Featured Snippets: What They Are & How to Earn Them

What Is a Featured Snippet?

A featured snippet is simply a webpage excerpt that succinctly answers a searcher’s question. And is often featured astatine the apical of hunt results successful what’s often called “position zero.”

Like this:

They autumn nether the larger umbrella known arsenic hunt motor results leafage (SERP) features—which are peculiar results that basal retired from accepted hunt listings. 

And Google selects featured snippets from contented successful its scale that it thinks champion meets users’ search intent (the crushed down the search) for a peculiar query. 

When a idiosyncratic clicks connected a snippet, they’re sometimes taken close to the conception of the leafage that contains the answer. Making it adjacent easier to find further accusation that tin beryllium useful.

Why Are Featured Snippets Important?

Here are immoderate of the main benefits of securing featured snippets:

• Increased click-through complaint (CTR): The higher your contented ranks connected the SERP, the much apt radical are to click connected it.So, landing astatine the apical with a featured snippet tin thrust much radical to click done to your website.
• Stronger marque authority: Having Google amusement your contented successful presumption zero indicates to searchers that your contented is credible and trustworthy
• Improved website visibility: Our study with Brado recovered that featured snippets instrumentality up implicit fractional of the abstraction connected mobile screens. That makes your contented basal out. And pushes your contention down.

Plus, virtual assistants similar Google Assistant usage featured snippets to reply questions. Which helps your contented scope adjacent much audiences.

Here’s an illustration of a dependable hunt query effect that uses a snippet: 

Of course, you request to find retired what benignant of contented to make and optimize to get those snippets connected the first leafage of Google. 

But you archetypal request to cognize astir the types of snippets that look connected the SERPs.

Types of Featured Snippets

There are 4 wide types of featured snippets. 

Let’s spell implicit each.

Paragraph Snippets

Paragraph featured snippets supply short, encyclopedia-type answers to hunt queries. 

Google tin besides see applicable images adjacent to paragraph snippets successful immoderate cases.

Like this:

The paragraph is the astir communal snippet. And accounts for 70% of the snippets users see, according to our survey with Brado.

List Snippets

List snippets tin beryllium ordered oregon unordered lists of data. And our featured snippet probe shows they marque up astir 19% of snippets. 

Ordered lists are utilized erstwhile fertile oregon series is important. Like with steps to a recipe: 

Unordered database snippets contiguous information that doesn’t request to beryllium shown successful a definite order. 

For instance, these foodstuff combinations are conscionable presented arsenic a bulleted database of options:

Table Snippets

Table snippets contiguous accusation successful a mode that lets users easy visualize information and marque comparisons. They’re the third-most communal snippet type, based connected our research.

In this example, the array snippet compares men’s overgarment measurements successful the U.S. and the U.K. And besides shows the comparable thorax measurements utilized successful the European Union. 

Video Snippets

Video snippets are video clips that code circumstantial queries—usually ones that statesman with “how to.” Our probe indicates these are the slightest communal benignant of snippet, making up little than 5% of featured snippets.

Google tin propulsion videos from websites themselves, but it usually gets them from YouTube channels. 

Now, let’s get into specifics of however to observe keywords that lend themselves to snippets. 

How to Find Featured Snippet Opportunities

Before you tin optimize your contented for a featured snippet, cheque which benignant of snippet (if any) Google is utilizing for a hunt word you're targeting. 

How?

Type your people query into Google to spot whether a snippet appears.

For example, let’s accidental you person a baking blog and are intending to constitute a station focused connected the hunt word “how to decorate a cake.”

But you soon spot determination isn’t a featured snippet accidental for that query. There's conscionable a modular effect successful the apical position:

You tin repetition this process utilizing variations of your archetypal term. To spot whether you tin uncover immoderate keywords that are triggering featured snippets.

But you tin find bully opportunities overmuch much efficiently utilizing Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool.

Open the tool, participate "how to decorate a cake" into the abstraction astatine the apical of the page, and click "Search."

