How I Got My Content To Google Featured Snippet

byShaneWB

520 followers

Updated 6 years ago

I was randomly checking some keywords that I had previously targeted and found that one of my blogs was being featured as a Google Featured Snippet so I thought I’d share what set this blog apart from others.

What Is A Google Featured Snippet?

Have you ever wrote a question in Google? Chance are, the first Google result is actually a featured snippet. For example, if I type “how to tie a tie” into Google, I get the following result:

This is a Google Featured Snippet.

How Did I Get My Content To Rank As A Google Featured Snippet?

Well, to be honest, I’m not exactly sure... but I will go through the points that I believe helped.

1. I answered a specific question

The query that my content was a featured snippet for is “how many Australians own an investments property?”

If your content answers a very specific question in an easy to consume format then I believe you are more likely to be featured by Google.

For example, if you’re answering a question, do it succinctly. If you’re teaching how to do something, structure your content in a numbered list. If your listing categories of something, use bullet points.

2. Link to authoritative sources

To acquire my answer, I researched data available from the Australian Tax Office (ATO), which is a large government organization.

In my blog, I linked out direct to the ATO data so that people could check it out themselves. I also used a table from the data and cited the source of the table.

If we think about it, an organization like the ATO probably aren’t the best at producing content that’s easy to consume, so it’s an opportunity for us to take their data and make it ‘better’ for our audience.

3. Answer In Multiple Format

I have no idea whether this influenced it or not, but I have a hunch it did. As soon as I noticed a bit of traffic heading to the blog, I filmed a YouTube video discussing the question and providing the answer. I then embedded this video on the blog page.

Final Thoughts

I have heard of a strategy where you actually seek out “weak” featured snippets in your niche, then produce a “stronger” answer. This will increase your likelihood of being featured in Google as a trusted answer.

Let me know below whether you have any thoughts or have had any success in getting your content into Google Featured Snippets.