Move aside #1 rank... there is a new cowboy in town and his name is position zero. Here we will explain what position zero is and four reasons why your content and SEO strategy should focus on earning this position.
What is Position Zero?
Position zero is more popularly referred to as a featured snippet. Featured snippets are found at the top of the search results page and display a snippet of the content that more directly answers a query. Featured snippets come in several formats such as lists, tables and videos but the most popular is paragraph (below). You’ve likely seen these types of featured snippets often:
Why marketers should invest in zero-click searches
Increase traffic and brand visibility
When first introduced, marketers were concerned that snippets would hurt traffic because users would not click through to their site. This hasn’t proven to be true: featured snippet can actually increase visits and click-throughs.
Large, eye-catching amount of real estate on SERP
The search results page used to be a simple list of blue links. Now the page is filled with different results: blue links, featured snippets, ads, “people also ask”, images, local packs and video carousels (just to name a few), all competing for your attention and click. Given how the search page has evolved, you begin to understand that occupying a large percentage of above-the-fold real estate is important in generating clicks.
Rapidly increasing amount of featured snippets
According to recent data, 23% of all search result pages include a featured snippet. That initially may not seem like much, but that total is up over 165% since 2016. The increase in featured snippets is a strong indicator that these types of results are valuable to the user. That is Google’s main objective—deliver the best answer for a user’s question. As more snippets become more available for search queries, so is the opportunity to improve traffic and brand visibility.
Featured snippets are results on voice searches
Have you recently asked Siri or Alexa a question? You are not alone. An eMarketer study estimates that 39% of U.S. internet users operate a voice assistant at least once a month. This is why voice search is one of the fastest-growing types of search. One characteristic that makes voice search different from traditional search is that voice results are prompt and to the point. This direct answer is like featured snippets which is why voice results are often pulled from featured snippets.
It’s easy to see how a position-zero result can be a boom to your SEO efforts. But how do you earn it? The simple answer is the same key for all other SEO success: create and structure strong content that is focused on answering the user’s question. Check here for more specific tips and in-depth SEO resources.
