The Crimson Blog

As a small business website owner, you may have discovered Google’s Featured Snippets as you were researching SEO. Now you want to learn more. This absolute beginner’s guide will give you the quick introduction that you need.

How to view Featured Snippets

1. To see a Featured Snippet up close, first type a question (or phrase) into a Google Search page. This is called a “search query.” 
2. Next, click the “Google Search” button. 
3. The answer page that Google displays is called a SERP (search engine results page). 
4. When you reach the SERP page, you may see an attention-grabbing box with a brief summary of an answer to your question. This is a Featured Snippet. 
5. Above the Featured Snippet, you’ll see paid results (ads). Below it, you will see a long list of organic listings (unpaid results).

What are Featured Snippets (in simple terms)? 

• Featured Snippets are also called “Answer Boxes.” They include easy-to-read answers to search queries that are pulled from a web page.
• Featured Snippets are contained in a box, occupy a lot of space on a SERP (search engine results page) and often include an image.  
• When a search query is a question and begins with words like “what” and “how,” you’ll often see a Featured Snippet in the results.
• These snippets give searchers a brief idea of what a web page is all about before they click a link to go to it.

What Does a Featured Snippet Look Like?

• This answer box will contain (1) text pulled from a web page, (2) the web page’s main heading and link, (3) the page’s URL, and (4) (most of the time) a related image.
• Sometimes Google takes the image from one website and the answer from another one. 
• The answer might be seen in a paragraph, numbered or bulleted list, table or video. 
• In mobile search results, a Featured Snippet occupies more space. You’ll likely see an image (or images) above the answer. It is even more eye-catching.

(NOTE: the Featured Snippet background won’t actually be gray. It is shown here for emphasis.)

Why should I Optimize my Small Business Website for Google’s Featured Snippets?

Featured Snippets can be an effective tool for increasing traffic to your website. Why? Google searchers are more likely to click on Featured Snippets before clicking on other links in the organic listings further down in the page. If you provide your customers useful answers on your website that a searcher may ask, your small business has a chance of being featured. And it won’t cost you anything. You just need to include content that provides the best possible answer to a search query.

Keep in mind, though, that Google chooses which websites are highlighted in these snippets. It may also change its mind later on and choose another web page.

How can I Optimize my Small Business Website for a Featured Snippet?

9 SEO Tips to help achieve a Featured Snippet:

1. If you have a web page that ranks in the top 10 Google search results for a query, your site can be featured. If you haven’t achieved this yet, your best bet is to first check to be sure your site is mobile friendly and search engine friendly.
2. Next, identify commonly asked questions that are related to your business. (Example: how to plant a shrub)
3. Include one of those questions (queries) as a heading in a web page. Then answer the question directly below it, perhaps in a paragraph (40 to 50 words).  This answer becomes the featured snippet. 
4. Consider adding How-To sections, FAQ pages or a blog to your site. 
5. Include tables, graphs and unique images with ALT tags in your web pages. 
6. Break up your content, if you can, into simple steps and lists. This will help optimize a page for mobile and voice search. 
7. If your website includes a blog, ask questions in your blog post subheadings. Then provide brief one-paragraph answers.
8. Pay close attention to your subheadings. Google may extract them from a page, create a list, and display them in a Featured Snippet.
9. Incorporate long-tail keywords into your content. Studies show that most Featured Snippets are triggered by long-tail keywords.

Understanding Keywords & SEO

Along your SEO journey, you’ve most likely discovered keywords. They relate to the phrase (query) that a person types into a search engine like Google. To create effective content that has a chance for a becoming a Featured Snippet, you need to have a basic understanding of keywords, specifically long-tail keywords. 

See: How to Do Keyword Research for SEO: A Beginner’s Guide.

What are Long-tail Keywords (in simple terms)? 

Long-tail keywords are not searched for as frequently as simple keywords such as “pizza” or “shrub.” They are often more specific, tend to be longer in length (3+ words), and have relatively low search volume. (Example: rose bush planting tips.) Questions and long-tail queries often trigger Google Featured Snippets.

The more words typed into a search box, the higher the chance a Featured Snippet will be shown in the results page.

By determining what your potential customers might be searching for online and then working those phrases (long-tail keywords) into your content, you improve your chances of having that content appear in a Featured Snippet.

How do I Find Long-tail Keywords for my Business?

