What is a Google Snippet?

Google Snippets are one of the most important features of search engine optimization (SEO). Google will pull content directly from your website to display on the search engine results page (SERP) so that prospective clients will find the information they’re looking for without clicking on your website. In this article, we will discuss what a Google snippet is, and how to use them effectively for your business. We will also cover certain types of Google snippets, like rich snippets and featured snippets, and how they can impact your Google search ranking.

What is a Google Snippet?

Every result on Google will include a snippet, or a small block of text that appears underneath the link to the website. Usually, Google snippets tell a prospective client everything they need to know about that specific web page. A snippet will answer questions about the specific search or include a call to action. Snippets are incredibly useful for promoting your website’s click-through-rate, or CTR. The higher your CTR, the more traffic you’re driving to your site. 

Aside from regular text snippets, there are also rich snippets and featured snippets. Rich snippets will include another piece of information, like a star rating, which entices potential clients to click through. Featured snippets are the holy grail of snippets. Often called “answer boxes,” they appear at the top of the SERP in larger text with very specific information about your query. According to one study, featured snippets can lead to an over 500% increase in sessions!

Why are Google Snippets Important?

When a prospective client searches for something on Google, they want to know about a website before they visit it. Google snippets are the first piece of content a prospective client will read, so it’s important to make a good first impression. Furthermore, a good snippet will lead to increases in your SEO ranking as your website’s pertinent information will appear higher in the rankings. 

As mentioned above, featured snippets can lead to a 500% increase in sessions. According to that same article, the CTR nearly quadrupled during the time in which that website held the featured snippet. If you want to see a huge increase in CTR and web traffic, holding a featured snippet is a great way to do so. Just remember that featured snippets don’t stay around forever, and other companies value that spot. If you want to maintain a featured snippet, make sure to follow the guidelines listed below. 

Rich Snippets

While a text-based snippet can offer useful information about your website, rich Google snippets are snippets that include additional information about your business. Usually these rich snippets appear in multiple colors which means your business is more likely to catch the eye of someone scrolling down a SERP.

The most common type of rich Google snippet is a star rating, which can be used for multiple types of businesses. If your business is listed locally on Google, you can easily include your star rating right in the snippet. If you have a high star rating, you’re far more likely to appear higher in the SERP and enjoy better overall SEO! 

Featured Snippets

While rich snippets are useful for catching the eyes of prospective customers, featured snippets might be the most recognizable of all. Appearing at the top of the page, featured snippets usually feature much larger texts than other results. Often, they will include a picture as well as a graphic or list to help your clients gain a deeper understanding of their question.

Featured snippets usually come from some of the top-ranking websites on the internet, like Wikipedia or Allrecipes. These websites feature informative blurbs about specific topics that make them very convenient for featured snippets. Even though a majority of featured snippets come from popular websites, don’t worry! Your website can still get featured depending on which words you target. However, in order to get featured, you have to have a compelling snippet. 

Below, we will highlight three types of featured snippets.   

Three Types of Featured Snippets

Paragraph Snippet

Paragraph snippets are the most popular type of featured snippets, accounting for 82% of all known featured snippets. These featured snippets give the reader the answers that they’re looking for in one paragraph. 

Let’s say you run a company that sells reusable water bottles. A great idea for a featured snippet would be a comprehensive description of your products. It’s a good idea to specify the material you use, as well as any special features like vacuum insulation or specialty water bottle tops. At the end, include a call-to-action to entice people to visit your website!

List Snippet

List snippets have a wide range of uses. Whether you’re offering instructions or a list of qualities about your product, list snippets are an easy and convenient way to share that information with prospective customers. Depending on your preferences, you can format your list with bullet points or numbers.

For your water bottle company, a great idea for using list snippets is product maintenance and care. You can make bullet point lists of dos and don’ts, like telling customers to avoid putting the bottle in the dishwasher. If you want to use a number list, maybe offer a step-by-step instruction for deep cleaning your water bottle after a lot of uses. 

Table Snippet

While table snippets are the least frequently used, they can still be very useful in specific situations. Table snippets are often used to compare multiple products, prices, or features across a wide variety. The direct comparison could convince prospective clients to choose your brand over others!

Let’s return once more to your water bottle business. As people around the world become more conscious of their environmental impact, reusable water bottles have taken off. However, many brands are very expensive or offer lots of features that others might not. If you want to use table snippets for your business, a great place to start is a price comparison between you and competitors. If your bottle is made of plastic, maybe use a table to show which bottles have harmful chemicals like BPA. 

