07. SERP Features: the fastest way to get your website to the top of 1st page on Google
In this post, I share with you my tips&tricks, step-by-step instruction and first-hand experience on how to win Features in search engine results and get to the top of 1st page. Let's dive in?
It’s well-known that mastering SERP features is quite a complicated process because of high competition.
Everyone wants their website to be clicked, huh?
In this post, I’ll gladly share with you my tips on how to overcome your competitors and write the Features that is going to bring you more organic traffic.
There are 16 types of SERP features known.
As SEO-expert with 6+ years of experience, I choose the following ones to target:
Featured Snippets;
People Also Ask (PAA);
Image&Video Carousels
Local Packs;
Reviews, Sitelinks and FAQ-rich results.
How to Choose the Type of Features to Win: My Experience
When my customer elaborates on his goals for the upcoming link-building campaign and includes winning SERP features, the first thing I do is check their website.
I pay attention to its authority and existing content.
When I see that website is well-optimized and looks like a good candidate for SERP Features - I choose the type to target.
Niche plays a key role here.
My previous customer - filmimpact.com - offers video editing templates on a subscription model.
The niche was video-related.
Without hesitation, we agreed on targeting Featured Snippets as there’s a high demand for quick answers on Google when you use video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro.
Link-building is the key to winning SERP Featured.
Why?
Simply because there’s the rule:
To get a chance to win Features, your page must be in the top 10 search results for the given query.
It must be ranked by a certain keyword on the 1st page of search engine results.
Therefore, you need to grow your pages by SEO metrics like Organic Traffic, Domain Authority, CTR, Keywords etc.
And it’s where link-building comes in handy.
If you need any help with building links - please, do not hesitate to reach out to me on any platform - here, on LinkedIn, or through my website.
Featured Snippets: What You Need to Know About Them
Featured Snippets are pieces of text taken from organic results and placed at the top of the search engine results page to answer the searcher’s question.
Long story short, your page needs to be properly optimized.
It involves on-page and off-page SEO.
If you work on both regularly, you’ll have a chance to rank for the snippet.
But keep in mind that when you reached the first page of the SERP by certain keywords - your work doesn’t end at this stage.
The next thing you need to do is to optimize your page even better - so it could be considered as a candidate for a snippet by Google.
Here are my tricks that will help you:
Put questions in the headline;
Place your answer to the question in the first line after the headline;
Write in precise and short sentences;
Use tables, lists, and add high-quality images.
How to Win Featured Snippets: Effective Four-Step Plan
As I mentioned before, your page must be on the first page of SERP as well as it must be SEO-optimized.
The rest can be done for ~15 minutes of work.
1. Google your target keywords and analyze the current snippet.
Pay attention to:
The number of words and characters;
Terms and words in bold;
Structure (list, table).
For example, you’ll have 5% - Video Carousels, 60% - Paragraph, 10% - List, 25% - Table.
We’ll need the most common type.
In our case, it is Paragraph.
2. Open the snippet and analyze it.
Check the placement of the snippet in the text and where it’s positioned (maybe after the Headline or at the very beginning of the article).
3. Use your findings to write your own Featured Snippet.
Include:
Length;
Position in the text;
Structure;
Tone-of-voice.
You can repeat the question at the beginning of the answer.
Q: What is the most popular language in the world?
A: The most popular language in the world is…
I also recommend you to bolden terms/words in your snippet.
4. Implement the change and wait for your win:)
It can take 2-4 weeks to see your results.
With you the best of luck!
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As you can see, it’s not that hard to win Features in SERP - the most complicated part of this process is to get to the first page of search engine results.
Again, if you need any help with that - you know where to find me:)
Have the best weekend ahead, guys!