How Do You Get a Featured Snippet on Google?
To help you understand how to secure a featured snippet on Google, we’ve gathered insights from nine professionals who’ve accomplished just that! From trying a customer-focused strategy to using the direct answer target strategy, these professionals share their successful keyword strategies and how they achieved their featured snippets.
- Try a Customer-Focused Strategy
- Conduct SEO Best Practices
- Create Informative Content
- Observe SERPs and Comprehensive Answers
- Publish Structured and Multimedia Content
- Optimize Your Content for Frequent Queries
- Analyze Competitors for Better Content
- Take an Informative and Structured Data Approach
- Use the Direct Answer Target Strategy
Try a Customer-Focused Strategy
My company, Hometown Hero, has 6.1K keywords with Featured Snippets on Google, according to SEMRUSH. One query we are featured for, which has driven significant traffic and conversions to our site, is “Is Delta-9 Legal in Texas?”
The primary strategy we have implemented to accomplish this is by having quality content that is customer-focused and optimized for the user experience. We use our expertise in the hemp industry and capitalize on it by asking ourselves, “What questions does our target market have regarding our product specifically, or about any subject matter relevant to our product?”
We leverage data and research to understand the concerns of prospective customers and proactively address such curiosities in our content. We prioritize questions we can confidently address given our qualifications and structure them in an easily accessible, digestible way. For this query, we knew, as an Austin-based company, our consumers would ask about legality, so we proactively wrote FAQs and blogs.
Aijalyn Gonzales
Junior SEO Specialist, Hometown Hero
Conduct SEO Best Practices
I believe that getting a featured snippet on Google is a blend of strategic content creation and SEO best practices. We focus on creating high-quality, informative content that directly answers common queries related to promotional products. For instance, we have a featured snippet for the keyword “custom logo travel mugs.”
To achieve this, we crafted a detailed blog post that not only described our range of travel mugs but also provided insights into customization options, material quality, and usage scenarios. We structured the content with clear, concise headings and bullet points, making it easier for Google to recognize its relevance to the query.
We also ensured the content was comprehensive, covering aspects like the benefits of using custom travel mugs for brand promotion, tips for designing logos, and the impact of such products on brand recall. By addressing these points, we catered to a broader range of related queries, increasing our chances of being featured.
Rick Young
Founder and COO, Promotional Product Inc.
Create Informative Content
Custom Exteriors currently has a featured snippet on the term, “what is spaced decking?” The article addresses what spaced decking is. The purpose behind writing the article was not actually SEO-motivated at all. We find that there are aspects of our installations that always cause confusion.
When spaced decking makes an appearance, it is always one of them! Because it is often not visible until the existing roof is removed and is many times not covered by homeowners’ insurance, it can be a sensitive subject during roof replacement. So, we took to our blog to write an informative and helpful article about what it is, what happens if you have it, and gave visual and verbal examples of where it can be found.
We just wrote informative content, trying to help our customers understand the things they need to know about spaced decking. It was just an added bonus that we earned a featured snippet!
What is Spaced Roof Decking? – Custom Exteriors, LLC
Niki Obrien, Operations Manager, Custom Exteriors
Observe SERPs and Comprehensive Answers
To achieve a featured snippet on Google, a good first step is to manually check the SERPs for the query you’d like to gain the snippet for. If there’s an existing snippet, observe how Google is currently displaying it—this can be a useful indicator for how you will want to format your content.
Formatting is only a small part of the equation. It’s important to follow all the usual SEO best practices relating to the quality of your content, ensuring that it directly and comprehensively answers a user’s search query and displays experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T).
A good example of a featured snippet we currently have as an agency is “What are entities in SEO?”
In this example, Google pulls the direct answer to the search query from the page content into the snippet. The linked page uses appropriately topical subheadings, includes example entities, and discusses the difference between keywords and entities in great detail.
Paul Friend
Head of SEO, The SEO Works
Publish Structured and Multimedia Content
One of our successful featured snippets revolves around the keyword “Mindfulness Techniques.” To secure this coveted spot, we meticulously crafted in-depth content addressing various mindfulness practices.
Our strategy involved structuring the content with concise headings and bullet points, ensuring it was easily scannable for users and search engines. We emphasized providing a direct and comprehensive answer to the query within the first few sentences of the content.
Additionally, we integrated multimedia elements like infographics and videos to enhance the user experience. Visual aids not only make the content more engaging but also increase the likelihood of being selected for a featured snippet.
Implementing schema markup played a crucial role in signaling to search engines the specific structure of our content. This markup helps Google understand and present the information in a featured snippet format.
Sai Blackbyrn
CEO, Coach Foundation
Optimize Your Content for Frequent Queries
In order to receive a featured snippet on Google, content must be optimized to offer succinct, insightful responses to frequently asked user questions. Our featured excerpt, for instance, is for the term “sustainable fashion practices.”
To do this, we used a clear, well-structured approach to write a thorough blog post about sustainable fashion that included a section that directly addressed the reader’s question. Additionally, we utilized bullet points, schema markup, and pertinent titles to make our content simple for search engines to scan. Furthermore, we added alt text and excellent photos.
Keeping up with Google’s standards and always updating and upgrading our material has allowed us to keep our featured snippet. Always keep in mind that the secret is to deliver useful content in a format that is simple for search engines to comprehend.
Tadas Pukas
Founder and CEO, MinimalisticLinen
Analyze Competitors for Better Content
For me, this simple method works fine. If I want to get a featured snippet, which my competitors are getting, I usually do a content analysis of the featured paragraph. Then, I create a different section of content targeting the same query. I add better and more helpful content, and after 1-2 days, the featured snippet will be rewarded.
Syed Shoaib Qamar
SEO Content Strategist
Take an Informative and Structured Data Approach
To get a featured snippet on Google, be informative. Use structured data and try to cover the related questions your searcher might have. One keyword I can share with you, for which I have a featured snippet, is the search “Skriva copy” (how to write copy) for my localized site for Sweden (Copywriting 2023, en hyfsat bra guide – Magnus Strandberg).
The snippet is site links. How did I get them? I added them as subheadings/sections in the content and also in the TOC placed right below the header area (the fold). This gives clear signals that you will find information about this, and so did the bots.
Magnus Strandberg, SEO Specialist, Cajuncy media
Use the Direct Answer Target Strategy
An example of a featured snippet that I have for the keyword, “How Long Does It Take to Earn Your First $100 Blogging” is as follows:
To achieve the featured snippet, I wrote a blog post that directly answered the question, “How Long Does It Take to Earn Your First $100 Blogging?” I wrote an answer to that search query, the best I could, in about 300 characters. This is a very encyclopedic answer, called an answer target. The goal with the answer target is to win a Google-featured snippet.
Make Money Blogging: How Long Does It Take to Earn Your First $100?
Steve Bouboulus
Director of Marketing, SEO Strategist, SEO Content Strategists, The Branding Agency
Submit Your Answer
Would you like to submit an alternate answer to the question, “How do you get a featured snippet on Google? Please share a keyword that you currently have a featured snippet for, and how you achieved the featured snippet.”