Don't Buy Into These "Trends" About Digital agency

Data-backed insights on featured snippet optimization

Around one-fifth of all keywords activate a featured snippet

99 percent of all featured bits tend to appear within the very 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 particular locations: long-tail- and question-like keyword method, date significant content that comes at the best length and format, and a concise URL structure.

Google has constantly been quite hazy on any details about winning featured bits. This was the case when they were first introduced, making them something companies thought about to be the cherry on top of their SEO efforts, which is still mostly the case. Having first-hand understanding about the value and power of highlighted bits, Brado coordinated with Semrush to carry out the most thorough research around included snippet optimization to discover how they really work, and what you can do to win them.

Exposing the highlights from an Included snippets study that examined over a million SERPs with highlighted snippets present, this post unwraps actionable recommendations on amping up your optimization strategy to lastly win that Google prize.

General patterns throughout the included bit landscape.

With billions of search inquiries run through the Google search box every day, our research study discovered that around 19 percent of keywords activate a featured bit. Why does this even matter? Featured snippets are known to drive higher CTR-- as another research study discovered, they are responsible for over 35 percent of all clicks.

Further proving the immense power of featured snippets, our study showed that they take up over half of the SERP's realty on mobile screens.

Combine this with our findings that 99 percent of the time featured snippets take over the first natural position, and that they are in the majority of cases triggered by long-tail keywords (indicating specific user intent), and you'll get the factor behind extremely high CTR numbers.

Are some markets more likely to trigger featured snippets?

In the study, we specified markets by keyword classifications, discovering that, undoubtedly, featured snippet volume is inconsistent across different segments.

The leading industry, seeing an included snippet in 62 percent of all cases, is Travel and Computer System & Electronics, followed by Arts & Entertainment (59 percent), and Science (54 percent), while Real Estate keywords lag behind all the rest with only 11 percent of keywords activating a featured snippet.

included bit optimization insights on keyword categories that activate.

On a domain level, the market breakdown varies slightly, with Health and News websites having equivalent featured bit volumes.

You can discover the complete industry breakdown within the study.

Featured snippets are all about makes, not wins.

Simply hoping your content will win you an included bit isn't enough-- as our research study revealed, it's all about hard-earned content optimization outcomes.

1. Optimize for long-tail keywords and concerns.

When it concerns optimization and keywords, use 'the more the better' logic.

Our research study found that 55.5 percent of featured bits were triggered by 10-word keywords, while single-word ones only appeared 4.3 percent of the time.

One thing even much better than long-tails is questions. In fact, 29 percent of keywords activating a featured bit start with question words-- "why" (78 percent), "can" (72 percent), "do" (67 percent), and in the least cases, "where" (19 percent).

included snippet optimization insights on concern Browse this site keywords that set off.

2. Utilize the ideal material length and format.

The SERPs we examined included 4 types of featured bit: paragraphs, lists, tables, and videos:.

70 percent of the outcomes showed paragraphs, with approximately 42 words and 249 characters.

Lists can be found in as the second-most-frequent highlighted bit (19 percent), with approximately 6 product counts and 44 words.

Tables (6 percent) normally featured 5 rows and two columns.

Videos, whose typical period stood at 6:39 minutes, appeared in only 4.6 percent of all cases.

Of course, do not blindly follow this data as the principle, rather see it as an excellent beginning point for featured-snippet-minded material optimization.

Plus, bear in mind that content quality constantly dominates amount, so if you have a high-performing piece that features a 10-row table, Google will merely suffice down, showing the blue "More rows" link, which can even improve your CTR.

3. Don't overcomplicate your URL structure.

As it turns out, URL length matters in Google's option of a website that deserves a featured snippet. Try to stay with cool website architecture, with 1-3 subfolders per URL, and you'll be most likely to win.

Just for referral, here is an example of a URL with three subfolders:.

xyz.com/subfolder1/subfolder2/subfolder3.

4. Make regular content updates.

In the "to include or not to include a post date" predicament, based upon our featured bit analysis, we 'd suggest that you publish date-marked content.

Most of Google's featured snippets include an article date, with the following breakdown: 47 percent of list-type highlighted bits originate from date-marked material, paragraphs-- 44 percent, videos-- 20 percent, and tables-- 19 percent of the time.

While fresh-out-of-the-oven material can be favored by Google, 70 percent of all content making it into the included snippet was anywhere from 2 to 3 years old (2018, 2019, 2020), meaning once again that content quality matters more than recency, so you should not stress that putting a date on it will work versus you.