Types of Featured Snippets That Can Boost Your Website Traffic

Have you ever noticed those information boxes that appear on the right side of Google search results pages?

Those featured snippets can be a great way to directly answer users’ questions and drive more traffic to your website.

Featured snippets appear in approximately 12–13% of Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). Increased user engagement with your content directly results from having one of your pages chosen by Google as a featured snippet.

Read on, and we will explore the different types of featured snippets you may see on Google and how optimizing your content for each type could help more of your pages earn those coveted information boxes.

What Is a Featured Snippet?

When people search for information on Google, sometimes certain results will appear as a “featured snippet” above the regular search results. Featured snippets are short summaries that aim to directly answer the user’s search query without requiring them to click on a link.

Featured snippets receive an average click-through rate of around 35%.

By showcasing relevant text from a webpage in a featured snippet, Google is able to immediately satisfy the searcher’s information needs and help them find what they’re looking for faster.

Pages with content that does the best job of quickly answering the user’s question in a clear, concise manner have the highest chance of having text extracted for a featured snippet.

Getting your content selected as a featured snippet provides great benefits as it allows you to reach users right when they are most receptive—in the search intent moment. It can help boost your website’s visibility and drive more traffic from motivated searchers seeking instant answers.

Why Are Featured Snippets Important?

Featured snippets can significantly boost your website’s traffic and search visibility. By appearing directly on the search results page, featured snippets allow potential visitors to quickly find concise answers to their questions without having to click through to your website.

This convenience means searchers are more likely to interact with snippets than with regular links. With so many searchers opting to stay on the SERPs rather than visit websites, featured snippets give you a valuable opportunity to directly inform and influence searchers right when they need helpful information the most.

Another key advantage of featured snippets is that they help searchers get fast results. People increasingly want quick answers at their fingertips, so snippets that immediately address user questions are highly valuable to searchers and the websites featured.

For businesses, increased visibility in the SERPs can translate to a spike in qualified traffic that may not otherwise find your website.

Types of Featured Snippets

Paragraph Snippets

When users search for information on Google, they often don’t have the time or patience to click through multiple pages of search results. Paragraph snippets are featured snippets that summarize key information from a relevant section on your website.

Most featured snippets (around 70%) are in paragraph format, with an average length of 42 words or 249 characters. 

• To trigger a paragraph snippet, focus on a specific topic within your content and write concise yet comprehensive paragraphs about it.
• Google’s algorithms will scan your page for the most helpful excerpt to show searchers.
• Test different topics, paragraph lengths, and writing styles to see what works best for your content and target keywords.

With some testing and refinement, paragraph snippets can become an invaluable way to both answer queries and draw new visitors to your site. Taking the time to optimize your on-page content strategically for snippets pays off in providing value to searchers while gaining increased exposure and traffic for your business or organization.

List Snippets

Featured snippets are one way Google displays short answers or lists directly on the search results page. The snippets offer a unique chance for you to get an extra click from a user by briefly but perfectly answering their query.

Below are some of the most common types of list snippets you’ll be able to trigger for your content:

• Numbered lists: For instance, giving a numbered list of items efficiently answers “how-to” questions. Therefore, ensuring each item has a complete sentence structure is important.
• Bulleted lists: Similarly, bullet lists enable you to present more than one related idea or tip in a scannable format with no paragraphs for reading. The bullets should be succinct and organized according to themes, though.
• Ingredients or materials lists: Structuring the answer as a simple list facilitates its conversion into ideal snippet material, especially for questions regarding components, parts needed or ingredients. Additionally, add any relevant specifications or details to your list.
• Definition lists: These listings, which resemble mini-glossaries, consist of a term, a colon, and a brief definition. They can respond to inquiries about terms and their meanings. This type is convenient for readers desiring quick access to key terminologies on the subject matter. Furthermore, write short explanations under each term so your list becomes an information resource summary.
• Tabular data: If your information is organized into a small table or data set, Google may extract specific data cells as snippets.  This will require that headers and columns are clearly defined.

With careful consideration of common user queries and how to format the corresponding answers for scannability, lists offer great potential for capturing clicks and traffic from featured snippets. Testing different list types and structures helps refine the approach.

Table snippets

There are different formats for featured snippets depending on the user’s question. The most frequent type of it is called a table snippet, which provides information in a summary table. Questions that require categorized data, such as lists, data, and specifications, benefit from being presented this way.

Featured snippets outperformed standard organic search results by a margin of 42% in terms of click-through rate. 

• By presenting the information visually in a scannable table format, Google is able to answer certain types of questions very concisely.
• Some examples of the types of questions that may trigger a table snippet include queries about nutritional facts, specifications of products or services, lists of ingredients, part numbers, schedules, and timetables.
• The table snippet makes it easy for users to browse the key details at a glance without having to click through to your website.
• If your page contains valuable comparison data, specification lists, or any other information that lends itself well to a table, it has a good chance of being selected as a table-featured snippet.

Google is able to include extra data on the search results page by using a small table layout. Consequently, it will differentiate your webpage from others and attract more clicks as it answers directly to some of the frequently asked questions relevant to your content. However, for this snippet type, you need to ensure that the content in your table is well-optimized with respect to specific keyword phrases.

Video snippets

While text snippets are the most common type of featured snippet, video snippets have also been gaining prominence in search results lately. As people increasingly consume content in visual formats, video snippets provide searchers with a preview of your video content directly in the SERPs. This gives them a taste of your video and makes them more likely to click through to watch the full video on your site.

Of those who clicked on the featured snippet, 30% reported doing so because it contained helpful and informative text that addressed their search query.

Some tips for getting video snippets:

• Optimize your video titles, descriptions, and transcripts for relevant keywords.
• Keep your videos short; under 2 minutes is best for snippets. Include important details in the first 15–30 seconds, like your call to action.
• Make sure to add all relevant metadata, like tags.

Regularly publish new videos on your topic. Google loves fresh and engaging content. Consider linking to your videos from your blog and other internal pages. The more links and mentions your videos get, the higher their authority and chances of getting picked as snippets.

Conclusion

Featured snippets provide a great opportunity for websites to generate more traffic from Google searches. By optimizing your content for the different types of featured snippets through the use of headers, lists, questions and answers, and how-to guides, you make it more likely that your pages will be displayed in the coveted top spot on the search results page.

Also Read:

How to Optimize the Website for Google Featured Snippets (“Zero Position”)

How to increase odds of getting a featured snippet from Google

FAQs

What is the difference between featured snippets and rich snippets?

The main difference is that rich snippets provide additional information in search results like ratings, prices, or reviews, while featured snippets pull text directly from websites to show brief summaries.

What is the format of featured snippets?

The format of the featured snippet is when a typical search result’s format is inverted. Thus. Displaying the descriptive snippet first.

Are featured snippets good for SEO?

Yes, featured snippets are good for SEO. They help with SEO by displaying relevant information without clicking. This provides value to users by answering their questions directly on the search results page.

What are rich snippets also called?

Rich snippets are often also referred to as structured data.

What are the featured snippets on SERP?

On SERP, featured snippets are short summaries that are pulled directly from websites and displayed prominently for specific queries.