You can use a professional keyword research tool to help you find long-tail keywords or you can type ideas directly into Google Search. If you type phrases into Google Search (example: rose bush planting tips), you will first see Google autocomplete suggestions. (These will give you long-tail keyword ideas for your site.) Then if you click the search button, you can view a SERP and analyze the results. (This will also give you ideas.) Testing through Google is a no-cost way to look for long-tail keywords for your site. Another free similar tool is called Answer the Public. 

Google Provides Autocomplete Suggestions for our Search Query.

Google provides a Featured Snippet for our Search Query.

You can examine the Featured Snippet and decide if you think you could provide a better answer than the one shown in the box.

Would adding a web page about “rose bush planting tips” bring potential customers to your site? Does it relate to your business? Do you have the expertise to offer these tips? If so, you should go ahead and create this kind of informative page. Include a heading, subheadings, short paragraphs, lists, tables, charts and unique images if you can.

Featured Snippets from my Website

The first Featured Snippet example is a result of the search query “8 steps to search engine optimization.” It is a specific search and matches the page’s main heading. The answer shown is an ordered list. Google took the subheadings and image from the page to create the list.

The second example shows a search query “Pinterest Pros for a Business.” There are 2 featured snippets displayed in the SERP. Neither page main heading matches the query exactly. The second answer box comes from my website. Google did not choose an image from my page this time.

Featured Snippet View Variations

The 3 examples below show how different Google’s Featured Snippet can look, depending on what device you are using to view it. The first snippet is a desktop computer view.

Featured Snippet – Desktop View

Featured Snippet – iPhone Landscape View

The screenshot below shows a Google Snippet on an iPhone with multiple images taken from the same page (shown above the ordered list of steps).

Featured Snippet – iPhone Portrait View

Summary

If you provide your customers useful answers related to your small business that a searcher may ask, your website has a chance of being shown in a Featured Snippet. First, optimize your site to be sure it is mobile and search engine friendly. Then add How-To sections, FAQ pages or a blog. Next, identify commonly asked questions related to your business. Find helpful ways to answer those questions. Also include long-tail keywords in your content.

Search engines (such as Google) send “robots” across the web to fetch “high quality” information for their users. These bots use links to discover new web pages and fresh content. A search engine friendly website makes it easy for them to do their job. It welcomes them, makes their exploration a breeze and then provides that high quality, useful information.

Looking for simple ways to improve your website’s search engine friendliness?

Try these 4 simple SEO tips.

Read more…

Curious if your website is user-friendly? It may not be easy to tell at-a-glance. A user-friendly website has these 8 characteristics.

• It loads fast.
• A user-friendly website is not only visually pleasing, it is accessible and useful.
• It is easy to navigate, easy to comprehend and easy to read.
• Users can find what they’re looking for and get there fast.
• It has a consistent look-and-feel.
• It makes the user’s journey effortless.
• A user-friendly website is also inclusive. It considers the experiences of the blind, disabled and elderly.
• It is also mobile-friendly.

Here are 5 Steps you can take to make your website a user-friendly, frustration-free experience.

Step 1) Smooth Landing

To provide a smooth landing for your visitors, you must take a look at page speed.

Nobody likes a slow website. It can annoy, or worse, drive visitors away. Before you can  engage prospects and generate leads, you must first welcome visitors with fast-loading web pages (preferably within 4 seconds). Check your page loading time at Pingdom or Google PageSpeed Insights. Keep in mind, though, that not all pages are alike. You can have a lightning-fast home page and a photo gallery that loads at a snail’s pace.

Familiarity – There are well-known web design conventions used these days that visitors appreciate. Use these conventions and you’ll make them feel at ease as they walk in the door. You don’t want visitors to get flustered by an odd layout. If they do, they’ll move on.

What do website visitors expect to see?

• They expect to see a “clickable” logo in the top left corner of your pages. It should provide a way back to your home page.
• They’re relying on your icons (such as the shopping cart icon) to make sense without any explanation.
• They’ll look for that shopping cart icon in a web page’s top right corner and want to see some sort of validation if they remove an item from their cart.
• They will expect to see a search box in the upper-right corner of the screen also.

Step 2) Orientation

Visitors want to know right away (1) what your site is all about and (2) what it has to offer. Your home page must help them answer these questions.

What if a visitor doesn’t land on your home page?

