by Shelley Magnezi | Apr 17, 2020
You may be wondering what those little boxes with information or videos are called at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) and how you can get your website to feature there.
Some of you have been writing perfectly valuable and informative content that interests and delights your audience, but your content is not in Google Featured Snippets. If you are one of those people who has an active blog rating in the first 10 places on Google Search Engine, this post is for you.
If you are not ranking in the first 10 places, then you will find lots of valuable information on how to boost your ranking.
In this post, we will discuss snippets, the main types of snippets that we see, how to optimize your website and content to appear at the top of the search results, and the criteria that Google search engine is looking for.
What’s a “snippet”?
The snippet is a single search result in a set of search results and generally consists of a title, a URL and a description of the page. The content of a snippet matches parts of the search query and you’ll see your keyword highlighted in the snippet description. Search engines often use pieces of your content to fill in the parts that make up the snippet. (Yoast )
The Google bot scans the websites and uses the data to formulate an index of information in the search engine. If your site is structured in a manner that the bot can easily process, there is a better chance of your website or social media properties being featured in the search results.
What’s a “featured snippet”?
A featured snippet works by pulling a short answer ranking 0 in the search results, directly into the SERPs, thus eliminating the need for the user to click on an organic search result. Featured snippets are a type of “answer box” or “rich answer. Since they are located on the most valuable piece of digital real estate – the top of the SERPs, they receive far more clicks and impressions.
“We display featured snippets when our systems determine this format will help people more easily discover what they’re seeking, both from the description about the page and when they click on the link to read the page itself. They’re especially helpful for those on mobile or searching by voice.” – Google
This is what a featured snippet looks like:
Google Featured Snippet: Paragraph type
The Google Featured snippet guide will provide you with detailed information regarding when the featured snippets are activated.
Note: Your content has to be ranked within the top 10 on Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
Why Featured Snippets?
More traffic, better brand awareness and more conversions…
Getting a featured snippet could get more people to land on your landing page and improve the sales of your products or visibility of your site. If you are not looking to improve your Click Through Rate (CTR) then consider whether it is worth investing the time in optimizing your page for a featured snippet.
Voice SEO
The importance Voice Search Engine Optimization has been discussed previously on this blog. With the increasing number of voice queries the importance of the featured snippet rises, since the voice query responses are pulled from the featured snippets. DBS Interactive claims that 1/3 of all queries will be Voice Search by 2020. Other studies claim that 50% of queries will be Voice Search.
Types of featured snippets
Here are the most common types.
- Paragraph
- Table
- Suggested Video
- Numbered List
- Bulleted List
Paragraph Featured Snippets
This snippet includes an answer given in the text. It can be a box with text inside or a box with both text and image inside. Often, they’re displayed alongside an image chosen from another source. Typically they answer the following types of questions:
- How To …
- Who is….
- What is…
- Why is…
Table Featured Snippet
These tend to answer questions on pricing, rates, and data that are displayed to the searcher in a table format.
If you have a page where the data needs to be presented in a table format, the search engines will display the content if it is coded as a table in html markup. You can also mark it with the dataset schema markup.
Example of a table Featured Snippet
Video Clips Snippets
Search engines can also answer specific questions using text from video descriptions and offers them as a response when the query is asking for an instructional tutorial or when the user might benefit from video content. Video results are also a form of featured snippet.
Justin from Briggsby offers a great guide on how to get your YouTube video to appear on featured snippets.
Numbered List Featured Snippet
It is a response to a How do I… type of query and the response is formatted in an HTML numbered list.
Numbered List Featured Snippet
Bulleted List
Essentially it is the same as the numbered list, but the order of the list is less important.
Bulleted List Featured Snippet
There are additional types of featured snippets that are less prominent.
How do you get started?
Google offers a rather cryptic guide to featured snippets since it merely informs the reader how to opt-out of having the content used for featured snippets.
If you are eager to learn how to optimize your post aiming to get a featured snippet, here are some tips:
How to get a featured snippet
Google and Bing search engines have different criteria, so content that appears on Google does not always appear on Bing. Google results tend to be more impartial.
