The Ultimate Guide to Ranking for Structured Snippets

What Exactly Are Structured Snippets?

Structures snippets, also referred to as featured snippets, are some of Google's most recent extensions. A structured, or featured snippet, is a select portion of your search results that appears as a box beneath the links to the paid ads and above the organic results. These boxes, in particular, will contain the exact answer to your search question.

The structured snippet boxes are what is known as "position zero," or as we named it earlier, "zero rank." The snippet that appears is typically two to three sentences long and provides you with a direct answer with a link to whichever company's website right beneath it. Structured snippets make your target audience's search much easier since they provide a quick answer, and oftentimes, an image.

Google chooses its snippets via a third party website plus the factors we mentioned above. (We'll talk more about that later!) 

The Different Types of Featured Snippets

The typical snippet is a few sentences and maybe an image. To create snippets, Google analyses the question being asked. Then, it analyses the content found in the first 10 search results. From there, it chooses which one makes the most sense, attempting to provide your audience with the appropriate answer. 

There are four different types of featured snippets including:

Paragraph Snippets

Paragraph snippets are the most popular among the featured snippets. They make up about 82% of all snippets that pop up answering users' direct questions. This type of snippet answers the "why is," "how-to," "what is," and "who is" questions.

Table Snippets

Table snippets are less popular of the four, However, they're still incredibly necessary for niche audiences. Google analyzes the ranking pages for relevant data to fill the table. The answers are provided as a standard table, a graph, or a pie chart.

Table snippets typically answer the "when," "what time," and "how much" questions. 

List Snippets

List snippets come in the form of bullet-point lists or numbered lists, depending on the search query. Numbered list snippets answer questions involving DIY instructions and recipes—i.e., "how-to" and "how do I." Bullet point lists involve rankings, top items, and general, non-ranking items.

List snippets help users make the split decision as to whether your content can help them learn how to do something or present the items they need.

Review Snippets

Review snippets give users an excerpt of a review or rating, specifically from a review website. They also display an average star rating. The review excerpt given will reflect the overall rating that Google combines after analyzing valid reviews. 

The Benefits of Structured Snippets

Structured snippets come with a host of benefits that many businesses tend to overlook. Each business has their own goals in mind concerning their brand and ranking at the top of the SEO charts. However, the benefits of getting a featured snippet remain the same regardless of your vision.

Those benefits, aside from positioning your business' website front and center, include the following:

They Steal Away Traffic From the Top Results

An Ahrefs study of 2 million featured snippets shows that snippets can steal clicks from top search results. It's important to note that they don't receive more clicks than the top ranking site, but a handful is better than none. Especially if your website isn't ranking by itself organically on the first page of Google. That's where these snippets really come in handy.

Featured snippets can get you ahead even if you're currently ranking on Google's fifth page of the search query. Incidentally, the more clicks your website gets, the more traffic it gets. That means your overall SEO will get a boost.

They Can Optimize Your Voice Search

Currently, in 2020, 50% of all searches are conducted via voice search. Voice search is more conducive to the questions we ask. It's also become more common since nearly everything is done on our mobile devices. 

The questions users are more likely to ask are the ones that result in these necessary quick snippets. Whether it be about a sporting event, recipe, restaurant, and so on—those straight-forward paragraphs, lists, tables, and reviews are exactly what your users need.

This is especially true when they're multitasking and aren't interested in clicking through a dozen links to get an answer. It's all about convenience!

They Present You as an Authoritative Source

One of the primary things businesses are competing over online is who is most worthy of their audience's trust. With all of the competition out there, it's hard to obtain that status in terms of your niche. From a user's perspective, the website that has a featured snippet is the authority.

Think of it this way—the websites with the most structured snippets are the most well-known sources. That includes Wikipedia, Amazon, Quora, Mayo Clinic, Dictionary, and so on. Once you get a featured snippet, you're automatically seen as a trustworthy source. Therefore, you become the user's go-to site when they need reliable information. 

How to Rank For Structured Snippets

Ranking for featured snippets is one of the most important parts of your SEO marketing strategy. To optimize your content for structured snippet worthiness, there are a handful of SEO best practices you need to carry out. Here's how to rank for structured snippets:

Aim For Question-Type Search Queries

Keyword research is non-negotiable for SEO. Especially if you want your content to rank in a featured snippet. The trick is positioning relevant keywords in the proper question format that you know your target audience will be using. 

First thing's first: Do your research! Get an understanding of what your audience is looking for, and find the most relevant keywords from their searches. There are plenty of keyword search tools you can use to weed out the most competitive words, just make sure you're choosing the ones that stick.

Once you find those keywords, fit them in with the most common questions your audience is asking. This is the most important implementation of your keywords in terms of snippet value.

For example, if your keyword phrase is "train your dog," something to the effect of "10 Ways to Train Your Dog" won't work. You need to position it as "How to Train Your Dog..." 

Check Out the "People Also Ask" Box

To get inside your users' heads, you'll want to further your research by clicking on the "people also ask" box. This section is typically found beneath the snippet, and the rest of the common questions are never in short supply. 

The more questions you click on, the more appear. This is what we like to call the jackpot in terms of researching common user questions. Not only does it allow you to get a clear view of what your audience needs to know, but it gives you the chance to capitalize by further expanding on each topic.

Optimize For First Page Rankings

While you can get lucky enough to snag a featured snippet from page three of Google's search results, it's in your best interest to strive for the first page. The majority of snippets are pulled from the first page of ranking websites, so if your website is one of those, you'll have a better chance of getting your snippet featured.

That means you need to initiate SEO best practices. You can start by taking an audit of your current SEO marketing strategies:

• Revisit any SEO problems you're having and correct any penalties
• Make sure your website is user-friendly and easy to crawl 
• More importantly, make sure your website is mobile-friendly
• Review the internal and external links in your existing content. Make sure they're relevant and enriching
• Switch over to an SSL protocol if you haven't already
• Make sure your URL address is user-friendly
• Optimize any and all images throughout your site
• Make sure all of your content is updated with user intent in mind

SEO can take some time, but the most important thing is that your content is fresh and relevant. You want to be what your users are searching for. It also helps if you do away with extensive pop-up ads.

While they're effective, they can also hurt your click-through ratings. Most people tend to become annoyed with them and will click out of your site if they keep coming up. 

Focus Your Content on What's Most Important

Once again, the focus is on the most important information that can possibly be written into your content. In terms of snippet-worthy content, be sure to position your posts around the keywords: Who, what, when, where, and why?

Make sure your content is answering those questions directly, and then you can add the supporting details. Leave any general information behind if you can, or at least for last. 

Add a Q and A Page to Your Website

Q and A pages are also non-negotiable for businesses selling products or services directly from their websites. Q and A pages demonstrate your subject matter expertise and they directly address the users' most pressing concerns. What's even more important is that they're a direct line to your future featured snippet.

It has been shown that the optimal word count for snippets is between 40 and 50 words. So, when creating your Q and A page, make sure that you're offering up the most crucial facts about your products and services. Think direct answers and short paragraphs. 

Go For the Snippets

Ranking on the first page of Google is ideal, but it's not the only way to get eyes on your page. Structured snippets can help put you side by side with the top-ranking contenders, as long as you optimize correctly. Trust us, it's worth the effort.

If you think you can do without SEO in your marketing campaign, think again. Without incorporating SEO best practices in your digital marketing efforts, you run the risk of fading away into trillions of search result pages. ClickReady Marketing is the premier SEO marketing company in Atlanta, trusted by clients to boost their search engine results page rankings. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help get you ranked and get your snippets featured. (404) 923-0015