What Is A Featured Snippet?

Date First Published: 8th December 2022

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: SEO

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 5/10

Learn more about what a featured snippet is in this article.

A featured snippet is a short snippet of text that appears right at the top of Google's organic search results to quickly and clearly answer a searcher's question. Google often pulls the featured snippet out of one of the top search results that are relevant to the searcher's query and the snippet does not have to rank number one on Google. Even though it is possible to opt websites out of featured snippets using the nosnippet tag, pages cannot be marked as a featured snippet as Google's systems automatically determine whether a page would be a suitable featured snippet for a searcher's query.

Featured snippets result in an increased organic click-through rate without higher Google rankings. If a website owner manages to get their content into a featured snippet, it will greatly boost their organic click-through rate. Most people click on a featured snippet as it often gives them the answer they are looking for and it is right at the top.

Note:

Featured snippets are not limited to snippets of text. Search engines may also show images and videos.

Note:

Some SEO experts refer to the featured snippet box as 'position #0' because it appears above the #1 spot.

Types Of Featured Snippets

Featured snippets can come in a variety of types, including:

• Definition box - This is a snippet that is designed to give searchers a clear definition or description. It only contains text. When searching for the definition of a word, Google may show a definition box.
• Table - This is a snippet that contains pulled out data from a page and is displayed as a table.
• Ordered list - This is a list of ordered items presented in a specific order. When searching for steps on how to do something, Google may show an ordered list featured snippet.
• Unordered list - This is a list of items that do not need to be presented in a specific order. When searching for a list of keyword research tools, Google may show an unordered list featured snippet.
• Video - This is when a video appears right at the top of the search results to answer the searcher's question. It is estimated that only 4.6% of featured snippets are of the video type.

How To Optimise For Featured Snippets?

Although it is not possible to opt in for a featured snippet, website owners can increase the chances of their content coming up in featured snippets by following the tips below:

• Answer each question clearly without waffling.
• Pay attention to on-page SEO.
• Keep content accurate and up-to-date.
• Use bullet points and numbers to represent lists of information as these are more readable.
• Use titles and headings.
• Write important information as text rather than embedding it into images and videos as search engines cannot read and display embedded text on the SERP.
• Keep the main answer to the question no longer than 50 words as featured snippets allow for 40-50 words of text with no more than 300 characters.
• Use multimedia, such as images, audio, and videos, to represent information.
• Focus on optimising for long-tail and specific keywords as these most commonly appear in featured snippets and have a lower keyword difficulty.
• Carry out keyword research to find out any competitors and how easy it is to rank on the first page of Google as only a result in the top ten can appear as a featured snippet.

Why Might Featured Snippets Be Removed?

Google's automated systems are designed not to show featured snippets that don’t follow their policies. However, since Google is such a big search engine, they also rely on reports from their users, which can help improve their search algorithms. Google can also manually remove featured snippets. The following types of content are not allowed on featured snippets:

• Dangerous content
• Deceptive practices
• Harassing content
• Hateful content
• Manipulated media
• Sexually explicit content
• Violence and gore
• Bad language and profanity

Difference Between Featured Snippets and Rich Snippets

Some people confuse featured snippets with rich snippets, but they are quite different. Featured snippets are pulled out of the webpage and appear right at the top to answer the searcher's question, whilst rich snippets can appear anywhere in the search results and are enhanced organic search results that contain extra features. The extra features that they have to the other search results could be structured data, such as the star rating, price information, date recorded, genre, release date and more, but they do not have a box around them and are not set apart from other search engine listings.