Zero is your Hero in Organic Google Searches

As a business owner, I’m sure you’re familiar with Google’s ranking system and how it affects online searches for your website. And if you’ve read my last blog, you also understand how local backlinks play a critical role in local SEO.

Focusing on local SEO helps businesses rank high on Google for online searches of products and services. And being ranking number one is of course desirable. But being ranked number zero is even better.

Google’s Search Algorithm can Rank you Higher than Number One

So how can zero be your hero? Because Google’s search algorithm now makes it possible to rank you much higher than number one through their Featured Snippet which ranks above the number one listing.

Being ranked zero offers three great things for your online presence: First, it brings a huge amount of credibility to your website. Secondly, it shows that you’re an authority. Thirdly, Featured Snippets have high click-through rates.

Here’s an example of the power of Featured Snippets from a search for “What is a heavy lift rocket?”:

As you can see from the example above, Featured Snippets always (at least for now) come before traditional organic search results. Thus, the number “zero” ranking. Even the “People also ask” box is above the first organic search result. So really top organic searches are number three and not number one.

The Power of Featured Snippets

Featured Snippets can contain an extracted answer a display title, and a URL. They may also have an image, bulleted lists, and simple tables. So how powerful are featured snippets in an organic search?

A recent study by Ahrefs found significant results when it looked into the effects of a Featured Snippet on traditional organic searches. According to the study, when there are no Featured Snippets in an average search engine results page (SERP), the top organic search result will get about 26% of all click-throughs. But when a Featured Snippet is present, it pulls 8.6% of the click-throughs away from the top organic search result. Meaning the number one ranking result got less than 20% of all click-throughs.

Featured Snippets Answer Questions and Draw in Customers

Putting it another way, Featured Snippets are nabbing some of the traffic which would have traditionally gone to the top organically ranked sites. Plus, Featured Snippets also reduce the total amount of clicks on a given page—raising the percentage of non-clickers from about 25% to about 30%.

The biggest takeaway I’d like you to get from this blog is that Featured Snippets aren’t going away. In fact, Ahrefs’ research found that approximately 12.29% of all search terms are accompanied by a Featured Snippet in search results. With that said, they’re becoming an important feature for businesses who want to increase their click through rates.

Still not convinced? A 2015 case study from Search Engine Land in August of 2015, tracked the loss of a Featured Snippet for a client on a competitive keyword. Unbelievably, the client lost over 39K click-throughs due to the loss of that Featured Snippet.

What can your Business Highlight in a Featured Snippet?

Creating a Featured Snippet means understanding what your audience is looking for and creating the right keywords to ensure you are number zero in Google search results. If you need guidance, the experts at Xynergy can help you increase your local SEO ranking and create the right words for a Featured Snippet.

Click here to start helping your customers and prospects in their buying decision and ignite your sales.