Just when you thought it was safe to enter the first position search result, a new competitor enters the ring. Click-through rates for pages that had been moved from position one to position zero-shot up by 114%, but how do you get there?
It is known by many names: position zero, the featured snippet, a no-click search result, or an answer box, and has been creeping up on the digital marketing world recently. For a long time, everyone has been focused on reaching the top spot on SERPs, and now comes along a competitor of more force…
So, let’s start by digging into what position zero is and why it holds so much power.
Position zero also referred to as the featured snippet, is small pieces of content displayed in a box above the regular results on a search engine result page but will always be below the paid adverts. Search engine users are looking for the answer to their query in the least amount of clicks possible and the content selected for position zero means they don’t have to do more than look at the SERP.
There are three main types of content that are more likely to be featured in position zero and these are, drum roll please paragraph-formatted, lists, and the carousel. These are all formulated to be short, snappy, and precise, with the click-through rates for websites with a featured snippet being the reward. The rate being two times greater than those not featured, so it isn’t something to sniff at.
The most common format of the four content types is the paragraph. 50% of all content in position zero is in this format. The length of the paragraph, somewhere between 55-60 words, means it fits into the box at the top of the page and is most optimal for the algorithm to recognize and pluck out. Lists are next with 37% of results and are separated into two distinct categories: bulleted and numbers. Finally, we have the carousel. These are bubbles at the top of the page and feature keywords, and once you’ve clicked on one, the results will change and become more refined.
Now, we come on to how you can reach this most sought-after position.
The first thing you should do is utilize all that knowledge we know you have on your target audience. By knowing what they’re looking for before they do, with your brand being the solution, you can customize your content to fit both the parameters of the position zero algorithm and the needs of your customer base.
When you’re customizing and creating this content, you can bring your knowledge of SEO and weave in long-tail keywords and specific phrases to make sure you stand out. More research will be involved here as you can find which keywords your customers are already using and find ones that have yet to have a position zero on their SERP.
If creating new content is not one of your main focuses, repurposing content will also help you land that above-top spot. Being sneaky and repurposing content that’s been posted already to your sites and pages and changing their format, like turning a blog into an infographic or creating an FAQ page, will be sure to improve your chances. There’s no doubt that your content is of the highest quality, so why not reuse it and reap more rewards?
Finally, you can save yourself and the algorithm time by formatting your content to the standards they’re looking for. The best thing you can do to make sure your content is plucked out from the rest is by doing the work for them, giving both the snippets system and the searchability for your customers seamless.
If reaching position zero feels far off, contact us at blazon and our team of creatives can help you create content that the algorithm will have no choice but to choose to feature.
Written by: