Data-backed insights on featured snippet optimization
Around one-fifth of all keywords trigger a highlighted bit
99 percent of all featured bits tend to appear within the very first natural position and take control of 50% of the screen on mobile devices, driving higher-than-average click-through rates (CTR).
The secret to featured bit optimization depends on a few particular locations: long-tail- and question-like keyword technique, date significant content that comes at the right length and format, and a concise URL structure.
Google has always been pretty hazy on any details about winning featured 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 mainly the case. Having first-hand understanding about the worth and power of featured snippets, Brado coordinated with Semrush to carry out the most detailed research study around featured snippet optimization to reveal how they really work, and what you can do to win them.
Exposing the highlights from a Featured snippets study that examined over a million SERPs with featured bits present, this post unwraps actionable ideas on amping up your optimization method to lastly win that Google reward.
General patterns throughout the featured snippet landscape.
With billions of search inquiries run through the Google search box each day, our study discovered that around 19 percent of keywords activate a featured bit. Why does this even matter? Included bits are known to drive higher CTR-- as another research study uncovered, they are accountable for over 35 percent of all clicks.
Further proving the immense power of featured snippets, our study showed that they use up over 50 percent of the SERP's real estate on mobile screens.
Integrate this with our findings that 99 percent of the time included snippets take control of the first natural position, which they are in a lot of cases triggered by long-tail keywords (implying particular user intent), and you'll get the reason behind incredibly high CTR numbers.
Are some markets more likely to trigger featured bits?
In the research study, we defined markets by keyword categories, finding that, undoubtedly, featured bit volume is inconsistent across numerous segments.
The leading market, seeing a featured snippet in 62 percent of all cases, is Travel and Computer & Visit website Electronic devices, followed by Arts & Home entertainment (59 percent), and Science (54 percent), while Real Estate keywords drag all the rest with just 11 percent of keywords setting off an included snippet.
included bit optimization insights on keyword categories that activate.
On a domain level, the market breakdown varies somewhat, with Health and News sites having comparable highlighted snippet volumes.
You can find the complete market breakdown within the study.
Featured bits are everything about earns, not wins.
Simply hoping your content will win you a featured bit isn't enough-- as our research study showed, it's all about hard-earned content optimization results.
1. Enhance for long-tail keywords and questions.
When it pertains to optimization and keywords, employ 'the more the much better' reasoning.
Our research study discovered that 55.5 percent of featured snippets were activated by 10-word keywords, while single-word ones only showed up 4.3 percent of the time.
One thing even better than long-tails is questions. 29 percent of keywords activating an included bit start with concern words-- "why" (78 percent), "can" (72 percent), "do" (67 percent), and in the least cases, "where" (19 percent).
included bit optimization insights on question keywords that trigger.
2. Use the ideal material length and format.
The SERPs we evaluated consisted of four types of featured 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 approximately 6 item counts and 44 words.
Tables (6 percent) normally featured five rows and 2 columns.
Videos, whose typical duration stood at 6:39 minutes, appeared in only 4.6 percent of all cases.
Naturally, do not blindly follow this data as the principle, rather see it as an excellent starting point for featured-snippet-minded material optimization.
Plus, keep in mind that content quality constantly prevails over amount, so if you have a high-performing piece that includes a 10-row table, Google will simply suffice down, revealing the blue "More rows" link, which can even enhance your CTR.
3. Don't overcomplicate your URL structure.
As it turns out, URL length matters in Google's choice of a site that is worthy of a highlighted bit. Try to stay with cool website architecture, with 1-3 subfolders per URL, and you'll be more likely to win.
Simply for recommendation, here is an example of a URL with 3 subfolders:.
xyz.com/subfolder1/subfolder2/subfolder3.
4. Make regular content updates.
In the "to include or not to add a post date" problem, based on our featured bit analysis, we 'd recommend that you publish date-marked content.
The majority of Google's highlighted bits consist of a post 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 material can be preferred by Google, 70 percent of all content making it into the featured bit was anywhere from two to three years of ages (2018, 2019, 2020), suggesting once again that content quality matters more than recency, so you should not worry that putting a date on it will work versus you.