The Easiest Way To Rank In Google Position Zero (Featured Snippets)

Everyone knows Google is the giant of the search engine world, if you manage to rank on the first page of Google, you’ll reap the benefits of attracting highly relevant traffic.

But do you know, there is a position zero in the Google search results, and if you acquire this SERP space, you’ll get high exposure that shows you as an industry expert, which as a result develops trust in your potential customers?

Gone are the days when people used to search for the answer to their query by opening every search result. 

But now, things have changed and as for the vantage of the users, Google came up with the feature of “Google Position Zero” to show the direct answer to the query of the user as they search. 

And if you want your content to rank on Featured Snippets, you need to keep some points in mind and work accordingly. 

Before understanding the ways to rank in Google Position Zero or Featured Snippets, you must understand what it is.

What Is Position Zero?

A Featured Snippet or Position Zero is a column of the box that appears above the SERPs. It provides the answer to the search query by pulling out the most relevant and accurate content and showing it to the user. 

You can easily understand this through the image below:

When we searched for “How To Build A Strong Brand Image That Attracts People”, we got results in Featured Snippets by www.incrementors.com 

It is also called “Google Position Zero” because it appears at the top of SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) before the no.1. 

A Featured Snippet tells you the basics about the website content. To know more, you need to click on the website.

Now, let’s discuss Why Position Zero is so Important in Google Ranking.

Why Is Google Position Zero So Important?

When you compete, you need people to come and know about you. Moreover, purchase your products or services. 

To accomplish this, you want to stay competitive and deliver the best results possible.

That means you have to answer the user’s query and stay one step ahead of the competition.

However, Position Zero is beneficial in so many ways:

Higher Traffic

You should fill your content with appropriate data and factual information. Once your content is featured on Google’s Position Zero, it will remain in the same position even after the updates in the Google algorithm.

If your website already ranks on the 6 or 7 positions in Google ranking, the chances of generating traffic for your website are quite less compared to the position of Featured Snippet. 

According to a study, the Number one position gets 33% of search traffic, 

Getting featured on position zero will put you right at the top, above the SERP pages. 

More Clicks 

When your content is featured on position zero, your website is more likely to get more clicks than others.

If the Snippet is more eye-catching and answers directly to the query with accuracy, the chances are, your website will get more clicks. 

Because Google Position Zero is more visible than other search results, people are more likely to click on that page. 

That’s how it will enhance the impressions of your page. 

Read more: Ways to Get More Organic Traffic to Your Blog and Website

Brand Authority

If your content is always shown in “Featured Snippets”, the users will have an impression that you are an expert in the particular subject.

And it is even more impressive if you are using an inbound marketing strategy as it creates an impression about you having the authoritativeness about the topic.  

But in 2020, Google made one more announcement regarding Featured Snippets.

“A webpage that is shown in Google’s Featured Snippet will no longer appear on page one of the SERP a second time.”

Source: Seoclarity.net

Read more: How to Build a Strong Brand Image to Attract Your Ideal Customers

Types Of Google Position Zero You Need To Target

Now, we will discuss the number of Featured Snippets present there:

Paragraph Featured Snippets  

 It is already crystal clear from the name only. 

The search results come in the form of a short paragraph. 

This is one of the most common types of Featured Snippet.

Listicle Featured Snippets

The second feature is the Listicle Featured Snippets. 

It appears in the form of bullet lists or numbered lists. 

Table Featured Snippets

Then, it comes in the form of a table. 

Usually, it appears when we want to know the answer in the form of an Index. 

Google understands the intent of the searcher and then shows such results. 

Youtube Featured Snippets

Usually, the YouTube Snippet appears when we search for our query with the keyword “How To”. 

Ways To Rank In Google Position Zero:

Use SEO Tactics: 

If you are already aware of the SEO techniques, then this point will be so much easier for you to understand.  

The same SEO techniques are used for Featured Snippets. 

Let’s discuss each tactic in brief.

• The Structure of the URL: To make your content stand strong and appear in a Featured Snippet, you must have a clear, short, and perfect structure of URL.

• Meta Title: To make your content appear in Position Zero, one must optimize its Meta title under 60 characters. 

• Meta Description: you must use characters under 160 characters. 

• Image Alt Attributes: make sure you use descriptive alt text to describe your image and help Google understand what that image is about.  

• Link Building: it is used to make your content or website look more authoritative. 

• Schema MarkUp Tag: It is used for Google to understand what your page is about and recognize the other elements that your website or content contains.