1. Rank in the Top Page of Google
You must rank in the first top 10 pages on Google to get your featured snippet. This can be a challenge and involves some effort, like
- Follow good SEO practices
- The page should be mobile friendly
- Include good keywords,
- Inbound links from authoritative sources,
- Internal linking,
- Have an error free website,
- Load quickly,
- Use SSL, and
- Be built for humans, not only for robots or machines.
Here are some tools that can help you test your site:
2. Do keyword research and aim to respond to search intent
Your content must be perfect. Use E-A-T (Expertise-Authoritativeness-Trustworthiness) Principles to perfect your post. It should include factual data written for humans, that is supported by other resources. Do not stuff your posts with the keywords. Carry out Problem and Solution Search, not just keywords (Izzi Smith– Sixt Case Study). Make sure to answer all the questions that your target audience ask. Leave the user thirsting for more information so that s/he will click through.
Google uses a strategy called the Intent Matching Engine to discover whether users are finding what they are searching for.
Check the Search engine results pages to see how the SERP is formatted. In order to rank, you must offer the Best Answer. Check out the “People also ask” section. A lot of times you’ll find this section beneath a featured snippet to see what the intent is. This is a good resource for you to find out what users may be asking that you can answer.
Additional research tools to help you:
Moz’s Keyword Explorer tool
Answer the Public
Seed Keywords
Check Competitor Sites to see what they are ranking for. Perhaps you can discover another spin on your topic.
Simply ask your audience what they prefer to receive from you.
3. Create correctly formatted text at the top of the post for the featured snippet.
The text should emulate what an abstract does for a scientific paper. That text should contain a clear answer to a question in 40-60 words. SEMrush analyzed nearly 7 million Featured Snippets. And they found that the most Featured Snippets are 40-60 words long
4. Markup your content correctly
Markup your content correctly with HTML markup so that the bots can understand what you have. Correctly mark headers, lists, bullet points and include a description of your images. Also use dataset schema markup. And Schema.org markup so that the robots can understand what you are presenting.
5. Pick good original images
Generally speaking, use high quality images that have been compressed for viewing on a web page, be appropriate for the topic discussed, and be of a 4:3 aspect ratio. Remember to fill out the title and Alt Text when you load the image. This is the data that the bots use to know what your image portrays. Here is Google’s guide.
Here’s more about image optimization.
6. Include a Q& A section on your website
Research related keywords and include those questions in a section on your site dedicated to the topic.
What are the search engines like Google looking for in the Snippet?
They want a specific response to the users question so that in many cases, he would not need to click in order to find the answer.
In order to rate, the content must “Fully Meet” the criteria:
-
The user is clearly looking for a specific webpage or website and the result block with the specific webpage or website Fully Meets the user’s need.
-
The user is trying to complete a device action and the result block accomplishes the desired request.
-
The user is looking for a very specific fact or piece of information and the result block provides the information immediately, thoroughly, accurately, and clearly. No other results would be needed.
Before using the Fully Meets rating for queries seeking a very specific fact or piece of information, you must check for accuracy and confirm that the information is supported by expert consensus where such consensus exists. – Raterhub
How long will you keep the Featured Snippet?
It seems that the ranking is pretty unpredictable. Also you cannot track it from Google Search Console. You will need an SEO tool like Ahrefs or SEMRush to be set up to track that.
Google has indicated that Featured Snippets will be around in the near future and Bing is also testing this feature.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post about SEO. I am inspired to write about topics that will help your digital visibility and use questions that you ask. If you have found this article valuable, please
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by Shelley Magnezi | Jun 5, 2018
What are the most important aspects for building a website that you should include regardless of the platform that your site is build on? We build websites in order to promote our content whether it is personal or business related. What are the most important elements to promote site traffic?
Since Google Search Engine created the mobile first index, websites that are not responsive can only be found on the desktop index.
2. Speed
A site that loads within 2 seconds is essential so that users stay on your page instead of moving onto the next search result on the page. One of the elements that can speed up a site is caching. Caching allows you to serve compressed and cached files to your visitors. This reduces the load on your server and your website becomes faster. Another is Image Optimization.
Having software on the site that protects it is insufficient if you don’t read the warnings.
(more…)
by Shelley Magnezi | Apr 5, 2017
Do you use visuals on your social media? What about video or animation?
The gif pronounced jif, is a short loop of images. It has been around for some time and only gained traction recently with other forms of visual animation such as slide shows. The user may be scanning hundreds of items of content in her feed and a moving image or video is more likely to attract her attention.
What are the best tools to create visuals and how can we find existing gifs?
Here is a great resource from Social Examiner that explains what resources are available and the optimal gif frequency in our Social media posts.
by Shelley Magnezi | Jan 28, 2017
The number of do it yourself websites has expanded like a mushroom cloud. Large companies and even smaller agencies offer plans where a user with no prior programming experience can set up a website using their software. Although some software includes images, it does not prepare the user for inserting appropriate images.
“ The soul never thinks without a picture.”
A striking photograph can enhance your brand and express emotions. Poor graphics and images can impair the quality of the site. It is preferable to include high quality stock photography to grainy and blurred photographs or personal pictures.
There are two categories of images: Images with story appeal and Images which demonstrate. An image with story appeal evokes curiosity and triggers the reader to read the post. It should be placed at the top of the post. Images that demonstrate create a visual explanation of text on the site or are used to simplify an explanation. Included in this category are charts, before and after pictures and product images. These visual elements can be used to boost your SEO and attract more visitors to your site. Selecting an appropriate image relevant to the content is only part of the required effort. The other part is having a clear grasp of file formats, size, and optimization.
A few guidelines
1) Images slow down the time that it takes a page to load. In order to justify the time, they should be superb, highly relevant and optimized for the space that they take up on the page.
2) Captions are read more than copy – according to Kissmetrics .
3) If there is a long article, a visual is a good way to break up the space
4) Many users scan headlines and images without reading text.
Using the correct file format:
The file formats mostly used on web are jpg, gif and png. If your file is in a different format, you will need to convert it. On Windows, I use Microsoft Office Picture Manager.
Best image online editors:
Image file formats for web
.jpg
A pixelated jpg
.jpg is the format preferred by photographers. It uses an algorithm to compress the image whilst maintaining the balance and quality of the image. However, compressing it also degrades the quality and removes the details, so it may be advisable to save a copy of the original image. Excessive compression causes distortion viewed as small checkered patterns on the image known as “jpeg noise”. Different photos need different compression so attempt different compressions whilst viewing the result in order to achieve a usable photo with a small file size.
.gif
GIF is the older format adopted by the original designers of the World Wide Web for flat color graphics. It was created in the 1980’s and is pronounced ‘jif’ as in ‘jiffy’. GIFs are less
.gifs have a smaller color range and are good for logos and icons
popular due to the fact that they can accommodate a smaller color range, but are still are popular for their ability to save multiple frames within a single file. This allows one to make an animation which is still gaining popularity. Limit the use of these files in a web site since reading the text can be interrupted by the movement on the screen.
via GIPHY
GIFs compress color well without losing data or distorting the image. In addition they allow us to set one color to be transparent which can be very helpful when placing graphics over a colorful or photographic background or for logos. Compressing a photo using a .gif means switching from many colors to a few colors and can lead to a grainy look known as “dithering”. Gifs are good for logos, diagrams and infographics.
.png
.png files show opacity and allow transparent backgrounds. The grey squares indicate a transparent background.
The PNG file is relatively new and created specifically for web purposes. . Animated pngs (MNG, for Multiple-image Network Graphics or APNG, for Animated Portable Network Graphics) are superior in quality to gif animations due to their cleaner, brighter, vivid images with cleaner edges and transparency options. However, due to the fact that they are poorly supported, the files degrade to static PNG images on clients with no support. Aside from the animation feature pngs have replaced gifs in all other respects, since they support a large range of color depths, and different levels of transparency. Pngs are excellent for line art, text, and logos—images that contain large areas of homogenous color with sharp transitions between colors. They can also be used for photographs and are good for backgrounds; however the file size is larger than for a jpg file.
Which kind is best?
It depends…
jpg – good for photos. Cons – may cause loss of detail
gif – good for line art, logos, images with solid areas of the same color and animation. Poor for photographs.
png – good for both photographs and line art. Good for compressing photos without losing detail. Con is that the photo files are larger than jpg files.
What do you prefer?
Using the correct file size
File size refers to the amount of space that the file occupies on a storage device. The smaller the file size, the faster it will load on a website. It is important to determine who is viewing your web page and their location. Some users have slower internet connections, older devices or are using their phone. If the image takes too long to load, they may abandon the site. Google recommends a maximum load time of two seconds.
