Featured snippets are designed to help users find answers to their questions quickly and easily. Not only are these helpful for users but can also be extremely important for online businesses. Featured snippets are an opportunity to gain more visibility from the organic search results and, in turn, boost traffic and brand recognition.

What are featured snippets?

Featured snippets are short snippets of text that appear at the top of the search results. These provide short answers to a user’s query. Google analyses the query and chooses the best excerpt from a relevant webpage in order to provide the user with the best possible answer.

According to Google Search Help, the search engine displays featured snippets when “our systems determine this format will help people more easily discover what they’re seeking, both from the description about the page and when they click on the link to read the page itself. They’re especially helpful for those on mobile or searching by voice.”

Marissa Mayer, former Google employee, shared in the Freakonomics podcast that there has been a recent uptick in the number of featured snippets, or as she calls it “inline results”. Mayer believes that this recent increase is related to the rise of low-quality information on the search results.

Why are featured snippets important for eCommerce?

Improves website traffic

Even though users get a simple answer to their query with featured snippets, some users might want more in-depth information. This leads users to browse websites in order to find their answers by clicking on the featured link.

Increase in conversions

By attracting more customers to a website, the chances of increasing online conversions are also going to be heightened. Not only this but the customers that do visit the website are customers who are very clearly interested in your products and/or services and may reach out for additional questions.

Boosts credibility

When Google lists an excerpt of your website as a featured snippet, it is showing users that you are the authority on this subject. This vote of confidence gives makes users more likely to accept you as a leader in your field and thus, increases your credibility and authority on the subject.

In conclusion, featured snippets will improve your website’s visibility, which might have a domino effect and increase your website’s conversions too. Therefore, featured snippets are an excellent feature to take advantage of when planning SEO Content Marketing.

If you are looking for a professional touch, speak to one of our team members for further information on how we can help optimise your website for featured snippets. Give us a call today on 01279 655187 or email us at [email protected].