How Featured Snippets Work: A Simple Guide

By Azriel D'Souza

Featured snippets are those brief snippets of information that appear at the top of Google’s search results, providing users with a quick answer to their query. They play a significant role in improving the visibility and click-through rates of web pages. In this blog post, we’ll demystify how featured snippets are chosen, how they are created, and provide some useful tips to optimise your content for these snippets.

Choosing Featured Snippets

Google’s automated systems determine which pages would make good featured snippets based on the relevance and quality of their content. User feedback helps improve the search algorithms and the overall search experience.

To appear as a featured snippet, enough text must be available to generate a useful snippet. There is no exact minimum length requirement as it varies based on factors like the information provided, language, and the device used for the search.

Creating Snippets

Snippets are automatically created from the content on a web page. They are designed to highlight the most relevant information related to a user’s specific search. Different searches may display different snippets.

Site owners can suggest content for snippets through two main methods:

Rich Results: Adding structured data to your site helps Google understand specific page elements like reviews, recipes, businesses, or events. This improves your site’s visibility in search results.
Meta Description Tags: Google may use the content in the <meta> tags to generate snippets if they provide a more accurate description than the page content itself.

Types of Featured Snippets

There are two common types of featured snippets:

1. Paragraph: This is the most prevalent type, accounting for 50% of all snippet results. It provides a paragraph-formatted answer to the searcher’s query.

2. List: This type appears as a bulleted or numbered list and is often used for process-driven, step-by-step, and list-based queries. It encompasses 37% of snippet results.

Tips for Getting a Featured Snippet

To increase your chances of getting a featured snippet, consider these SEO tactics:

Target question-based queries.
Organise your page structure with headings and paragraph tags.
Optimise your content for non-question-based keywords by taking a definition-style approach.
Include steps or solutions to problems when applicable.
Aim for content lengths between 54-58 words.
Don’t overlook an international approach if relevant to your target audience.

SEO Strategies for Featured Snippets

To optimise your content for featured snippets, employ these SEO strategies:

Maintain a clean URL structure with short, descriptive URLs.
Create catchy and pixel-friendly title tags using tools like Coschedule Headline Analyser and Snippet optimisation tools.
Craft user-centric and keyword-specific meta descriptions within the pixel limit.
Use appropriate heading tags, especially for question-based keywords.
Use descriptive alt text for images to aid Google’s understanding.
Establish internal and external links to demonstrate authority and credibility.
Utilise schema markup tags to provide clearer context and elements.
Implement effective link building strategies to enhance your website’s authority.

By understanding how featured snippets work and implementing these SEO strategies, you can increase your chances of achieving these valuable search result features and drive more organic traffic to your website.

Remember, featured snippets are an excellent opportunity to provide valuable information to users and enhance your online visibility. Start optimising your content now and reap the benefits of appearing at the top of search results.

If you need help with your content creation or marketing strategy, get in touch with us today!