How To Rank Our Featured Snippet - What Changes Are Needed On Our Page?
-
I've read a number of articles that have been helpful, but most of them are specifically still just trying to prove the value of the snippets and more recently show you how to find what search terms to rank for. What I'm really struggling with is exactly 'How do we rank for them, when we already have the #1 position and the featured snippet is going to another site'? Let me break this down a bit more:
1. We are measuring the 'SERP Features' within Moz Pro Tools and I've identified ~300 pages where there is a 'Featured Snippet' but I don't have the feature.
2. In a good portion of these, I'm outranking the site that has the 'Featured Snippet'. So I can compare my site, side by side to the 'Featured Snippet'.
Now that I have the question, my ranking and the competition all in front of me. What changes are recommended I implement on our page? Is there a recommended process to follow?
-
HI,
There are a couple of other articles worth having a look at that if you haven't already:
https://moz.com/blog/what-we-learned-analyzing-featured-snippets
https://moz.com/blog/game-of-featured-snippets-how-to-rank-in-position-0
Both mention what kind of content is likely to make itself 'snippable' for a variety of featured snippet 'types.
It depends to a large degree on what kind of results are showing for the queries you are looking at. I have found tabular and list structures to work well for some best/top type queries I have looked at in the past. In some instances google will interpret list type data from non html list structure so you could (for example) simply put numbers (1,2,3 etc) in front of your list of things without actually using an html list format. Your developer would be able to advise further on this, but most cms systems have lists and tables built in so if the content you have makes sense to be in a list or table format - try it out!There is a tip in one of those articles to try updating your page and then submit it through google search console for immediate results. I am not sure if it works all the time but I have seen some cases where we updated content and had a featured snippet result 5 minutes after submitting through search console. I am not saying to redo content again if you do not see results so fast, but in some cases it can give you an idea that you are on the right track and that the content is in a format that triggers the snippet.
Hope that helps!
-
Awesome, thank you Lynn! I did have a chance to review each of these post prior to posting my Q&A, but I didn't feel they answered the question directly. I guess I need to openly admit I'm not technical, so I guess I'm missing what isn't being spoken about. I wouldn't really know the different types of 'html formatting' per se. Is there a best practice resource that I should start to look through, where I can pass onto our developer and have him apply to the site? Thank you!
-
Hi,
In my (limited) experience with featured snippets I have found that an important step is analyzing what kind of html formatting is currently winning the snippet and try to recreate or better that in your own formatting. This can be tough depending on the snippet (I have seen some pretty crazy snippets that make you say 'huh?'), but often times tabular and list type formatting can work. If you are ranking well for the queries already then a refresh of your content/code might well bring the results you want. There have been some great articles on featured snippets recently on moz, check them out!
https://moz.com/blog/featured-snippets-from-start-to-finish
https://moz.com/blog/ranking-zero-seo-for-answers https://moz.com/blog/featured-snippets-a-deadsimple-tactic-for-making-them-stick
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Webshop landing pages and product pages
Hi, I am doing extensive keyword research for the SEO of a big webshop. Since this shop sells technical books and software (legal books, tax software and so on), I come across a lot of very specific keywords for separate products. Isn't it better to try and rank in the SERP's with all the separate product pages, instead of with the landing (category) pages?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Mat_C0 -
How will canonicalizing an https page affect the SERP-ranked http version of that page?
Hey guys, Until recently, my site has been serving traffic over both http and https depending on the user request. Because I only want to serve traffic over https, I've begun redirecting http traffic to https. Reviewing my SEO performance in Moz, I see that for some search terms, an http page shows up on the SERP, and for other search terms, an https page shows. (There aren't really any duplicate pages, just the same pages being served on either http or https.) My question is about canonical tags in this context. Suppose I canonicalize the https version of a page which is already ranked on the SERP as http. Will the link juice from the SERP-ranked http version of that page immediately flow to the now-canonical https version? Will the https version of the page immediately replace the http version on the SERP, with the same ranking? Thank you for your time!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JGRLLC0 -
Will using my Homepage as a KW target improve my Inner page Ranking?
Hello your help please! I have 2 KWs that i have targeted Inner pages for and they have got them to page 2 in SERPs, but now its getting difficult to move them up to page 1. Will targeting the home page with a higher authority, for the same terms, help or hinder the inner pages current position? Many Thanks Ash
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | AshShep10 -
Interlinking from unique content page to limited content page
I have a page (page 1) with a lot of unique content which may rank for "Example for sale". On this page I Interlink to a page (page 2) with very limited unique content, but a page I believe is better for the user with anchor "See all Example for sale". In other words, the 1st page is more like a guide with items for sale mixed, whereas the 2nd page is purely a "for sale" page with almost no unique content, but very engaging for users. Questions: Is it risky that I interlink with "Example for sale" to a page with limited unique content, as I risk not being able to rank for either of these 2 pages Would it make sense to "no index, follow" page 2 as there is limited unique content, and is actually a page that exist across the web on other websites in different formats (it is real estate MLS listings), but I can still keep the "Example for sale" link leading to page 2 without risking losing ranking of page 1 for "Example for sale"keyword phrase I am basically trying to work out best solution to rank for "Keyword for sale" and dilemma is page 2 is best for users, but is not a very unique page and page 2 is very unique and OK for users but mixed up writing, pictures and more with properties for sale.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | khi50 -
Blog home page and ranking
My question is in regards to ranking a blog under our domain www.xxx.co.uk/blog If we are targeting pc blog should the home page have some content in the side bar or somewhere that stays there contantly.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BobAnderson0 -
Worth contributing articles to a Page Rank 1 site?
My intuition tells me that it is not going to help with any SEO link benefit by posting an article as a guest writer on a Page Rank site of #1. It's a rather new fashion content site. The article would be informative and not a sales pitch. The only link is to our url home page in the bio. I've been told that links from low page ranking sites don't help anymore. But maybe over time the site will achieve higher PR status, and then the link in it would help us? Any thoughts? Thanks! ron
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | yatesandcojewelers0 -
Bing and Yahoo Ranks work, google ranks not happening
Bing and Yahoo Ranks work, google ranks not happening please help
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Djdealeyo0 -
Meeting Google's needs 100% with dynamic pages
We have bought into a really powerful search, very exciting We can define really detailed product based 'landing pages' by creating a search that pulles on required attributeseghttp://www.OURDOMAIN.com//search/index.php?sortprice=asc&followSearch=9673&q=red+coats+short-length Pop that in a link Short Red Coats on a previous page and wonderful, that gives a page of short red coats in price ascending order, one happy consumer, straight to a page that meets their needs Question 1 however unhappy Google right? Question 2 can we meet Google's needs 100% with a redirect permanent in an .htaccess file E.G redirect permanent /short-red-coats/ http://www.OURDOMAIN.com//search/index.php?sortprice=asc&followSearch=9673&q=red+coats+short-length
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | GeezerG
Many thanks
CB0