Featured Snippets, or Answer Boxes, are formatted “card style” results from Google that provide users with succinct answers to search queries. The goal of Featured Snippets is to direct users to useful information quickly – reducing the need to skim content to pinpoint what they need. To create this type of result, Google pulls a short excerpt (snippet) from the ranking webpage’s content that it determines is relevant to the user’s query – no structured markup required.
Featured Snippets appear at the top of search engine results pages and stand out from other results – which can increase the visibility of the websites that rank for them. Ranking for Answer Box results requires you to structure your content in way that provides concise and straight-forward information, followed-up with additional details, all using a format that prioritizes clarity and easy readability.
To improve your chances of ranking for Featured Snippets, ensure your content does the following:
Featured Snippets are a great example of Google’s goal of showing users the best, most useful information. So when it comes to writing for Featured Snippets, it’s really helpful to put yourself in your audience’s shoes and ask yourself: What typical questions do users about your chosen subject-matter? Does your content answer those questions clearly? Is there more information your content should provide? By keeping that perspective in mind and using the above tips, you’ll be ranking for Featured Snippets in no time!