Now that you understand different types of snippets, here are some helpful tips for getting started with Google Snippets.

Three Tips for Getting Started with Google Snippets

Keep it Simple

Remember, your snippet is there to entice customers, not tell them everything they need to know. While it’s a great place to have an overview of your company, be careful about putting too much information in your Google snippet. There are multiple reasons that this is a bad idea.

First, if your snippet is too wordy, it might dissuade customers from reading and therefore learning what your company is about. Next, using big, technical terms might confuse your customers. It’s better to use simple language that you expand upon on your website. Finally, research keywords so you know which words your customers tend to search the most. If you put keywords in your Google snippet, it can skyrocket your SEO! 

Emphasize your SEO

Featured snippets don’t happen by accident. Google carefully scours web pages for the most specific information to answer the searcher’s questions, and features them at the top. Websites that rank inside the top ten on Google account for 99.5% of featured snippets, so prioritizing SEO is key for your business. 

There are some very simple things that you can do to boost your SEO. Keywords are a great place to start, as it will help you understand how your consumers think. Next, use powerful tools like Google Analytics to monitor activity across your website. Finally, an agency like SEO Design Chicago can take your business to the next level with a carefully crafted SEO strategy! 

Utilize Video Content

If you want to get your snippets featured, a great way to do it is through video content. For many industries, having video content on your website is a great way to increase traffic and give customers a better sense of your product. You can do so many things with video: product demonstrations, unboxing, and behind the scenes content are just some of the great uses for video! 

YouTube offers a distinct advantage in terms of featured snippets since they are owned by Google. If your business features videos on YouTube, you may find a better result in terms of snippets. Often, videos will be included as part of a featured snippet, but either way YouTube is a reputable website that can offer tons of video hosting services. 

Whether your snippet is featured, rich, or just text, it can have a huge impact on how prospective clients view your business. A good snippet will inform a client, but leave them wanting to learn more. If they think they learned everything, they won’t want to click on your website! Make sure to follow the guidelines above to find success with your snippets!

If you believe that your company could benefit from some assistance with Google snippets, contact SEO Design Chicago today! Our team of industry experts can help with everything from improving your SEO to helping you craft compelling and informative Google snippets. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long should my Google snippet be for optimal performance?

Google typically displays 150-160 characters for meta descriptions in search results. For featured snippets, paragraph snippets are usually 40-50 words, while list snippets can contain 4-8 items. Keep your content concise but informative – you want to provide enough information to answer the searcher’s question while encouraging them to click through to your website for more details.

2. Can I control what appears in my Google snippet?

You have some control over your snippets. You can write compelling meta descriptions for your pages, use structured data markup for rich snippets, and optimize your content for featured snippets. However, Google ultimately decides what to display and may sometimes pull different text from your page if they think it better answers the user’s query. Regularly review and optimize your meta descriptions and content structure to improve your chances.

3. How long does it take to earn a featured snippet after optimizing my content?

There’s no set timeframe for earning featured snippets. Some websites see results within a few weeks, while others may take several months. It depends on factors like your current search ranking, competition for that keyword, content quality, and how well you’ve optimized for the specific query. Remember that your page typically needs to rank in the top 10 search results before being eligible for featured snippets.

4. Do featured snippets hurt my website traffic since people get answers without clicking?

While featured snippets do provide immediate answers, studies show they generally increase click-through rates rather than decrease them. The increased visibility and authority that comes with holding a featured snippet often leads to more clicks overall. However, it’s important to structure your snippet content to entice users to visit your site for more comprehensive information rather than providing complete answers.

5. What’s the difference between schema markup and rich snippets?

Schema markup is the code you add to your website to help search engines understand your content better. Rich snippets are the enhanced search results that appear when Google successfully reads and displays your schema markup. Think of schema markup as the behind-the-scenes work, while rich snippets are what users actually see in search results – like star ratings, prices, or event dates.

6. Can small businesses compete for featured snippets against larger companies?

Absolutely! Featured snippets are based on content relevance and how well you answer specific questions, not just domain authority. Small businesses often have advantages in targeting long-tail keywords and niche topics where they can provide more specific, detailed answers than larger competitors. Focus on understanding your audience’s questions and providing clear, comprehensive answers.

7. What should I do if I lose a featured snippet I previously held?

Featured snippets are dynamic and can change frequently. If you lose one, analyze what changed – did a competitor create better content, or did Google’s algorithm preferences shift? Update your content with more comprehensive information, better formatting, or more current data. Monitor your competitors’ content and look for opportunities to provide more value. Remember that maintaining featured snippets requires ongoing optimization and content updates.