Click It or Snippet - Carney
The Daily Carnage

Click It or Snippet

Score featured snippets and appreciate the small things.

Q For You

Have you had success earning featured snippets on Google?

Be In The Know

Data-Backed Ways to Optimize for Google Featured Snippets

Google has all the answers. Well, at least it knows where to find them. The actual answers come from all the content writers and various contributors to the World Wide Web. So when it comes to displaying the answers to questions, Google puts the experts at the top. And what better way to show off this expertise than with a featured snippet?

Today, Search Engine Journal is showing us some data-backed ways to optimize for Google featured snippets.

  • Answer Question-based Queries. Snippets are a common source of answers for questions people have. This is why 29% of question-based searches show snippets in the results. Queries beginning with “why” showed a 77.6% chance of returning a snippet, while queries beginning with “can” showed snippets 72.4% of the time.
  • Date Your Content. We don’t mean dinner and a movie. Google uses a lot of content with dates in its snippet results. It also helps indicate the relevance of your content. 70% of the articles used in snippets were no older than 3 years.
  • Use Subfolders Sparingly. Snippets don’t tend to favor long URLs. A URL with 1-3 subfolders is the right amount. 0 subfolders would mean a snippet drawing from your homepage, which is an unlikely place to source snippets. After the 3rd subfolder, your likelihood of scoring a snippet drops off.
  • Combine Multiple Questions in One Article. Snippets allow for great opportunities for concisely answering a question on a given topic. However, if you’re able to answer multiple questions on the same topic, then answer those questions in the same article.

Other key findings to keep in mind:

  • 19% of SERPs have featured snippets.
  • 50% of a mobile screen is covered with a featured snippet.
  • 70% of snippets are paragraphs with an average of 42 words or 249 characters.

Keep reading for more data and insights around snippets.

Featured Snippets+ Tool

Featured snippets help searchers get to the heart of the questions they have. It’s prime real estate for your content to cut through the mix and quickly deliver answers. Check out the Featured Snippets+ Tool from Internet Marketing Ninjas to discover where you might have featured snippet opportunities.

This tool allows you to easily see competitors’ featured snippets, your own snippets, and keyword phrases that don’t currently exhibit featured snippets, but may hold opportunities. Determine which snippet formats Google prefers for certain keywords, then optimize accordingly.

The Small Things

The small things in life often make the biggest impact. You can plan the most extravagant party, or gift something elaborate, but it may still pale in comparison to a grilled cheese from mom or the memory of when your friend singed her bangs blowing out a birthday candle. (What a treasured photo it made!)

SodaStream affirms it is all about the small things with this ad. Snoop Dogg always seems to know what’s up, so take his word for it. Dropping hot tracks and saving turtles? We’re all about it.

Ads from the Past

1954, Waxed Paper Merchandising Council

“90% trust peers on social networks (even strangers); only 15–18% trust brands.”

Danny Brown

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