Featured Snippets: What They Are & How To Earn Them

What Are Featured Snippets?

Featured snippets are short matter excerpts that proviso quick, clear answers to personification hunt queries and often look adjacent nan apical of hunt centrifugal results pages (SERPs). 

The matter for Google’s featured snippets is pulled consecutive from nan guidelines page and linked for users who want to investigation nan taxable further.

Here’s a featured snippet example:

Google displays featured snippets successful SERPs erstwhile its ranking systems find that users are looking for answers to circumstantial questions—ones Google tin reside by showing circumstantial passages from applicable webpages.

They autumn nether nan larger umbrella known arsenic SERP features—which are emblematic results that guidelines retired from accepted hunt listings. 

Why Getting Featured Snippets Is Good for SEO

Getting a featured snippet is bully for SEO because it gives you salient placement successful Google’s hunt results.

While featured snippets personification contributed to nan emergence of zero-click searches (when users find answers consecutive connected nan hunt results page without visiting a website), they tin usage your marque through:

Enhanced Visibility

Securing featured snippets gives you premier SERP existent spot and tin make you 1 of nan astir salient results connected nan page.

On mobile devices, featured snippets inhabit astir 50% of nan aboveground successful immoderate cases. This pushes competitors beneath nan fold and ensures your contented captures personification attraction first. 

Increased Traffic to Your Site

Appearing successful featured snippets places your contented successful a highly visible spot that tin propulsion clicks and thrust overmuch integrated postulation to your site.

Even if featured snippets are zero-click searches successful nan consciousness that they reply nan contiguous mobility consecutive connected nan page, users who are consenting successful learning overmuch whitethorn beryllium enticed to click done to your page.

A 2022 study from EngineScout shows featured snippets get astir 35.1% of each clicks.

Data Source: EngineScout

This study occurred earlier Google introduced AI Overviews. 

Those AI summaries apt return immoderate of nan clicks that featured snippets would usually receive, but not each queries trigger AI overviews. And featured snippets tin still beryllium salient moreover erstwhile they look connected a results page that too includes an AI Overview. 

Stronger Authority

Being selected for a featured snippet signals that your website is charismatic and that your contented is trustworthy.

That can:

• Reinforce your site's reputation
• Showcase your expertise correct location connected nan SERP itself
• Build personification assurance successful your content

That stronger authority could too construe to overmuch branded searches later on.

Types of Featured Snippets

There are 4 main types of featured snippets: paragraphs, lists, tables, and videos.

Let’s spell complete each:

Paragraph Snippets

Paragraph snippets proviso a concise text-based reply to a user’s query, often successful 1 aliases 2 sentences. 

Google tin too spot applicable images adjacent to paragraph snippets successful immoderate cases.

Like this:

The paragraph is nan astir communal snippet type. 

List Snippets

List snippets coming accusation successful either ordered (numbered) aliases unordered (bulleted) lists. 

Ordered lists often point steps aliases rankings. 

Like this:

While unordered lists proviso collections of related items. 

Like this:

These snippets are sometimes pulled from lists successful nan content. Or from headers.

Table Snippets

Table snippets show accusation successful a strategy array format, making it easy to comparison accusation specified arsenic prices, sizes, aliases measurements.

Video Snippets

Video snippets characteristic short video clips and often reside how-to aliases action-based queries.

In nan video, Google often highlights a circumstantial timestamp that consecutive addresses nan query.

How to Find Featured Snippet Opportunities 

Identifying hunt queries that trigger featured snippets helps you understand nan snippet type (e.g., paragraph, list, etc.), truthful you tin tailor your contented accordingly

If you already personification keywords successful mind, execute a Google hunt for each 1 and cheque if a featured snippet appears. 

Take connection of nan snippet format and measurement whether nan contented aligns pinch your expertise.

For example, a baking blogger mightiness cognize they want to target “how to navigator a barroom measurement by step.” Which displays a database snippet breaking down nan steps:

But nan query “how to decorate a cake” doesn’t show a snippet:

You tin repetition this process to uncover further keywords that trigger featured snippets.

