The enterprises must get connected with one of our SEO consultants right away to discover how to unlock next-level web visibility for their websites.