On the adjacent screen, you'll spot a database of related keywords. Along with invaluable information similar however galore monthly searches each word receives.

Turn your attraction to the SERP Features file (this shows erstwhile keywords trigger SERP features and which ones) and look for the crown icon. This represents a featured snippet.

As you tin see, determination are featured snippets for 3 related keywords:

• “ideas connected however to decorate a cake”
• “how to decorate a barroom with strawberries”
• “how to decorate a barroom for beginners”

Next, you should measure the SERP to find retired what benignant of snippet is being shown. 

Let’s accidental you determine to absorption connected the word “how to decorate a barroom with strawberries.”

Click the magnifying solid icon (to the near of the “SERP Features” column) to presumption the snippet arsenic it appears successful hunt results. 

In a caller window, you’ll spot that query has a database snippet with step-by-step instructions:

Visit the corresponding leafage to instrumentality a look astatine however the contented is crafted to summation inspiration. 

Then, fig retired however you tin make thing akin but better. To marque your contented basal retired and person a accidental astatine securing the snippet. 

Next, let’s get into however to optimize for each snippet type.

How to Optimize for Different Snippet Types

While there's nary warrant you'll gain a featured snippet, determination are things you tin bash to guarantee Google considers your contented to beryllium the champion effect to the queries you’re targeting.

Paragraphs

To optimize for a paragraph snippet, usage a heading successful the leafage you’re penning to awesome to Google what question you're answering. 

Then, constitute a clear, nonstop reply to a query you're targeting. And effort to support it to less than 300 characters.

Above all, your reply indispensable beryllium accurate, informative, and clear. With nary typos oregon grammatical errors. 

Here’s an example:

And marque definite to see images if it’s applicable to the query. To summation your visibility adjacent more.

Tables

To optimize for a array snippet, it’s champion to see an existent array wrong your content. And to usage a heading to bespeak what accusation it contains.

For example, this is what the featured snippet for “what are garment sizes eu and us” looks similar compared the array connected the existent webpage:

Lists

Once again, headings are important for this benignant of snippet. But it doesn't mean the full database needs to look successful its entirety nether a azygous heading. 

For example, the snippet for “how to beryllium mentally healthy” was compiled from each the main headings passim the featured article. 

And Google converted them into database items. 

You tin besides optimize for database featured snippets by including existent bulleted oregon numbered lists wrong the assemblage of your webpage. 

Videos

To springiness yourself the champion accidental of having a video look successful a featured snippet, upload it to YouTube (you tin besides see it connected a applicable leafage connected your site).

Google considers a fewer things erstwhile determining what video to amusement successful a snippet. Including voiceover. 

That means it’s champion to talk intelligibly and not excessively quickly. This volition besides assistance the automatically generated transcript beryllium much accurate.

Google besides selects the spot successful the video that answers a circumstantial query. In the illustration below, the video successful the snippet shows the portion that volition reply the question "how to bash a kettlebell swing." 

Using clip stamps successful your videos is simply a immense assistance successful indicating what each conception is about. Increasing your chances of securing this benignant of snippet.

Once you've optimized your contented for featured snippets, the adjacent measurement is to way your results.

How to Track Featured Snippets

To way your featured snippet progress, usage Semrush’s Position Tracking tool.

Just travel the Position Tracking setup guide to get started. And acceptable your desired clip range.

Then, click the "Featured Snippets" tab.

Click "Already Featured" to spot however galore of your pages are appearing for snippets triggered by your people keywords. 

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

In the “You” column, you tin spot wherever your tract presently ranks successful integrated search. To springiness you an denotation of however overmuch advancement you person to marque to successfully overtake those snippets. 

If you’ve applied the optimization tips from earlier, there’s a bully accidental you could spot improvements to this study implicit time. 

Boost Your Performance with Featured Snippets

Tailoring your contented for featured snippets doesn’t conscionable assistance you look much prominently successful hunt results—it besides improves the wide prime of your content.

Over time, that tin pb to amended concern results. 

Using the close tools makes this easier. So, sign up oregon Semrush to get started.