Featured Snippet for International SEO search

The internet is a crowded space where it can be challenging to get your business noticed yet it’s only when your business features on search engines that you reap the benefits of the untapped customers nationally and internationally who have yet to discover your business. So now is a good time to harness the Google features that make being discovered online easier.

Google gives you tools; you just have to know how to use them

If you can rank high enough on search engines to feature in the first page results, have the keywords and phrases that make you stand out, then make it easy for visitors to discover more, then this can start to make a real difference to your business.

However, every business would be an online success if it were that simple, so businesses have to make ongoing concerted efforts to make that happen – but it can happen. Google ranking performance can take time to improve, but it won’t happen without some careful research, understanding your target market’s needs, then being able to answer their questions in a way that Google notices when it compares alternative websites. It takes time to understand how to make your site front and centre.

Make Google Snippets work for you.

Google Snippets are one feature that will get your content ranked and noticed. Google Snippets are one of the most relevant and valuable ways to feature on the front page of Google search results and convert searchers. Understanding how to create content that generates a snippet that works is crucial.

What are Google Snippets?

Google pulls website content directly to display on the search engine results page (SERP). This enables the audience and prospective customers to find what they need. Featuring high in the rankings with a snippet that brings in viewers to your site is the aim of the game. Once they land on your site, it must be ready with answers and clearly show them how to get what they want.

A Google Snippet is a few lines of text that appear under your website link when a user sees results for their search terms. But it is more complicated when you start to bring in rich snippets and featured snippets, so we seek to make it easier for you to harness the power of Google Snippets to harness SEO success.

Rich Snippets include additional information, often appearing in different colours, such as a star rating that could entice clients to click. Featured Snippets, or answer boxes as they are sometimes called, appear at the top of the SERP in larger font, giving searchers very specific answers to their queries. They are known to lead to an over 500% increase in sessions, so gaining a featured snippet is a great way to increase visibility and brand credibility.

Getting the best out of Google Snippets

There is a fine line between showing up in the search listings to entice customers to click through to your website and telling them all they need to know. It’s crucial to nail that fine line. Give enough to draw them in, but leave the whole story for once they click through to the website. Increasing your chance of getting your content in a featured snippet is a marketing tool that will undoubtedly increase organic traffic and brand awareness. The good news is it isn’t restricted to those with a huge marketing budget. It’s entirely possible to rank with organic content once you learn how.

CONVERSION RATE OPTIMISATION

A plan for Google Snippet Success

1.             Low-difficulty and high audience-relevant keywords

Research keyword difficulty (KD), an SEO metric that lets you know how hard it is to rank for specific search terms. Low KD scores tell you that your keywords are still there to be found. Low KD matters, as it’s virtually impossible to rank for keywords already in use by established brands. As a relatively new or unestablished web presence, you need to work with keywords ranking low and regularly check on the rating as metrics change all the time. Remember that longer, more specific keywords will be less competitive.

2.             Relevance

What is your audience’s goal? How relevant is your keyword to the audience’s pain points? Use terms pertinent to your target market’s location and/or culture when looking for keywords. Try and find existing featured snippets relevant to your business to discover what Google deems worthy of featuring and try to replicate it.

3.             Structure

Using the questions searchers are likely to ask to find your type of business in the H2 headlines on your website makes it easy to emphasise the importance to the Google crawler programmes. Once you have your keyword phrases lined up, create content that meets searcher’s needs, increasing the chances of Google pulling snippets from it to feature in the search listings.

4.             Consistency builds authority

Domain trust and authority are key ranking factors for any website, and winning featured snippets will take more than a one-time go. All of your content must be engaging, user-focused, comprehensive, and high quality. All of your content must answer the questions your target audience is asking if you are to win a snippet.

5.             Remember your end game

The goal of winning a featured snippet is to boost your business, so don’t forget to use it. Remember what it is that you want from the user. Once they click on your website, make sure you take them somewhere valuable that will lead to a conversion. Being ranked in the top organic spot is excellent in terms of your visibility, but that’s no use alone. You must ask yourself how this visibility brings you customers and tailor the click to build trust, brand awareness and calls to action that benefits your new visitors, leading them to want to purchase.

General Tips

User experience matters too, when it comes to Google snippets and rankings in general. If you want to know more about the importance Google places in its algorithms for mobile usability as a ranking factor, check out this article, you need to give mobile phone users a great experience too. Plus, make sure to incorporate search term keywords and phrases in your content naturally and relate to your target audience’s habits, ways of thinking, and needs to know. So, the answer lies in understanding your product or service so that you can sell it by answering the queries people ask. The better you answer their questions, the higher you will rank, gain a Google snippet and get customers onto your site regularly.

About Michelle Symonds

Established as an SEO specialist since 2009, following a career as a software engineer in the oil industry and investment banking. Michelle draws on her IT and web development experience to develop best-practice processes for implementing successful SEO strategies. Her pro-active approach to SEO enables organisations to raise their online profile and reach new audiences, both nationally and internationally. She has a wealth of cross-industry experience from startups to Fortune 500 companies .

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