Featured Snippets in Search
What Are Featured Snippets in Search?
Featured snippets in Search can appear when a user asks a question in Google. Google programmatically detects pages that answer searcher's question. The Featured Snippet will appear in a special block above the organic results but below the ads. The Google featured snippet search block includes a summary of the answer, extracted from the web page with the answer as well as the page title and link to the full page.
Featured Snippets provide value to the searcher and can allow your web page to become discoverable to the searcher. Featured Snippets are also referred to as "position 0" ranking and can be used as part of a comprehensive SEO strategy in competitive markets.
Common Characteristics of Features Snippets
- "Definition" search queries that explain or define a concept result in a paragraph type featured snippet
- “Process” search queries that are based on a series of steps to accomplish a task result in a list
- "Data" comparison based search queries usually return a tabular featured snippet
- Long-tail queries (5+ words) with higher search volume terms get snippets more often.
- Explicit (who, what, where, how, why) and implied question (causes, costs, does x result in y)
Implied questions also include searches on terms. For example, searching "digital marketing,” where the searcher is looking for a definition by essentially asking the implied question, “What is digital marketing?” Snippets for general questions usually trigger a paragraph type of featured snippet.