Photos taken using a mobile device may be very large. The question is whether we need to load such a large image? If the user needs to wait more than 2 seconds because of that image, he could abandon your site. As of July 2018, the time that it takes for a mobile site to load will be a ranking factor on Google Search Engine.
Resolution
One of the ways of reducing file size is by reducing resolution. If you enlarge a photo, you may notice that it is comprised of little squares. Each square is known as a dot and the resolution is measured in dpi (dots per inch). Most computer monitors will display a maximum of 72dpi so having a resolution higher than that will only serve to increase the file size. (If you have a resolution of 72 dpi and your image is 6 inches wide, then your image will be 72 x 6 = 432 pixels.)
Most desktop monitors are at least 1,280 pixels (px) wide. Some may have very large monitors – 1,920 px, 2,560px or even larger.
WordPress defines default image sizes as follows:
- a Large version (default 600px)
- a Medium version (default 300px)
- a Thumbnail (default 150px)
I usually load the image files onto my site at the maximum size that they will display. (If I am designing for desktop, then a quarter of the screen will be 1280/4=320px wide). Loading a larger file means that it will be resized by the browser and the time it takes for the page to load will increase. If you make the image too small and it is being viewed on a larger screen, the quality will be blurred and pixelated. (The best bet is to look at your analytics report to see what size screens your visitors are using.)
There are tools for analyzing web pages and testing page speed and they will generally give a report on which images should be compressed in order to enhance page loading speed.
Best resources to optimize images:
• TinyPNG For compressing jpg and png files online
• Imagify (online, free & paid options)
•Image Compressor. This tools allows you to compress both jpeg and png files. (Link contributed by Victoria Andreina).
• ImageOptim ( Mac)
• PNG Gauntlet (Windows)
• Trimage (Linux)
• More here from Mashable
The eyes of the subject should be 2/3 of the way up
Cropping
In many cases, the image available has a lot of irrelevant background and cropping it would help to focus on the important part. When cropping, remember to leave some space around the element in focus and don’t place it dead center. People or subjects are more appealing when placed off center. I am forever grateful to Kylos Brannon for teaching me about the rule of thirds in a cellphone photography workshop. The rule of thirds in photography divides the image horizontally into 3 strips. The frame of the picture should be divided into 9 like a tic-tac-toe frame, and the objects should be aligned along the lines. They need not be aligned dead center. They can be off a little, but using this technique creates better images in photography and can also be used when formatting images for web pages.
Alt text and title text
Screenshot of Google Lunar New Year Alt Text
Sometimes the link to an image is broken and the only clue that the reader has to the image is the alt text. The alt text is also used by visually impaired people to read your post. As mentioned in Wikipedia : “In situations where the image is not available to the reader, perhaps because they have turned off images in their web browser or are using a screen reader due to a visual impairment, the alternative text ensures that no information or functionality is lost.” Be sure that your alt text includes the relevant keyword and relates to your image. Google places a high value on the alt text to determine what the image is portraying, and also to determine the text content adjacent to the image.
Resources
Finding images on the internet is easy. Copying or downloading images without verifying the licensing can expose us to exorbitant legal fees in the form of copyright infringement penalties. Paying for a royalty free service like Shutterstock is well worth the investment. Be mindful that the same business photos of people shaking hands that you are downloading from Shutterstock are being universally used in thousands of websites. Where possible get professional pictures of your business, or use your own images.
” A copyright troll is a person or company that enforces copyrights it owns for purposes of making money through litigation, in a manner considered unduly aggressive or opportunistic, generally without producing or licensing the works it owns for paid distribution.”
For further information on copyright see What every website owner should know about copyright trolls.
Here are some of the best free stock picture sites:
If you are interested in other resources check Pinterest. Always check the licensing policy before you download. Some artists expect you to attribute their work on your site in exchange for the picture.
Conclusion
High quality images and photographs will set your website apart and make it unforgettable. In order to maximize this tool, remember to prepare your image by selecting the appropriate file format, size and image resolution.Crop and resize as necessary to focus the subjects. Find the balance between a good image and small file size so that the website looks great and loads quickly.
