Data-backed insights on featured bit optimization
Around one-fifth of all keywords set off a featured snippet
99 percent of all featured snippets tend to appear within the first natural position and take over 50% of the screen on mobile devices, driving higher-than-average click-through rates (CTR).
The secret to included bit optimization lies in a few particular locations: long-tail- and question-like keyword strategy, date significant material that comes at the best length and format, and a succinct URL structure.
Google has always been pretty hazy on any details about winning highlighted snippets. This was the case when they were first presented, making them something businesses considered to be the cherry on top of their SEO efforts, which is still mainly the case. Having first-hand knowledge about the value and power of highlighted bits, Brado teamed up with Semrush to carry out the most detailed research around featured bit optimization to discover how they actually work, and what you can do to win them.
Revealing the highlights from an Included snippets research study that examined over a million SERPs with highlighted bits present, this post unwraps actionable recommendations on amping up your optimization technique to finally win that Google prize.
General patterns throughout the included snippet landscape.
With billions of search inquiries run through the Google search box each day, our research study discovered that around 19 percent of keywords set off a highlighted snippet. Why does this even matter? Included snippets are known to drive greater CTR-- as another study uncovered, they are responsible for over 35 percent of all clicks.
Further showing the enormous power of featured bits, our research study showed that they take up over half of the SERP's property on mobile screens.
Combine this with our findings that 99 percent of the time included bits take over the very first natural position, which they remain in most cases activated by long-tail keywords (suggesting particular user intent), and you'll get the factor behind extremely high CTR numbers.
Are some markets more likely to trigger featured snippets?
In the study, we specified markets by keyword categories, discovering that, indeed, included bit volume is irregular across various sections.
The leading market, seeing a featured snippet in 62 percent of all cases, is Travel and Computer System & Electronic devices, followed by Arts & Home entertainment (59 percent), and Science (54 percent), while Property keywords lag behind all the rest with just 11 percent of keywords activating an included snippet.
included snippet optimization insights on keyword categories that trigger.
On a domain level, the market breakdown varies somewhat, with Health and News sites having comparable featured bit volumes.
You can find the full market breakdown within the study.
Included snippets are everything about earns, not wins.
Just hoping your content will win you a featured bit isn't enough-- as our study revealed, it's all about hard-earned material optimization outcomes.
1. Enhance for long-tail keywords and concerns.
When it concerns optimization and keywords, utilize 'the more the much better' reasoning.
Our study found that 55.5 percent of featured bits were activated by 10-word keywords, while single-word ones only appeared 4.3 percent of the time.
One thing even much better than long-tails is concerns. 29 percent of keywords setting off a featured snippet start with concern words-- "why" (78 percent), "can" (72 percent), "do" (67 percent), and in the least cases, "where" (19 percent).
included snippet optimization insights on concern keywords that trigger.
2. Utilize the ideal content length and format.
The SERPs we analyzed included 4 types of highlighted snippet: paragraphs, lists, tables, and videos:.
70 percent of the results showed paragraphs, with approximately 42 words and 249 characters.
Lists was available in as the second-most-frequent highlighted snippet (19 percent), with approximately 6 product counts and 44 words.
Tables (6 percent) usually featured 5 rows and two columns.
Videos, whose average period stood at 6:39 minutes, showed up in only 4.6 percent of all cases.
Naturally, don't blindly follow this information as the principle, rather see it as an excellent beginning point for featured-snippet-minded material optimization.
Plus, bear 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 just cut it down, revealing the blue "More rows" link, which can even boost your CTR.
3. Don't overcomplicate your URL structure.
As it ends up, URL length matters in Google's choice of a site that should have a highlighted snippet. Attempt to adhere to neat site architecture, with 1-3 subfolders per URL, and you'll be more likely to win.
Just for recommendation, here is an example of a URL with three subfolders:.
xyz.com/subfolder1/subfolder2/subfolder3.
4. Make frequent content updates.
In the "to add or not to include a post date" predicament, based on our included snippet analysis, we 'd suggest that you publish date-marked content.
The majority of Google's featured snippets include an article date, with the following breakdown: 47 percent of list-type highlighted bits come from date-marked material, paragraphs-- 44 percent, videos-- 20 percent, and tables-- 19 percent of the time.
While fresh-out-of-the-oven material can be favored by Google, 70 percent of all content making it into the Discover more included bit was anywhere from two to three years old (2018, 2019, 2020), meaning as soon as again that content quality matters more than recency, so you should not fret that putting a date on it will work against you.