3 Ways Google’s New Featured Snippet Formats Will Change Organic Search Results

3 Ways Google’s New Featured Snippet Formats Will Change Organic Search Results

When searching for information in Google, the search engine will often try to offer up the best answer in the form of a featured snippet. This preview box is meant to succinctly serve up the most relevant content with a link to the source to find out more. Recently, Google announced the launch of expandable featured snippets designed to include multiple sources for broader search queries.

This update is just the latest of Google’s efforts to help users find the right information as quickly as possible. The new, multifaceted featured snippets display several drop-down panels that may include different subcategories related to the query or allow for multiple interpretations of that query.

What this means for marketers and clients: How will these updates affect the SERPs? Here are the three most important takeaways:

  1. Google may now include a handful of sources within the featured snippets. That provides more opportunity to get content featured at the very top of the SERP, above the other organic results. This type of callout is sure to attract more clicks.
  2. More in-depth featured snippets indicate Google placing more value on higher quality, informative content. This is important to remember when trying to rank for specific keywords. Rather than stuffing content with keyword mentions, try answering some common questions users may have about the topic. Produce useful content.
  3. It may sound obvious, but longer featured snippets will likely mean fewer organic listings on the first page of search results. Even pages with decent positions in the SERPs could still end up in no man’s land on page two or three. This is when a more aggressive SEO strategy becomes necessary.