All the rage nowadays amongst SEOs is about Google’s featured snippets that show up in the search results. It’s that coveted “rank zero” that everyone wants to get. Not only can you rank on the first page, but if your content is good enough, then Google will pull (scrape) your site and feature part of your content at the top of the search results.
Apparently some are complaining that Google’s Featured Snippets feature is literally killing small business, and apparently they’re worse than fake news.
Frankly, I see it the other way around. If you’re trying to rank for the answer to a question like “What is Larry David’s Net Worth?”, and the answer literally is a dollar figure or a “quick answer”, then I have no problem with Google “stealing” your traffic. In fact, if the answer is “$125 billion”, and Google can give searchers that answer without having to go to your website, then sobeit. What do you expect that visitor to do anyway when they get to your site? They’ll leave. They’ll hit the back button. They’ll bounce, because your site is focused too much on short, quick answers. How about creating some real content, content that will make visitors stick on your website and view more than one page?
What I’m seeing from Google’s Featured Snippets is that SEOs are trying to work with their client (site owners) to create even better content. Even better content that will EARN a featured snippet. And when you do get that featured snippet, visitors read the featured snippet, and guess what? They trust you and your site because Google is featuring your site at the top, above everyone else. And you get more traffic and more sales, and more leads, and more conversions. Period.
Sure, there are some featured snippets, like the one below, that hasn’t been proofread by a human at Google. This one in particular is about online reputation management cost. It comes up for a few different search queries, including reputation management pricing.
Can you spot the spelling mistake? If you can’t, then I obviously have pointed it out with a huge red arrow.
There are tricks and tips to getting a featured snippet. But, I can tell you that spelling correctly isn’t one of them, apparently.