Recently, I was asked to offer up some SEO expertise for a guest post for our friends over at Flash Point Digital Marketing which features 30 SEO experts from across the industry. When asked “How do you optimize your content to get featured snippets,” here’s what I had to say:
“Whether you already have an understanding of featured snippets or not, if you’ve used Google to search something in the past six years, you’ve already seen, and likely clicked on many featured snippets.
Featured snippets are Google’s top selected search results, which are featured/highlighted in their own box, positioned on top of organic results and directly under paid advertisements. Most individuals outside of the digital marketing community refer to snippets as “answer boxes.”
There are three primary types of featured snippets: paragraph snippets (~82%), bulleted / numbered snippets (~11%), and table snippets (~7%). Each snippet serves a specific purpose to satisfy the most common end-user search queries.
Generally, the most common search queries that get featured snippets surround DIY, health, financial, or statistical searches. Content that usually doesn’t get featured snippets are images, videos, local searches, or shopping/eComm.
How do I Begin Optimizing My Content to Rank for Featured Snippets?
It all begins with the on-page SEO of your website. If your site’s keywords are already ranking in Google’s top 10, you’re already in a great position to snag a featured snippet. Nearly 99.5% of featured snippets are already organically ranking on the first search engine results page (SERP).
Not there yet? No worries. Start with keyword and snippet research surrounding the questions in your vertical.
Use SEMrush to find your competitors’ snippets and Google the questions you’re trying to go after and also find new snippet opportunities by looking at the “People also ask” section.
Five Tips for Optimizing Your Content to Rank on Google Featured Snippets in 2020
1. On-page SEO is Everything
- Target long-tail keywords that are in the evergreen questions users are asking.
- What is, Why is, How to…
- More importantly, target keyword intent – your page can be featured even the long-tail keywords are not questions. This is where quality content meets SEO strategy.
- Ask the question in your subheading (H2 markup)
- Though regarded as a best practice to mark up your content, there’s no real correlation between schema markup and Featured snippets.
2. Answer the questions you’re after concisely and correctly.
- Stay within 40-50 words for each answer.
- Stay organized, Google’s Bots like organized.
3. Make sure your content answers multiple, related questions
4. Utilize and update the article with high-quality on-page graphics
5. Monitor your progress and protect your featured snippet.”
You can read the rest of the article and see what the other SEO experts had to say in this article by visiting https://flashpointmarketing.biz/get-featured-snippets/
