Data-backed insights on highlighted snippet optimization
Around one-fifth of all keywords trigger a highlighted snippet
99 percent of all included snippets tend to appear within the first organic position and take control of 50% of the screen on mobile phones, driving higher-than-average click-through rates (CTR).
The secret to included bit optimization lies in a couple of specific areas: long-tail- and question-like keyword method, date marked material that comes at the best length and format, and a concise URL structure.
Google has actually constantly been quite hazy on any information about winning featured bits. This held true when they were initially presented, making them something businesses considered 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 perform the most comprehensive research around included bit optimization to uncover how they actually work, and what you can do to win them.
Exposing the highlights from a Featured bits study that examined over a million SERPs with highlighted bits present, this post unwraps actionable tips on amping up your optimization strategy to lastly win that Google prize.
General patterns across the featured snippet landscape.
With billions of search queries go through the Google search box every day, our study found that around 19 percent of keywords activate a highlighted snippet. Why does this even matter? Featured bits are known to drive greater CTR-- as another research study discovered, they are accountable for over 35 percent of all clicks.
Further proving the tremendous power of highlighted bits, our research study revealed that they use up over 50 percent of the SERP's property 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 activated by long-tail keywords (implying specific user intent), and you'll get the reason behind extremely high CTR numbers.
Are some industries more likely to set off highlighted snippets?
In the research study, we specified markets by keyword categories, discovering that, undoubtedly, included snippet volume is inconsistent throughout various segments.
The top market, seeing a featured snippet in 62 percent of all cases, is Travel and Computer & Electronics, followed by Arts & Entertainment (59 percent), and Science (54 percent), while Real Estate keywords drag all the rest with just 11 percent of keywords activating a featured bit.
included bit optimization insights on keyword classifications that trigger.
On a domain level, the industry breakdown differs slightly, with Health and News sites having equivalent highlighted snippet volumes.
You can find the complete industry breakdown within the research study.
Featured bits are everything about earns, not wins.
Just hoping your material will win you an included bit isn't enough-- as our study revealed, it's everything 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' logic.
Our research study found that 55.5 percent of featured bits were set Go to this site off 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 concerns. 29 percent of keywords setting off a featured snippet begin with concern words-- "why" (78 percent), "can" (72 percent), "do" (67 percent), and in the fewest cases, "where" (19 percent).
included snippet optimization insights on concern keywords that trigger.
2. Utilize the best content length and format.
The SERPs we analyzed consisted of four types of highlighted bit: paragraphs, lists, tables, and videos:.
70 percent of the outcomes showed paragraphs, with approximately 42 words and 249 characters.
Lists came in as the second-most-frequent highlighted bit (19 percent), with an average of 6 item counts and 44 words.
Tables (6 percent) generally included 5 rows and two columns.
Videos, whose average duration stood at 6:39 minutes, appeared in only 4.6 percent of all cases.
Naturally, don't blindly follow this data as the principle, rather see it as a great beginning point for featured-snippet-minded content optimization.
Plus, keep in mind that content quality always prevails over amount, so if you have a high-performing piece that includes a 10-row table, Google will just suffice down, showing the blue "More rows" link, which can even improve your CTR.
3. Do not overcomplicate your URL structure.
As it turns out, URL length matters in Google's choice of a website that deserves a highlighted bit. Try to adhere to neat site architecture, with 1-3 subfolders per URL, and you'll be most likely to win.
Simply for recommendation, 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 add a post date" issue, based upon our featured snippet analysis, we 'd recommend that you publish date-marked material.
The majority of Google's featured bits include a post date, with the following breakdown: 47 percent of list-type highlighted snippets originate from date-marked material, paragraphs-- 44 percent, videos-- 20 percent, and tables-- 19 percent of the time.
While fresh-out-of-the-oven content can be preferred by Google, 70 percent of all content making it into the featured bit was anywhere from two to three years old (2018, 2019, 2020), suggesting as soon as again that content quality matters more than recency, so you shouldn't worry that putting a date on it will work against you.