If your customers are like most business people, they don’t have time to spend sifting through pages of internet search results looking for the best vendor for the products and services their company needs. Instead, they look at the first two or three companies in search results and make a decision. Think what it could do for your business if your company appeared consistently in those first results. That’s where Google Featured Snippets can be invaluable.
What are Google Featured Snippets?
Google Featured Snippets are selected search results that appear atop the rest of the organic search results. Hence, the Featured Snippet spot has been dubbed “position 0”. This new feature from Google is not something you can pay extra for or request. Google’s algorithm chooses the results it deems to be the best matches for the user’s request. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t increase your odds of becoming a Featured Snippet and find yourself reaping all the benefits.
Benefits of Ranking as a Featured Snippet
Obviously, appearing at the top of the search results page is a huge advantage over your competitors’ languishing in organic search results further down. According to studies by “Search Engine Journal“, the first result in Google search results gets an average of 28.5% of the clicks. The second and third results get an average of 15% and 11%, respectively. By the tenth result, only 2.5% of searchers are clicking on your content.
Having your website chosen as a Google Featured Snippet adds approximately 8%to your percentage of clicks. For example, if your blog ranked 10th before it became a Featured Snippet, you’d go from a click rate of 2.5% to around 10.5%. This is a huge boost.
In addition to increasing your visibility, ranking well in search results also enhances your authority. Potential customers will think, both consciously and subconsciously, your company must know what it’s doing if Google picks it to be featured results.
B2B Tech Marketing Challenges
Google’s Featured Snippets program is a great fit for B2B tech companies that sometimes struggle to get buyers’ attention. Because it’s so important for their products and services to be correctly understood, it’s not uncommon for content to sacrifice audience needs in order to explain functionality. Google Featured Snippets are a great opportunity to do both. You’ll be creating content designed to quickly answer the questions B2B tech customers are asking about your technology and services. Plus, the snippet prints more of your content than a typical Meta description. This makes it a great way to showcase your engaging content without your target buyer having to work for it.
In addition, it offers a way for B2B tech companies to set their brand apart and establish authority over their competition. A common marketing challenge for any B2B tech company is breaking through in both branding and authority against competition. This makes landing position 0 especially good for B2B tech companies because people trust Google. As such, this means when Google picks your content as the best, clearest answer to their questions, by default your company gains brand trust and authority on the subject.
Harnessing the Power of Google Featured Snippets
So, how do you take advantage of this new Google feature? While there’s no sure-fire answer, we’ll walk you through the steps to increase your odds dramatically of landing in one of those coveted positions.
1. Identify Commonly-asked Questions
list of questions Google shows in the middle of the page of most Google searches. Make sure to try several keywords and eliminate questions that aren’t really applicable to your business.
2. Make sure your Questions are Popular
You want to answer the questions the most readers are asking. This is difficult, if not impossible, to do empirically. After all, you know your products so well it can be difficult to look at your products or services from a customer’s point of view. Using an SEO keyword tool can help you see quantitatively which answers are being asked most often by prospective users. Some popular keyword search tools for tech companies include Google’s Keyword tool as well as those by SEMRush, Moz, and Yext.
3. Write or Modify a Page to Answer One or More of the Questions
questions about solving a problem your company can solve. You can also modify an existing, well-ranking page to make it more focused on one of the commonly asked questions. If you choose to modify a page, however, make sure it’s one that already ranks well organically. Google chooses most of its Featured Snippets from among the top 10 results.
Another point to keep in mind is you’ll want to format your page in a way that makes it easy for readers (your targets) and Google bots to find the answers. This may be using H2 and H3 headings or by using bulleted or numbered lists.
Ideally, you’ll want to answer a primary and several related questions in a single article rather than answer a bunch of unrelated questions.
4. Write your First Paragraph as if you're Writing a Snippet
Google takes the text it uses for its snippets directly from the content on the page. It’s a good idea to make this as easy as possible for them. We suggest writing your opening paragraph as if you were writing the snippet for that page. This snippet should be a maximum of about 40 words and give searchers a clear idea of what they will find on your page.
How Google Chooses and Ranks Featured Snippets
We’ve already mentioned that Google generally selects its Featured Snippets from among the top 10 organic search results. However, you don’t have to be in the number one position to be a snippet. In fact, research by GetStats found that 70 percent of snippets came from outside of the number one position. They also found that certain types of searches are more likely to get featured snippets in the results than others. These include:
- DIY processes
- Health questions
- Financial inquiries
- Mathematical questions
- Questions about requirements
- Questions about status
For B2B tech companies, DIY processes could be an article about “how to use your app” or “how to save money using your software”. You also might discuss how much it costs to purchase and/or use your product.
At first glance, the advent of Google Featured Snippets might seem like another example of how other companies might rank ahead of yours in Google search results. However, the opposite is actually true. Featured snippets actually reward good organic content that answers questions Google users commonly have. And, the good news is you don’t have to be #1 to become the top snippet. To take advantage of this new Google feature, make sure to write concise, well-organized articles and do your research to find the best questions. You’ll likely see your efforts pay off in increased click-through rates and a healthier bottom line.