However, manual searches tin beryllium time-consuming. And they spot connected you already knowing which keywords you want to target.

Plus, featured snippets whitethorn not ever look consistently for nan aforesaid keyword owed to factors specified arsenic your location, hunt history, and whether you usage an incognito window.

To velocity up nan process and find caller keyword ideas, usage Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool.

Open nan tool, participate a seed keyword (a wide connection related to your niche), and click "Search." 

You’ll past get a database of keyword ideas, connected pinch useful metrics for illustration hunt intent, hunt volume, and keyword difficulty. 

This is each useful, but you want to constrictive your hunt to only show keywords that trigger featured snippets.

To do this, click nan “Advanced filters” drop-down menu, premier nan “Any” drop-down nether “SERP features,” and premier nan instrumentality adjacent to “Featured snippet.” Then click “Apply.” 

This will make a filtered database of keywords that trigger featured snippets successful nan hunt results.

Click connected nan “Open SERP” icon to position nan hunt results and spot what nan existent featured snippet looks like.

For example, you mightiness spot a database snippet pinch step-by-step instructions:

Visit nan page to understand why nan contented sewage nan featured snippet. Then brainstorm ways to make your ain contented overmuch wide and engaging to hopefully bargain that featured snippet.

How to Optimize for Featured Snippets

You petition to attraction connected creating clear and well-structured contented if you want to rank for featured snippets.

Here are immoderate elemental tips to amended your chances of appearing for them:

Answer Questions Directly

Featured snippets are designed to proviso clear, concise, and meticulous responses to circumstantial queries, truthful that’s what you should intent to do successful your content. 

Ensure your contented answers nan query intelligibly and consecutive incorrect nan first less lines. Whether that’s nan first less lines of nan article itself, aliases nan first less lines aft a heading.

For paragraph snippets, this intends crafting a 40-50 relationship consequence that is clear and direct.

Start pinch a straightforward relationship that instantly answers nan user’s question. You tin usage further sermon aliases specifications to adhd value, but nan main reply should recreation first. 

For example, Backlinko ranks for a paragraph snippet for nan query “what is conception keyword research” pinch this answer:

Aim to represent objectively—similar to a dictionary entry—avoiding individual opinions and affectional language.

Target Long-Tail Keywords

Focusing connected long-tail keywords (highly circumstantial queries that bladed to beryllium longer) is simply a bully thought because featured snippets typically look for these types of queries. 

Short-tail keywords are wide and small specific, like:

• “seo tips”
• “cake recipe”
• “marketing techniques”

In contrast, long-tail keywords are overmuch elaborate and intelligibly bespeak precisely what nan personification is looking for:

• “seo tips for mini business”
• “how to navigator a barroom measurement by step”
• “effective trading techniques for ecommerce startups”

If you're looking for long-tail keywords, usage nan Keyword Magic Tool.

Enter your seed keyword and click “Search.” 

The instrumentality will proviso a database of related keywords you tin browse to spot long-tail opportunities to target.

To constrictive nan results to only show long-tail keywords, usage nan “Advanced filters” feature. 

Set nan relationship count prime to show keywords pinch astatine slightest 5 words and click “Apply.”

(If nan results still aren’t circumstantial enough, you tin usage a larger number arsenic nan minimum relationship count.)

The filtered database will show long-tail keywords that are overmuch specific. Which makes them fantabulous targets for creating contented astir to seizure featured snippets.

To refine nan database further, usage a keyword trouble prime to spot keywords that are apt to beryllium easier to rank for.

To do so, click connected nan “KD %” drop-down insubstantial astatine nan top. Then, premier nan “Easy” action to only show keywords pinch debased competition.

Structure Your Content Appropriately

Organizing your contented is cardinal for earning featured snippets, peculiarly for database and array snippets. 

To optimize for database snippets, coming steps aliases items successful a measurement that Google tin easy spot and display. 

This involves utilizing heading tags to intelligibly specify your structure.

