What is the search engine result listed above the organic Google search results? These are featured snippets, which Google added in 2014. And they can add significant value to your motorcycle website.
Next, featured snippets are also called “answer boxes“ since they aim to deliver searchers’ “answers” quickly. Another term for a featured snippet is “position 0” because it appears before the first organic result.
Seven Types of Featured Snippets
Below are seven different types of featured snippets:
- Paragraph-featured snippets (seen in the “Flying Merkel Motorcycles’ History” image below) account for 70% of answer boxes.
- List snippets (as seen in the “Old Motorcycle Manufacturers” image below) account for almost 20% of the answer boxes.
- Tables
- Video
- Rich Answer
- Tool or Calculator
- Accordion
Anatomy of Biker Featured Snippets
Below is the search result page for the “Flying Merkel Motorcycles’ History” search. Notably, the description-style featured snippet appears above search results.
Take another look at the “Flying Merkel Motorcycle History” image. Again, only the featured snippet and the first Google organic result are shown. Notably, the motorcycle website listed in the featured snippet differs from the website listed as the first organic result.
This is not uncommon, and I’ll explain why below. But obviously, you’d prefer your site to be the featured snippet rather than the first result.
Next, below is the SERP for the “Old Motorcycle Manufacturers” search. The list-style featured snippet appears above the organic Google results.
Another unique feature of these snippets is that they go directly to that section of your website when clicked. Also, you will see that the descriptive information appears above the URL and the page’s SEO title.
Featured Snippets Value
Often, featured snippets take up more space than a search result. So, if your site has this position, that one result is almost impossible to miss.
If your website also ranks first, it will take up most of the search results above the fold. Note that “above the fold” refers to the content you can see on your website before it scrolls down. More specifically, it is “above” the bottom of your screen.
Next, holding the top position enhances your site’s credibility. Also, there is some prestige to being featured as a snippet. Plus, the listing’s prominence adds extra branding value.
How Featured Snippets Are Selected
A new marketer should know you can’t buy the featured snippet. Instead, Google chooses them. One item that helps Google determine the featured snippet is your SEO.
In addition to high-quality SEO, your motorcycle website’s content structure also increases the likelihood of being featured in a snippet. The more your page is structured like a featured snippet, the better your chances of being one.
* 99% of the time, the answer box results are chosen from the first page (top-10 listings) (Searchenginewatch.com).
So, this opens the door for more sites to appear in the answer box.
Note that the first Google result is not always the featured snippet. Along with your SEO, Google also considers the following factors when determining whether and which web page appears in the answer box.
Optimizing for Featured Snippets
Below is how to improve your chances of your site being featured in a snippet. Since paragraph and list snippets account for almost 90% of featured snippets, I’ll focus on them.
* Only 19% of Google searches have answer boxes (SearchEngineLand.com).
So, your search services company or person should run a search to see if a particular query has a featured snippet. Then they should choose one of your pages that ranks highly for that phrase. Next, they can write content for your website that is better than the current snippet to try and take position 0. This is complex and another reason why your marketing department is invaluable.
Also, your website’s developer will need to add structured data. This helps Google better understand your page, improving your chances of getting the featured snippet.
Optimizing for a Paragraph Snippet
First, optimizing for a paragraph snippet helps if your webpage asks a question your target audience searches for. For instance, “What is a motorcycle jockey shifter?”
Then, below the question, you should answer it in 40 to 60 words. Note that the text should be concise, objective, and organized. Also, Google sometimes uses your meta description in featured snippets. The description area is another area where you can write content that follows the advice above.
Next, the majority of the descriptive snippets are long-tail keywords (searches with four or more words). After researching keywords, have your marketing expert target the valuable longtail keyphrases. In addition, it is important to A/B test your pages. You can take the one that ranks best and modify it to increase your chances of getting the featured snippet position.
Lastly, you can learn more about marketing 101 or other marketing topics on our blog. One important article is about how excellent client service can significantly improve your bottom line. Also, all articles focus on motorcycle world websites.
