Data-backed insights on highlighted snippet optimization
Around one-fifth of all keywords set off a highlighted snippet
99 percent of all featured snippets tend to appear within the very first natural position and take over 50% of the screen on mobile devices, driving higher-than-average click-through rates (CTR).
The secret to included bit optimization lies in a few specific areas: long-tail- and question-like keyword method, date significant content that comes at the best length and format, and a succinct URL structure.
Google has constantly been pretty hazy on any details about winning featured snippets. This held true when they were first introduced, making them something services considered to be the cherry on top of their SEO efforts, which is still mostly the case. Having first-hand understanding about the worth and power of featured bits, Brado teamed up with Semrush to carry out the most extensive research around included snippet optimization to reveal how they truly work, and what you can do to win them.
Exposing the highlights from a Featured bits research study that examined over a million SERPs with highlighted bits present, this post unwraps actionable ideas on amping up your optimization strategy to lastly win that Google prize.
General patterns across the included bit landscape.
With billions of search queries run through the Google search box every day, our research study discovered that around 19 percent of keywords trigger a featured snippet. Why does this even matter? Featured bits are understood to drive greater CTR-- as another research study discovered, they are accountable for over 35 percent of all clicks.
More showing the tremendous power of highlighted bits, our study revealed that they use up over half of the SERP's realty on mobile screens.
Combine this with our findings that 99 percent of the time included bits take over the very first organic position, and that they are in many cases set off by long-tail keywords (indicating particular user intent), and you'll get the factor behind extremely high CTR numbers.
Are some markets more likely to set off featured snippets?
In the study, we defined industries by keyword categories, finding that, indeed, featured snippet volume is irregular throughout different segments.
The leading market, seeing an included snippet in 62 percent of all cases, is Travel and Computer & Electronics, followed by Arts & Home entertainment (59 percent), and Science (54 percent), while Realty keywords lag behind all the rest with only 11 percent of keywords setting off a featured snippet.
included snippet optimization insights on keyword classifications that set off.
Yet on a domain level, the industry breakdown differs a little, with Health and News websites having comparable highlighted snippet volumes.
You can find the full industry breakdown within the research study.
Featured bits are all about makes, not wins.
Simply hoping your content will win you a featured bit isn't enough-- as our research study revealed, it's all about hard-earned material optimization outcomes.
1. Enhance for long-tail keywords and concerns.
When it concerns optimization and keywords, use 'the more the much better' reasoning.
Our research study found that 55.5 percent of featured snippets were activated by 10-word keywords, while single-word ones just showed up 4.3 percent of the time.
One thing even better than long-tails is concerns. In reality, 29 percent of keywords setting off an included bit begin with question words-- "why" (78 percent), "can" (72 percent), "do" (67 percent), and in the least cases, "where" (19 percent).
featured snippet optimization insights on concern keywords that trigger.
2. Utilize the right content length and format.
The SERPs we evaluated included 4 kinds of highlighted bit: paragraphs, lists, tables, and videos:.
70 percent of the outcomes revealed paragraphs, with an average of 42 words and 249 characters.
Lists came in as the second-most-frequent featured bit (19 percent), with an average of 6 item counts and 44 words.
Tables (6 percent) generally featured five rows and 2 columns.
Videos, whose typical duration stood at 6:39 minutes, appeared in only 4.6 percent of all cases.
Of course, don't blindly follow this data as the golden rule, rather see it as a good starting point for featured-snippet-minded material optimization.
Plus, keep in mind that content quality always prevails over quantity, so if you have a high-performing piece that features a 10-row table, Google will just cut it down, showing the blue "More rows" link, which can even improve your CTR.
3. Don't overcomplicate your URL structure.
As it ends up, URL length matters in Google's option of a website that should have a highlighted snippet. Attempt to adhere to cool website architecture, with 1-3 subfolders per URL, and you'll be most likely to win.
Simply for reference, here is an example of a URL with 3 subfolders:.
xyz.com/subfolder1/subfolder2/subfolder3.
4. Make frequent material updates.
In the "to include or not to add a post date" problem, based upon our included bit analysis, we 'd suggest that you publish date-marked content.
Most of Google's highlighted bits consist of an article date, with the following breakdown: 47 percent of list-type featured snippets come from date-marked content, paragraphs-- 44 percent, videos-- 20 percent, and tables-- 19 percent of the time.
While fresh-out-of-the-oven content can be preferred by Google, 70 percent of all Home page content making it into the featured snippet was anywhere from two to three years of ages (2018, 2019, 2020), indicating when again that content quality matters more than recency, so you shouldn't fret that putting a date on it will work versus you.