SEO experts fight for the top rankings in the search engine results and also for a position in the snippets. Attaining the position in snippet means to get two positions on the first page of SERPs that is amazing to improve the amount of organic traffic.
As we know, Google released a bunch of updates to purify the results and to provide relevant and useful content for readers. That’s why now it is announced that the link that is ranked over the snippet will never gain the other position on the first page of SERP.
This update reduces the number of organic visits on many websites, especially for websites with multiple positions on different keywords. Many SEO experts get upset from this update because of their efforts to get high rankings gone in vain.
Before this update, SEO experts or website owner’s fight for both positions at the same time, but now they have to fight one of them at a time. If you are looking for an SEO expert for getting rankings either in the listing or on the snippet, you can contact us for reliable services.
What Is Featured Snippet?
Featured snippets are text snippets from the websites and are appearing on the top of the search results on the first page. It usually provides a quick answer to searcher’s questions.
It is the priority of Google to provide more accurate and useful information in a short time; that’s why it offers snippets. It could be in any form, i.e., tables, definitions, lists, and steps, etc.
Snippets were considered as most important for getting more organic traffic because, in this way, websites can also get another position in the listings. But the 2020 snippet update stops the websites from getting another position in the listing.
What Is The Latest Snippet Update By Google?
Google released an important update about the rankings on the first page of search engine results as on January 22, 2020. In this update, Google reveals that the ranking on the snippet and listing puts an impression of repetition on the first page.
It was common for many known sites to get rankings on snippets as well as on the second position in the listing. If we consider snippet as the first position, then the top result in the listing is considered as the second position.
Snippet update implies a search result at Google from around the world. It affects websites from almost every industry. It is estimated that about 28% of duplications were found in the search results before the snippet update.
What Happens If A Website Loses Position In Snippet?
As per a statement from Google’s spokesman, to get the position at snippet, you have to gain the top rankings. In case you lose the snipped, that is the snippet, and you can get the second position in the listings.
Some people also argue to have a second snippet on the search page. Still, it is not suitable to provide refined results to users.
How Much Traffic Fluctuations Websites Have To Bear After Snippet Update?
Google said that this update doesn’t have a massive impact on organic traffic because it only eliminates the element of duplication. Rather than the duplication, it doesn’t affect the other ranking factors. Even video snippets are not covered in this update.
It is not a statistical update rather, and the websites that are ranked for snippet can get the top position on the second page of search results. It is the usual case, but it is not guaranteed to have the eleventh position always.
The primary purpose of the snippet update was to consider the snippet position as number one in the search result instead of number zero.
Before this, the total number of results appearing on the first page was eleven, including one snippet. But now snippet is considered as the number one position in the search results.
Types Of Snippet Feature
The primary purpose of featured snippets is to provide specific information, especially for questions asked by the searchers. Usually, three types of snippets are shown over the search page, but it could be in any form.
The following are the common types of featured snippets:
1. Paragraph Featured Snippet
It is the most common type of snippet that displays on the search results page. This type of snippet is beneficial to improve the click-through rate. Google looks for the answer of a specific answer and displays it in the form of a paragraph along with other engaging information.
That’s why Google always mention in the instructions that try to use various short questions in the content. For example, questions that start from who, which, what, and how to helps the search engines. Also, it is easy for the searchers to find relevant information with this method.
Some SEO experts argue against using questions in the headings. Still, if you insert the questions in the body of the content, you will get the benefit as well.
2. Numbered And Bulleted List
This type of snippet displays the information to complete a process of doing or making something in a step by step guide. Usually, searchers like to click on this snippet because they want some additional information along with related images.
It attracts the searchers by providing the information as per the intent behind the search term. It forces them to click on the link to read more about the process. For example, if you want to learn the complete SEO process, most probably, you click on the numbered list displays in the search results.
The bulleted list works similar to the numbered snippet and provides results about top or best lists. For example, search results of the keyword “the list of top Hollywood actors” usually displays in this type of snippet.
3. Table Featured Snippet
The table featured snippets that are famous for providing comparative results over the number of years or months. It usually displays in the form of a table showing the statistics about a specific product or growth rate etc.
For example, if you want to know about the growth rate of a particular brand over several years. You can see a table in the search results that displays the percentage of growth every year.
The table can be comprised of two or more columns depends on the type and availability of information.
4. Video Featured Snippet
The snippet displays in the search results can either be in the form of written content or the form of video. Google looks for the required information on all websites available over the internet, irrespective of the type of content.
Therefore, video snippets are also crucial if you want to rank your videos, especially on YouTube. Google looks for the accurate information in the description of the video, and in case it detects any similarity, it displays the video in the video snippet.
5. Carousel Snippets
Carousel snippets are the most exciting type of snippets that displays on the search page. In this type, some keywords display on the top or bottom of the snippet in the form of bubbles. With clicks on any of the keyword, the search results change, including snippets and listing results.
SEO experts argue that two-third of the keywords displays in the form of bubbles comes from the websites that get rankings in the listing from position two to ten. One-third of the keywords come from other websites that are not originally from the search results.
If you want to rank on the carousel snippet, try to discuss the topic thoroughly and provide detailed information about the topic. Because in-depth discussions help to provide the answer simply and easily for which searchers are looking.
6. Double Featured Snippets
As seems from the name of the snippet, Google displays two snippets for a single search term on the search page. But it is rare to display two snippets, and it happens in some exceptional cases.
The primary purpose of this type of snippet is to provide additional information in case the search can’t find sufficient information first snippet. Double snippets display when Google can’t understand the intent behind the search term. Also, it provides second snippets for keywords that have multiple meanings, interpretations, and definitions.
But dual snippet massively reduces the click-through rate of websites that are present on position three in the listings.
Conclusion
Snippet update was released to avoid the duplication in search results. Other than this factor, it doesn’t touch any other factor for ranking purposes.
Now, snippets are considered as first positions in the search results instead of zero. It helps to provide more useful results for search engine users.