Try To Answer The Query That Matches The Intent Of The User:

Before you write the content, you must understand the intent of the search user first. 

And then try to match your content with the query of the searcher. 

Because you want your content to appear on a Featured Snippet, you can classify your answer within 4 categories: 

• A Specific Answer
• A Brief Answer 
• A Comparison
• A Video 

A Specific Answer

As we can see in the image, we searched for “How to know if I am a good employee?”

And got the answer in the featured snippet. Now the question is; How did it happen?

It happened because the website creator or the content writer already understood the intent of the query that will come regarding the particular content.  

The content writer tried his best to be specific with his answer. 

That’s why they got their content in Google position zero. 

A Brief Answer

In this image, we can see when we typed a query “what is the importance of backlinks in SEO” and got a brief answer about what I want to know. 

It happened because the content writer knew somebody could search for this content with the query “why are backlinks important?” or “what is the importance of the backlinks” 

A Comparison

Here I searched for the “difference between iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 pro” 

Here the intent of the query was a comparison between the two models of the same brand. 

The content writer wrote the content while keeping this type of query in his mind. He wrote the content in comparison because he knew somebody could search this query in comparison mode. 

A Youtube Video Snippet

This happens when the search engine tries to resolve your query through the help of a YouTube video. 

Add Relevant And Eye-grabbing Images

Here in the image, you can see, there is a Featured Snippet related to applying makeup along with a picture. 

Now, the question is how did Google choose this content along with the image to show to the users?

And how can you optimize your content to appear on Position Zero along with an image?

Images actually play a crucial role in being featured in Featured Snippets. Your images must be real-life pictures or graphics made to enhance the experience of the user. 

Try to use them instead of Google Stock Images. 

It affects the placement on Position Zero. 

Have A Factual And Organized Content

For Position Zero, Google prefers Factual and Organized Content. Like, Steps, Numbers, and Lists. 

Try to write your content in a factual way without any detailed description as shown in the picture above. 

I searched for “Features of Audi A8” and got factual data about the car in the Featured Snippet. 

As you know, the Featured Snippet lists the bullet points, steps, numbering, and brief answers. 

So, try to be as factual as possible with your content. 

Do A Competitive Analysis

To be better than your competitors and get to appear on Featured Snippets, you must have a competitive analysis and then use further tactics and planning to appear on Position Zero. 

You can use tools like SEMRUSH to know your competition better. 

• Type Semrush in your search bar. 
• Click on it and sign up.
• Then, go to the SEO content template tool
• Type the keyword on which you want to rank higher; let’s say I took ‘designer watches’ 
• Here you’ll get an analysis of the Top 10 Competitors on that particular keyword. 

I searched for the competition in the keyword “designer watches”

And got the Top 10 websites ranking on this keyword. 

And then comes the whole analysis of all those websites. 

Finally, here are some recommendations for you. 

And if you follow those recommendations seriously, the chances of getting your content in the Top 10 lists are higher. 

And once your content ranks under 10, the chances of getting your content in Position Zero are even higher. 

Create Content Better Than Your Competitors

After you have the competitor analysis regarding your competition, now you have to write content better than your competitors. 

You need to follow those techniques that your competitors are not following. 

For doing this, you need to keep some things in mind: 

• Cover the basic information about your content in the short snippet that meets the users’ search intent. 
• Add statistical data, pointers, facts, and organized content. 
• Write in short sentences to improve the readability. 
• Write research-based content along with authentic sources. 

Use Semrush To Find Featured Snippets Ranking Keywords

You can use SEMrush to find out which keywords the Featured Snippets are ranking. 

Then, you can use those keywords for your content to get them ranked on Google Position Zero. 

Validate Your Content

When your content is ready, make sure your content meets all these points: 

• The factual and accuracy of the content.
• Content meeting the intent of the user’s query
• Keywords target
• A small snippet of your content in your article. 

Use Question Keyword In Your Headings Tags In Your Content

I hope you have already got what I am going to explain. 

You must use the Question Keyword in your Heading Tags to enhance your chance of getting featured in featured snippets. 

Use question keywords like, What, Why, How, When, Which, Who, Whose, Where, etc. if you use question keywords in your Title, the chances of your content ranking high in Google rankings.  

Such content has higher chances of getting featured in Position Zero. 

Conclusion

To sum up, I just want to say, getting featured in Position Zero is not as difficult as you think it is. 

You just need to follow the right technique and understand the nature of Google and the intent of the user’s searches. 

I have already elaborated on all the tips and tricks to get featured on Position Zero. Use them well and avoid black hat techniques as much as possible.