Data-backed insights on featured snippet optimization
Around one-fifth of all keywords activate a highlighted bit
99 percent of all featured snippets tend to appear within the first organic position and take over 50% of the screen on mobile devices, driving higher-than-average click-through rates (CTR).
The key to featured bit optimization lies in a couple of specific areas: long-tail- and question-like keyword method, date significant material that comes at the ideal length and format, and a concise URL structure.
Google has always been quite hazy on any information about winning highlighted bits. This was the case when they were initially presented, making them something services considered to be the cherry on top of their SEO efforts, which is still mostly the case. Having first-hand understanding about the worth and power of highlighted snippets, Brado teamed up with Semrush to conduct the most extensive research study around featured snippet optimization to discover how they truly work, and what you can do to win them.
Exposing the highlights from an Included snippets research study that analyzed over a million SERPs with featured snippets present, this post unwraps actionable tips on amping up your optimization technique to lastly win that Google reward.
General patterns throughout the featured bit landscape.
With billions of search queries run through the Google search box each day, our study found that around 19 percent of keywords trigger a featured snippet. Why does this even matter? Included snippets are understood to drive higher CTR-- as another study discovered, they are responsible for over 35 percent of all clicks.
More showing the tremendous power of featured bits, our study showed that they take up over 50 percent of the SERP's real estate on mobile screens.
Combine this with our findings that 99 percent of the time featured snippets take control of the first organic position, which they remain in many cases set off by long-tail keywords (implying specific user intent), and you'll get the reason behind exceptionally high CTR numbers.
Are some industries most likely to activate highlighted bits?
In the research study, we specified markets by keyword categories, finding that, certainly, included bit volume is inconsistent throughout numerous sectors.
The leading market, seeing a featured snippet in 62 percent of all cases, is Travel and Computer System & Electronics, followed by Arts & Entertainment (59 percent), and Science (54 percent), while Property keywords drag all the rest with just 11 percent of keywords triggering a featured snippet.
featured snippet optimization insights on keyword categories that trigger.

Yet on a domain level, the market breakdown differs somewhat, with Health and News sites having similar highlighted bit volumes.
You can find the full industry breakdown within the study.
Featured snippets are everything about makes, not wins.
Simply hoping your material will win you an included bit isn't enough-- as our study showed, it's everything about hard-earned content optimization outcomes.
1. Optimize for long-tail keywords and questions.
When it pertains to optimization and keywords, use 'the more the much better' reasoning.
Our study found that 55.5 percent of featured snippets were set off by 10-word keywords, while single-word ones only appeared 4.3 percent of the time.

One thing even better than long-tails is questions. 29 percent of keywords triggering a featured snippet start with question words-- "why" (78 percent), "can" (72 percent), "do" (67 percent), and in the fewest cases, "where" (19 percent).
featured bit optimization insights on concern keywords that set off.
2. Utilize the right material length and format.
The SERPs we evaluated included 4 kinds of highlighted snippet: paragraphs, lists, tables, and videos:.
70 percent of the results revealed paragraphs, with an average of 42 words and 249 characters.
Lists came in as the second-most-frequent featured snippet (19 wordpress developer gold coast percent), with an average of 6 item counts and 44 words.
Tables (6 percent) typically included five rows and two columns.
Videos, whose average period stood at 6:39 mins, appeared in only 4.6 percent of all cases.

Obviously, do not blindly follow this data as the principle, rather see it as a good beginning point for featured-snippet-minded content optimization.
Plus, keep in mind that content quality always prevails over amount, so if you have a high-performing piece that includes a 10-row table, Google will just cut it down, revealing the blue "More rows" link, which can even improve your CTR.
3. Don't overcomplicate your URL structure.
As it ends up, URL length matters in Google's choice of a site that deserves a highlighted snippet. Attempt to adhere to cool site architecture, with 1-3 subfolders per URL, and you'll be more likely to win.
Just for recommendation, here is an example of a URL with 3 subfolders:.
xyz.com/subfolder1/subfolder2/subfolder3.
4. Make frequent material updates.
In the "to add or not to add a post date" problem, based upon our featured bit analysis, we 'd recommend that you release date-marked content.
Most of Google's featured snippets include a post date, with the following breakdown: 47 percent of list-type highlighted snippets originate from date-marked content, paragraphs-- 44 percent, videos-- 20 percent, and tables-- 19 percent of the time.
While fresh-out-of-the-oven content can be favored by Google, 70 percent of all content making it into the featured snippet was anywhere from 2 to 3 years old (2018, 2019, 2020), meaning as soon as again that content quality matters more than recency, so you shouldn't fret that putting a date on it will work versus you.