First-time visitors may not land on your “home page” first. If not, they’ll look to the header and main navigation bar to get oriented. No matter where they enter your site, leave out the guesswork. Help them get oriented so they can figure out which way to go next. Then make it as easy to navigate as possible.

Step 3) Obstacle-Free Exploration

A user-friendly website uses links throughout its pages (not just in a navigation bar) to help visitors explore with ease. If they have to dig through multiple pages to register for a class or make a purchase, they’ll get annoyed. If navigation is not intuitive, they will be less likely to return. Help them get anywhere they need to within one or two clicks.

7 ways to improve navigation:

• Keep your navigation bar simple. Limit their choices.
• Also keep sub navigation menus to a minimum when possible.
• Remove broken links on your site. Visitor who encounter 404 pages may bounce back to Google.
• Use meaningful text on your content links, instead of  “click here.”
• Make sure your page content links look “clickable.” They should be underlined, shown in a different color or displayed as buttons.
• Provide a way for users to explore your site without a mouse. (Some customers can’t use one.) These users navigate via a keyboard with their tab and arrow keys and “click” links with the enter key. Also make it easy for mobile users to get around… without a mouse.
• Include an HTML sitemap on your website. Users who visit this web page see a list of all your web pages (with clickable links). If your navigation menu is complex, an HTML sitemap might help users get to the right place.

To help your visitors explore your site, you must also “format content” so they can scan through page sections quickly.

Let them scan.

Make your content easy to scan with the use of headings, sub-headings, paragraphs, bulleted lists and white space. Also provide good contrast between the background and text. The contrast needs to be great enough so that readers do not strain their eyes.

Include relevant images (with ALT text). Images included in a web page should be relevant to the page topic. They must also be easily understood by those who can’t see them, such as screen reader users. Providing ALT text is a user-friendly, SEO friendly measure. Also be careful with animated images. Some visitors may find fast-moving or flashing images problematic.

Provide user feedback.

To help people interact with your site, purchase products and fill out forms with ease, you must provide feedback.

User feedback makes people happy because it helps guide them through steps in a task, gives them a signal that they’ve succeeded or failed, tells them if errors have occurred and indicates what to do next. By simply seeing the number of items in a shopping cart, a user understands how many they have successfully added. When a user attempts to submit a form with an empty required field, an error message and highlighted field border will help get them back on track. User feedback will reduce the number of website obstacles that your users may encounter and help them reach their goals.

Step 4) Seamless Shopping Experience

When it comes to a great online experience, shoppers primarily expect three things: speed, ease-of-use and consistency. They should be able to purchase something with minimal effort and be barely aware of the site itself.

Your products should take center stage.

6 ways to improve product pages:

• For user-friendly product pages, first pay attention to page loading times. Nobody likes a slow product page.
• Ensure that these pages don’t look overcrowded. Add whitespace around each image.
• Include thumbnails and product image ALT text.
• Keep your product pages consistent from page to page.
• Include user-friendly tools such as a search box, digital bread crumbs and filters. They will save your customers a lot of time. Digital breadcrumbs show the path that users have followed to reach their current point. Product filters (such as color and size) help users find the type of items they are looking for faster.
• Keep the checkout process as simple as possible. Combine or eliminate unnecessary screens or steps. Be sure to include user feedback along the way.

Step 5) Frustration-Free Forms

Nobody likes forms. They often require a lot of typing, accuracy checking and error-fixing. Since they’re usually not a fun task, it’s essential to make filling them out as simple and user-friendly as possible.

7 ways to improve your forms:

• Make your forms sticky. When users submit a form and are told to go back and correct something, be sure your form retains the information they already entered. This makes it a sticky form.
• Present form fields in a logical, sequential way.
• Don’t ask for more information than you actually need.
• Don’t make form fields “required” that aren’t crucial.
• Make the submit button easy to click, especially for mobile, elderly and disabled users.
• Label all form field inputs to help non-visual customers understand your form.
• Display user errors with clear instructions. Make it simple to find fields that need to be re-entered.

Summary

A website’s first impression is important. But if you want visitors to engage with it, you have to do more. Provide a smooth landing. Help visitors get oriented. Remove any obstacles. Provide user feedback. Be inclusive. Strive to make your website enjoyable and frustration-free. It’ll be more than impressive. It will be user-friendly.