Ever since Google added the snippet feature, it has become one of the best ways to get visibility on the SERPs. Of course, as to be expected, it is quite a competitive environment. If you want to get into the coveted featured snippet spot, there are lots things for you to consider if you want to earn that most-coveted spot in the SERPs. There are ways to discover opportunities in the featured snippet spot, after all.
Featured snippets are appealing because of many factors. One of these is its voice search component. For instance, if a user makes a voice search, the result that you can expect them to get is the one from the featured snippet in the SERPs. In order to find opportunities in this area, there is a set of steps that you can follow.
Step 1: Keyword Research
The first step is all about discovering opportunities, and this will take you right back to the very basics. It can be really straightforward if you start on your basic keyword research. The thing is, if you want your keyword research to be more focused on the featured snippets, you would have to focus more on keywords in the form of questions. Research shows that almost half of the featured snippets come from question queries, which makes perfect sense. The ‘how’ questions are especially crucial because they almost always reveal lists. Lists usually take the form of numbers and bullets. Understanding how these lists make it to the featured snippet spot will help you gain some traction against your competitors. For instance, if the currently featured snippet is showing 5 points about your topic, make sure that your page has 10 different points. This will lure people to click on your link and see the extra points that you have. It’s a no-brainer that definitely works.
Step 2: Evaluate Your Current Standing
When you’ve already discovered the type of keywords that work for the featured snippet spot, you can now evaluate your ranking. If some keywords are letting you sit on the first page of the SERPs, don’t let those keywords go to waste. Pay special attention to these keywords because they are likely to help you grab the featured snippet spot. It goes without saying that most of the featured snippets come from sites that are on the first page of the SERPs.
Step 3: Plot And Record Your Data
In order to analyze the data and properly prioritize the potential opportunities, it would be a huge help if you encode the data into a spreadsheet. When you have the data properly plotted down in a spreadsheet, it will be easier to compare and analyze. There are some metrics that you can include in your spreadsheet to determine your opportunities better. To compare, you should have data that you collected from your site and that from your competitors. Good places to start include prominent keywords, average search volume, domain authority and so on. If you can compile this data, it will be easier to identify the areas where you lack that’s causing you not to make it to the featured snippet spot.
You should also take note of the snippet types that you see when you search for the keywords you’re trying to rank. The featured snippet can be a list, a table or a paragraph. Take note of special characteristics on the page that made it to the featured snippet. This can include identifying and comparing images on your and your competitor’s site. It is also crucial to identify the type of images you can see on the pages and in the featured snippet itself. This can lead you to the type of images Google favors when it picks which pages make it to the featured snippet list.
It would even be a good idea to note the type of URL that makes it to the featured snippet. Take note of it because it could be the type of URL you should be aiming for in order to land your pages to the featured snippet spot.
Useful Tools That You Can Use To Get You That Featured Snippet Opportunity
There are a lot of tools that are available for you to use online right now. These tools will generally help you do your keyword research for your ‘featured snippet’ quest and then save those keywords into lists. Some of these tools won’t let you do your keyword research on just the keywords that are associated with featured snippets. Most of these tools will let you do your keyword research and once you’ve compiled a list, the tools will show you all the data about the featured snippets connected with those keywords you compiled. In some cases, some tools available online lets you filter your keyword research into featured snippet keywords so it will be easier to identify such keywords. There are even various tools that allow you to find featured snippets for certain keywords, and at the same time compare your website to other websites with that keyword to see how well or how bad you’re ranking. It will really make a difference for your keyword research for featured snippets, so try to utilize some of these tools from other search engine experts.
However, since the featured snippet feature is generally new, these tools have not been developed to perfection yet. It won’t be uncommon to find glitches that would frustrate you to your wit’s end, but you can still enjoy the benefits that these tools have to offer. There is also one final option. That is to use Google’s keyword planning tool, do your keyword research and find the featured snippet information yourself – manually. It will be tougher than using the tools, but you won’t be subjecting you to those glitches common with these newer tools.
For sure, the path to the featured snippet spot is going to be rough. You will have to devote a huge chunk of your time and effort to achieve this, but when you do, there benefits you can enjoy will be nonpareil.
