Google is increasingly able to understand and interpret user questions. The number of search terms that Google itself already answers is increasing. However, many companies do not yet make use of this, while it can be of great added value to draw extra attention to your website with the launch of the Dutch Google Assistant. I would like to tell you more about this underexposed opportunity.
What is a featured snippet?
A featured snippet (not to be confused with a rich snippet ) is a special section at the top of the Google search results page. Here, the visitor's question is answered. The question is answered with information retrieved from third-party websites.
The purpose of the featured snippet (also called Google Answer Box) is to give the visitor an immediate answer to his or her question, without having to click through to one of the search results. The answer to the question can appear in the form of a paragraph, bulleted list or table.
Featured snippet on desktop
What do featured snippets mean for SEO?
The goal of search engine optimization is to make your website as prominent as possible in the organic search results. As you can see in the example above, the featured snippet is prominently displayed above all the organic search results. You see a piece of text and a supporting image. Because only the paid results are above the featured snippet, this is also called 'position 0'. Position zero has two other major advantages:
Featured snippet on mobile1. Large screen on mobile
The featured snippet takes up a lot of space on desktop, but even more on small smartphone screens. Depending on the length of the answer, your website can take up most of the visitor's screen. See also the example above.
Given that over 50% of all searches on Google are done on a mobile device, this presents a great opportunity to take over the user's screen.
Featured snippet in Google Assistant2. The opportunities of voice search
Featured snippets also play an important role in voice search. The answers that are visible in these highlighted snippets are used by Google’s virtual assistant to answer the questions that users ask out loud. If users want to know more, they can click through to your website on their smartphone.
It is expected that by 2020, fifty percent of all searches will be done via voice search or voice commands. With the launch of the Google Assistant in Dutch last week for both Android and iOS, a major step has also been taken in this area.
By the end of the year, the smart Google Home speaker will arrive in our country, which will also contribute to the number of spoken searches. It is now really time to prepare your website for this.
Also read: Google's Featured Snippets: How to Seize This SEO Opportunity
Will users still click through to my website?
The most common argument for not showing your website in the featured snippets (there is a piece of code for this that you can include in your website) is that there is no reason for the user to click through to the website that provides the answer. After all, you have already received an answer to (part of) your question.
Case studies from Search Engine Land and Hubspot show that there is actually a higher Click-Through-Rate (CTR) at position 0. And that is not so strange in itself, a user may not be completely satisfied with the answer and want more information. Or there are additional questions.
In addition, it is important to consider the phase the user is in. For example, at the beginning of the customer journey. By allowing users to come into contact with your brand name early on, this can lead to a conversion at a later stage.
It is up to Google to determine whether the information from your website is shown directly in the form of a featured snippet. There are factors that play a role in this, including your authority, search volume and the formatting of the content. I would like to give you a number of tips to increase the chance of a prominent position. These do not guarantee that you will be shown, but Google is rapidly expanding the number of questions to which answers are given.
Tip 1. Research what people are searching for
It is important to know what questions kuwait telegram data potential customers have. A handy tool that I use for this is Answer The Public . Enter a relevant search term on this website and immediately get an overview of related questions that people type into Google. These questions usually start with: What, How, How much, When and Which.
If you also keep track of search queries within your website in Google Analytics, you can check whether there are any interesting keywords or questions there.
Tip 2. Check if this question is already answered in a Google Answer Box
Google does not yet provide an answer to all questions itself. Check whether the search engine already displays a featured snippet for the questions you noted in tip 1. If this is not the case and there is sufficient search volume, then it is wise to get started with this.
If Google already provides an answer to the question, it is useful to check whether you can outperform the competition. Look at the position of your website, the relevance and especially how you can improve the answer to the question.