Featured Snippets
Featured snippets are a type of enhanced SERP feature showing additional items within Google’s search results pages that display content from a website that is deemed relevant for the search query in a prominent position within the results. There are several different types of content that can appear within featured snippets, which are covered within our SEO Office Hours notes and round-up of key takeaways below, along with best practice recommendations from Google for achieving them.
To learn more about search engines, read our introductory guide: How Do Search Engines Work?
Streamed Content Won’t Appear in Featured Snippets
Featured snippets will only use recorded video content rather than streamed videos. Make sure these streamed videos are recorded to ensure they can appear as featured snippets.
Having HTTP Version in Google Listings or Snippets Can Drive Impressions Even After HTTPS Migration
If you’re seeing impressions and clicks for the HTTP version of your site after migrating to HTTPS, this could be because the HTTP version is linked to somewhere externally in a knowledge box or your Google My Business listing, for example.
Relevance is the Primary Factor For Showing Featured Snippets
The main factor for deciding what to show in featured snippets is relevance. Things like authority aren’t taken into account.
Quality is Assessed Differently for Featured Snippets & Rich Snippets
Quality is assessed in a different way for featured snippets and rich snippets. So your site can be showing for rich snippets but not featured snippets, and the other way around.
A Featured Snippet Can Source its Text & Image from Different Sites
Images in featured snippets are sometimes taken from a different website to the one where the text snippet was taken from.
Secondary Content’ Won’t be Used for Snippets
Content not instantly visible is treated as secondary content and wouldn’t be used for snippets until Google shifts to mobile first indexing