The race to the top of Google’s search listings was once a straight road. The page that ranked highest for a given search query took the 1st position, followed by the page ranked 2nd, 3rd and so on. However, Google has gradually added more forks in the road with featured snippets – snippet blocks that show at the top of the search results page. These boxes function differently from your traditional search listing, as their contents are filled by Google’s A.I. looking to fulfill the user’s query.
Recently, Google has announced an expansion of the featured snippets with more boxes and images to fit more content. In a blog, Michael Galvez, product manager at Google, wrote, “Search is not just about answering your questions – it’s also about discovery.” The company wants to explore new topics of interest and angles to ideas to help users uncover information that they didn’t think to ask about. So, what does expanding featured snippets mean for SEO?
Ranking Higher with a Featured Snippet
Last year, a report by Stone Temple Consulting found that featured snippets appeared for roughly 30 percent of the 1.4 million search queries they tested. This is a big change for Google Search, as the engine and its A.I. will now have greater influence on the type of content that appears at the top of the first page. For example, users searching the keyword “skiing” may see related articles about the Winter Olympics 2018 or tips on how to setup GoPro cameras. Pages that are featured are shown to have a higher click-through rate (CTR) than in their normal search listing. Ben Goodsell, lead SEO for RKG Merkle, found that the CTR on a featured page increased from 2-8% once it’s featured.[2] Working for Featured Pages Seeing how Google is pushing featured snippets to appear higher, you may be wondering what needs to be done to get your pages featured – the long and short of it is solid SEO content strategies. Recent research by Ahrefs looked at 2 million featured snippets to decipher what it was that made them featured around found:[3] The research brings welcomed news for sites where battling for a top position is difficult. So long as your pages land in top 10 of organic’s search listings, it’s possible to be featured as a snippet. These featured snippet changes also place greater value on pages with detail-rich content. Focusing on content topics that present a wealth of information can help bring your pages higher in search and increase your traffic. Strengthening your page’s search ranking can be time and resource intensive. Luckily, you don’t have to do it alone. Start seeing results with your SEO by speaking with an expert today by filling out our form! With 10-years of experience in developing successful SEO strategies, Strongpages has generated significant results for clients in a variety of competitive industries. Don’t forget to follow our Twitter: @Strongpages & LinkedIn: Strongpages for more insight on successful SEO and PPC strategies! [1]Eric E. “Featured Snippets: New Insights, New Opportunities”. Stone Temple Consulting. https://www.stonetemple.com/featured-snippets-new-Insights-new-opportunities/ [2]Ben G. “SEO For Featured Snippets Leads to Big Gains”. Search Engine Land. https://searchengineland.com/seo-featured-snippets-leads-big-gains-236212 [3]Tim S. “Ahrefs’ Study of 2 Million Featured Snippets: 10 Important Takeaways”. Ahrefs Blog. https://ahrefs.com/blog/featured-snippets-study/