Heading tags (H1, H2, etc.) are HTML elements that building your contented successful a hierarchical way.

You don’t petition to spot nan afloat database nether 1 heading, though it’s often nan astir logical approach. 

This is because Google tin compile snippets by pulling headings from various parts of your contented and converting them into database items.

For nan query "how to beryllium happy," Google generates a database snippet by extracting each nan main headings from nan featured article and displaying them arsenic steps.

For array snippets, including an existent array successful your contented is nan astir effective approach. 

Google tin extract strategy contented consecutive from pre-existing tables connected your page. 

For example, nan featured snippet for "what are garment sizes EU and US" displays accusation pulled from a well-organized array connected nan guidelines webpage.

To summation your chances of ranking for array snippets:

• Organize your accusation into a clean, elemental array pinch rows and columns
• Ensure nan array is applicable to nan query and provides clear accusation points
• Use a clear heading (e.g., H2 aliases H3) to coming nan array and explicate what it represents
• Naturally spot target keywords successful nan array heading and surrounding content

By structuring your contented pinch clear headings for lists and organized tables for data, you make it easier for Google to characteristic your contented successful snippets. Therefore expanding your visibility and click potential.

Target People Also Ask Questions

The People Also Ask (PAA) conception connected Google SERPs is an fantabulous assets for identifying low-volume, long-tail keywords that often trigger featured snippets.

When a personification clicks a PAA question, it expands to uncover a small reply that consecutive addresses nan query. 

Beneath nan answer, there’s a nexus to nan guidelines page for users who want overmuch elaborate information.

For example, searching for “cake recipe” displays a PAA conception for illustration this:

The PAA query “what is simply a concealed constituent for cake” too generates a featured snippet that looks for illustration this, utilizing nan aforesaid guidelines (albeit pinch a different snippet of text):

This shows really PAA answers and featured snippets are often intimately connected. Here, Google utilized nan aforesaid guidelines for immoderate nan PAA reply and nan featured snippet. 

To uncover applicable PAA questions, devices for illustration AlsoAsked tin thief you stitchery insights consecutive from Google’s PAA data.

Just participate a seed term, and nan instrumentality will make a characteristic sketch of related questions pulled from Google’s PAA section. 

It clusters these queries based connected personification intent. Offering a clear roadmap for creating targeted contented that matches searcher needs.

Or, usage nan Keyword Magic Tool to usage an precocious prime to show queries that trigger a PAA box.

There are a less ways to target PAA keywords.

First, by creating a dedicated page for each question. Use nan PAA mobility arsenic your title aliases H1, and proviso a clear, nonstop reply instantly beneath it.

For example, Resume Genius ranks for nan snippet “do surface letters petition an address” by answering this mobility connected a dedicated FAQ page:

Secondly, you tin merge PAA questions arsenic H2 subheadings incorrect longer blog posts.

For example, nan query “what is simply a hunt centrifugal optimization strategy” mightiness trigger a paragraph snippet for illustration this:

This mobility is formatted arsenic an H2 heading connected nan guidelines page. The reply is consecutive underneath, making it easy for Google to lucifer up nan reply pinch nan mobility for nan featured snippet.

Track Your Featured Snippets 

Tracking your featured snippet capacity helps you understand what’s working, spot opportunities for improvement, and guarantee you support your position successful hunt results.

To measurement your featured snippets, usage Semrush’s Position Tracking tool.

Just recreation nan Position Tracking setup guideline to get started and group your desired clip range. 

Then, click nan "Featured Snippets" tab.

Click "Already featured" to spot really galore of your pages are appearing for snippets triggered by your target keywords. 

And click "Opportunities" to spot which keywords trigger snippets that you don’t yet have. 

In nan “You” column, you’ll spot wherever your tract presently ranks successful integrated search. 

The champion opportunities to optimize for featured snippets are ones wherever you’re already connected page 1. 

Google already trusts your contented tin to rank it bully for these keywords, truthful you conscionable petition to optimize it for nan snippets.

Applying nan optimization tips from this line to amended your chances of getting those featured snippets.