Increase Search Engine Visibility and Rank in Position Zero
You may have noticed the search engine results page in Google is continually changing. Notable changes include featured snippets or answer boxes, knowledge graph cards, news articles, events, travel information and more. The browsing experience in Google is constantly improved to provide a better user experience and to more directly answer a searcher’s questions.
In this article we will discuss how to achieve a ranking in the featured snippets, which is also referred to as an answer box or position zero.
Why Featured Snippets Matter
- Increased Clicks: Achieving a ranking in a featured snippet is beneficial because it increases the click-through to the website and resulting engagement or conversions.
- Voice Search Visibility: Because many featured snippets are direct questions and answers, many personal assistant devices such as Google Home, Siri, or Alexa source their information from the featured snippets.
- Long-Tail Keyword Ranking Opportunity: Featured snippets also provide opportunity to rank for more keywords, such as long-tail key phrases.
- Eclipse Position One: The featured snippet “position zero” result is not always the same as the first organic result. If a website is struggling to rank number one for a major keyword, it may be worthwhile to aim for a featured snippet result for the target keyword(s).
How to Rank in the Answer Boxes in Google
- Write Great Content: Search engines are more intuitive than ever. Thin, spammy content will not land a website in a featured snippet. Write fresh content with user experience at the forefront.
- Answer Questions Directly: Many people type (or talk) in question format. Directly answer questions and include the question in the heading.
- Write in a Digestible Format: Many featured snippets use bulleted or numbered lists. Consider writing in a way that enables search engines and users to easily abstract information.
- Use Markup and Structured Data: Similar to the above, ensure the content can be easily deciphered by search engine crawlers. If there is relevant schema or structured data markup, incorporate it into the content. For example, if it’s a recipe, mark it up with the recipe schema. If it’s an event, use the event schema. Learn more about Schema.org markup.
- Add Supporting Content: Avoid using only text on the page. Incorporate relevant images, diagrams, charts, videos, relevant links, or interactive page elements. Search engines value positive user experience and supporting page elements help provide that value.
By implementing the items above in your website content, it will increase the chances of obtaining a featured snippet result.
We also recommend checking out the current featured snippet for the search term ‘how to get a featured snippet on Google.’ Read: Google’s Featured Snippets: How to Get Your Content to Appear
Where to Start?
We recommend going straight to Google and typing in questions related to your topics to get ideas on what is pulled into the featured snippets. Don’t see a featured snippet for your topic? Then get started and write about it!
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