Data-backed insights on highlighted snippet optimization
99 percent of all featured bits tend to appear within the first organic position and take over 50% of the screen on mobile devices, driving higher-than-average click-through rates (CTR).
The key to included snippet optimization depends on a few specific locations: long-tail- and question-like keyword technique, date marked material that comes at the best length and format, and a concise URL structure.Google has actually always been pretty hazy on any information about winning highlighted snippets. This was the case when they were initially introduced, making them something businesses considered to be the cherry on top of their SEO efforts, which is still largely the case. Having first-hand knowledge about the value and power of featured bits, Brado partnered with Semrush to perform the most comprehensive research around featured snippet optimization to uncover how they truly work, and what you can do to win them.
Exposing the highlights from a Featured bits study that evaluated over a million SERPs with highlighted snippets present, this post unwraps actionable suggestions on amping up your optimization strategy to finally win that Google reward.
General patterns throughout the featured snippet landscape.
With billions of search queries go through the Google search box each day, our research study discovered that around 19 percent of keywords trigger a featured snippet. Why does this even matter? Featured snippets are known to drive greater CTR-- as another study revealed, they are accountable for over 35 percent of all clicks.
More showing the immense power of featured bits, our research study revealed that they take up over half of the SERP's real estate on mobile screens.
Integrate this with our findings that 99 percent of the time featured snippets take over the first organic position, and that they remain in a lot of cases triggered by long-tail keywords (suggesting particular user intent), and you'll get the reason behind incredibly high CTR numbers.
Are some industries more likely to set off highlighted bits?
In the study, we specified industries by keyword classifications, finding that, indeed, featured bit volume is irregular across various sectors.The top market, seeing a featured bit in 62 percent of all cases, is Travel and Computer System & Electronic devices, followed by Arts & Home entertainment (59 percent), and Science (54 percent), while Real Estate keywords drag all the rest with only 11 percent of keywords activating a featured bit.
featured snippet optimization insights on keyword categories that set off.
Yet on a domain level, the market breakdown differs a little, with Health and News websites having similar featured snippet volumes.
You can discover the full industry breakdown within the study.
Featured snippets are everything about makes, not wins.
Simply hoping your content will win you an included bit isn't enough-- as our study revealed, it's everything about hard-earned content optimization results.
1. Enhance for long-tail keywords and questions.
When it comes to optimization and keywords, use 'the more the much better' logic.
Our study found that 55.5 percent of highlighted bits were set off by 10-word keywords, while single-word ones only showed up 4.3 percent of the time.
One thing even much better than long-tails is concerns. 29 percent of keywords triggering a featured bit begin with concern words-- "why" (78 percent), "can" (72 percent), "do" (67 percent), and in the fewest cases, "where" (19 percent).
included bit optimization insights on concern keywords that activate.
2. Utilize the best material length and format.
The SERPs we analyzed consisted of 4 types of highlighted bit: paragraphs, lists, tables, and videos:.
70 percent of the outcomes revealed paragraphs, with approximately 42 words and 249 characters.
Lists can be found in as the second-most-frequent highlighted snippet (19 percent), with an average of 6 product counts and 44 words.
Tables (6 percent) typically featured 5 rows and two columns.Videos, whose typical duration stood at 6:39 mins, appeared in just 4.6 percent of all cases.
Obviously, don't blindly follow this information as the golden rule, rather see it as a great starting point for featured-snippet-minded content optimization.Plus, keep in mind that content quality constantly prevails over quantity, so if you have a high-performing piece that includes a 10-row table, Google will simply cut it down, showing the blue "More rows" link, which can even improve your CTR.
3. Do not overcomplicate your URL structure.
As it ends up, URL length matters in Google's option of a site that deserves a highlighted bit. Attempt to adhere to neat website architecture, with 1-3 subfolders per URL, and you'll be most likely to win.
Just for reference, here is an example of a URL with 3 subfolders:.
xyz.com/subfolder1/subfolder2/subfolder3.
4. Make regular material updates.
The gold coast seo services majority of Google's featured snippets consist of a short article date, with the following breakdown: 47 percent of list-type highlighted bits originate from date-marked content, paragraphs-- 44 percent, videos-- 20 percent, and tables-- 19 percent of the time.
While fresh-out-of-the-oven material can be preferred by Google, 70 percent of all content making it into the featured snippet was anywhere from two to three years of ages (2018, 2019, 2020), meaning once again that content quality matters more than recency, so you shouldn't worry that putting a date on it will work against you.