Featured snippets – Get your content featured at the top of Google’s search results

Picture one of your potential customers typing a question into Google’s search bar. Moments later, the perfect answer appears in a short snippet at the top of the search results page – higher than the result ranked number 1. If the answer is an excerpt from a text on your website, Google has chosen your answer as a so-called featured snippet. 

Featured snippets are highly sought after because they make your business or blog more visible online. Moreover, they can help drive more organic traffic to your website, which is why it’s worthwhile to create or optimise content with the aim of securing one or more featured snippets. 

Read on as we take a closer look at Google’s featured snippets and go through various examples. We also share our top tips on how to get your own content featured in a snippet, and touch on some potential drawbacks of these otherwise popular snippets. 

What are featured snippets? 

Featured snippets are clear and objective answers that Google displays above the regular search results. They usually appear either as a short text excerpt, a bullet point list, a table, or a video that answers a user’s question. The purpose of featured snippets is to provide users with an instant answer. 

For example, if a user asks the question “how to boil potatoes?” Google might display a step-by-step guide in the form of a bullet point list from a recipe site as the featured snippet. The link to the website is shown just below the featured snippet. 

Why are featured snippets important for SEO? 

Getting your content featured in one of Google’s snippets boosts your visibility. The placement of featured snippets is often referred to as position #0 because they appear above the first organic search result. This placement leads to a higher click-through rate (CTR), meaning your website gets more visitors without you having to pay for ads. 

Featured snippets are also mobile-friendly, making it easier for users to find your content quickly whether they are sitting at home on the sofa or waiting for a bus. If you have a business, this could mean more leads and increased sales. If you’re a blogger, a snippet could be your shortcut to gaining more readers or subscribers. 

Are there any drawbacks?

Although featured snippets offer many strong advantages, there are a couple of potential drawbacks worth noting. One of these is the so-called “no-click search”, meaning a user may not click on the link in a snippet because they have already received the answer to their question within the snippet. For small businesses and bloggers who rely on organic traffic to generate leads or ad revenue, featured snippets can therefore be a bit of a double-edged sword.  

Additionally, it’s important to remember that Google’s algorithms are unpredictable. A snippet is not a guarantee of increased visibility in the long term, as changes at Google could result in your competitor’s content being selected for a snippet, or the snippet disappearing entirely. As with all other SEO work, it is therefore necessary to continuously optimise, perform competitor analysis, and stay updated on changes at Google. 

Different types of featured snippets

As mentioned previously, there are different types of featured snippets. Let’s take a closer look at the most common ones and how to optimise your content to secure them. 

Paragraph snippets 

Paragraph snippets, also known as definition snippets, are the most common type of featured snippet. Here, Google highlights a short excerpt from a text on a website to answer a user’s question. For example, if a user searches for “what is a domain?” they will likely be shown a short answer in two or three lines in a snippet above the rest of the search results.

To get your content featured in this way, you can write clear, concise, and direct answers to this type of question in the content on your website or blog. 

List snippets

List snippets appear when a user’s query is best answered in the form of a series of steps or points. A search for “how to start a small business?” will often result in a list-format snippet with the key steps in the process, such as “1. Develop a business idea, 2. Choose a business name, 3. Register your business”. 

If you want to optimise to get your content featured in this type of snippet, you can use step-by-step lists in your content when describing a process or presenting various points, such as ingredients in a recipe, makeup tips, or a top-5 list. 

Table snippets

Content with data or comparisons can be featured in a table snippet. A search for “compare car insurance” might result in a table snippet showing a comparison of different insurance companies.  

If this is the type of featured snippet you want, you can organise data in tables within your content. This makes it easier for Google to use your content in a table snippet. 

Video snippets

Sometimes it’s just easier to understand how to do something if you can watch it in a video. Google knows this, which is why they sometimes feature a snippet from a YouTube video in the search results. For example, if you search for “how to apply foundation”, you may find that Google shows you a video snippet of a beauty expert demonstrating the technique.  

If you create video content, you can optimise your videos with clear titles, descriptions, and captions to increase the chances that your video tutorial is featured in a snippet. 

How to get featured snippets – more tips

We’ve gone through examples of the most common featured snippets and briefly touched on how you can optimise your content to be featured in the respective types. Below, you’ll find even more tips on how to increase your chances of landing in Google’s position #0 on the search results page.  

Start a blog 

 
A robust content strategy is the way forward if you’re after featured snippets, so one of the best things you can do is to start a blog. By regularly sharing content that is valuable and relevant to your target audience, you increase the chances of answering the questions they ask online.  

If you have an online shop that sells coffee beans, for example, you could write blog posts about how to make the best cup of coffee, review equipment, and create step-by-step guides. The more content you share, the greater the chances are that Google will feature your content in a snippet. 

Answer questions 

Consider what questions your potential customers or readers want answered and create content tailored to answer those questions. You can look at Google’s “People also ask” section or use a tool like AnswerThePublic to find out what people want to know. If you offer online fitness courses, for example, you could answer the question “What exercises are good for the back?” in your content. Make sure your answer is written clearly and concisely. Google loves content that gets straight to the point. 

Optimise your content with long-tail keywords 

Long-tail keywords are specific phrases that people often use when they are ready to buy a product or want specific information about something. If you have a small café, for example, you have a better chance of getting content from your blog post featured in a snippet if you optimise your text with the phrase “the best organic iced coffee” rather than aiming for the more general keyword “coffee”.  

Long-tail keywords increase the chances of your content being pulled into a snippet because you are targeting a specific question or topic. 

Create an FAQ  

FAQ (‘Frequently Asked Questions’) sections also have a good chance of being featured in snippets. This is due to the question-and-answer format, a format favoured by Google’s algorithms. If you have an online shop selling organic beauty products, you could create an FAQ section where you answer questions such as “Are all your products sustainable?” or “What is the delivery time?”. Make sure to write the answers as concisely and clearly as possible. 

Use structured data (schema markup) 

Structured data, typically implemented using schema markup, makes it easier for search engines to understand the content on your website by adding context or a category. By using structured data, you can increase the chances of Google selecting your recipe, FAQ, or other content for a featured snippet.  

If you want to learn more about structured data and schema markup, we recommend our article What is schema markup?.  

Avoid writing in first-person 

For many bloggers, it feels natural and more personal to write in first-person. However, if your goal is to get your content featured in a snippet, it’s best to avoid this form. The reason is that Google generally only selects objective and less personal content for snippets.  

If you’re writing a blog post about beauty products, for example, it’s better to avoid phrases like “I recommend this product for dry skin” and instead write “This product is good for dry skin”. There’s nothing wrong with content that expresses personal opinions, but if you’re aiming for a featured snippet, the objective form is a better choice. 

Boost your online visibility with featured snippets 

Google’s featured snippets are valuable if your goal is to improve your online visibility, increase your click-through rate, and attract organic traffic to your website. If you have a small business or blog, they are undoubtedly worth striving for because they place your content and brand at the top of the results page, where many more users will see it. 

However, you should keep in mind the risk that users might not click on a featured snippet because it already answers their question in the search results. 

That said, in most cases, the benefits of snippets will far outweigh the drawbacks, precisely because they are so effective at ensuring your brand is discovered by more potential customers and users.