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SearchLove San Diego 2018 | Rob Bucci | Featured Snippets: From Then to Now, Volatility, and Voice Search

The document discusses the evolution and trends of featured snippets in search engine results, highlighting their stability and the increasing prevalence of video and voice search. It emphasizes the importance of optimizing content for natural language queries to improve snippet rankings, as well as the relationship between featured snippets and other SERP features like 'people also ask' boxes. Data indicates that while most snippets are stable, a number of keywords experience volatility in their appearances, suggesting the need for continuous monitoring of competitors' snippet strategies.

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FEATURED SNIPPETS: FROM THEN TO NOW, VOLATILITY, & VOICE SEARCH
You’ve probably seen one of these before.
@STATrob/@getSTAT #SearchLove getSTAT.com/searchlove
THE EVOLUTION OF FEATURED SNIPPETS @STATrob
RESEARCH STATS KEYWORDS 1,000,000 CPC High DEVICE Desktop & mobile MARKET United States, English (Google.com)
WE’RE STILL SEEING MORE SNIPPETS THAN EVER 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% January '16 July '16 April '17 November '17 31% 23% 15% 9% (Desktop)
FEATURED SNIPPET RANK @STATrob
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% January '16 July '16 April '17 November '17 4%4% 0%0% 96%96% 100%100% Rank 1 Rank 2 SNIPPETS ARE APPEARING IN RANK 2
SHOPPING BOXES CAN PUSH A SNIPPET DOWN THE SERP. @STATrob
FEATURED SNIPPET SOURCE POSITION @STATrob
ORGANIC RANK OF SNIPPET URLS HAS DROPPED 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11-20 January ‘16 November ‘17
A “PEOPLE ALSO ASK” BOX TAKES SECOND PLACE 60% OF THE TIME. @STATrob
@STATrob RANK ON THE FIRST PAGE TO HELP SECURE A SNIPPET. 99% of snippets are sourced from ranks 2–10. TWEETABLE TIP
SERP FEATURES VS. SNIPPETS @STATrob
HOW OFTEN SERP FEATURES APPEAR WITH SNIPPETS 38% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Places Videos Images News Shopping PAA 64% 4% 1% 7% 2%1% 71% 4%3% 9% 19% 0% 43% 2% 10% 3% 19% 0% 22% 1% 5% 11% 14% 0% Jan '16 Jul '16 Apr '17 Nov '17
VIDEO RESULTS ARE GROWING & CHANGING 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Jan '16 Jul '16 Apr '17 Nov '17 14% 19% 19% 38% 2% Videos
@STATrob CONSIDER VIDEO AS ANOTHER WAY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. Google is making a more video-prominent SERP, especially where snippets are concerned. TWEETABLE TIP
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% PAA 64% 71% 43% 22% Jan '16 Jul '16 Apr '17 Nov '17 FEATURED SNIPPETS & PAAS ARE BFFS
A double–snippet SERP.
@STATrob LET PAAS INSPIRE YOUR SNIPPET CONTENT. Use the relationship between the two features to your advantage. TWEETABLE TIP
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 71 1%0%0%0% Jan '16 Jul '16 Apr '17 Nov '17 SNIPPETS ARE SHOWING UP ON LOCAL SERPS Places
@STATrob FIND THE LINK BETWEEN LOCAL QUERIES AND FEATURED SNIPPETS. And build out the appropriate content. TWEETABLE TIP
FEATURED SNIPPET FORMATTING @STATrob
This is a “paragraph” snippet.
This is a “list” snippet.
This is a “table” snippet.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Paragraph List Table 8% 32% 60% 11% 29% 60% 16% 19% 63% 7% 11% 82% Jan '16 Jul '16 Apr '17 Nov '17 HOW OFTEN WE SEE EACH TYPE OF SNIPPET
Just look at this hideous thing.
FEATURED SNIPPET VOLATILITY @STATrob
THE RESEARCH • In April 2017 we ran our one million keywords. • 232,451 returned featured snippets, which we tracked for 19 more days. • We measured the rate of appearance and level of volatility. @STATrob
VOLATILITY = DISAPPEARANCES, REAPPEARANCES, OR URL CHANGES. @STATrob
BOOLEAN LOGIC IN ACTION SNIPPET APPEARANCE VOLATILITY DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5 cats.com — cats.com — — 0 1 1 1 0
68% OF SNIPPETS SHOWED ZERO VOLATILITY. They appeared every day for 20 days with the same URL. @STATrob
@STATrob Appearance Volatility Number of keywords by volatility and appearance. Score
THE NATURE OF VOLATILITY @STATrob
HOW VOLATILITY BEHAVES 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 10% 16% 8% 67% Only URL changes Only disappearances Disappearances & reappearances Disappearances & URL changes + Disappearances, reappearances & URL changes
@STATrob Appearance UniqueURLs Number of unique URLs by appearance.
@STATrob 99% OF KEYWORDS RETURNED UP TO THREE DIFFERENT SNIPPET URLS. 76% returned only one.
@STATrob TRACK DAILY TO SURFACE YOUR COMPETITOR URLS. Head to their pages to see how Google interacts with their content. TWEETABLE TIP
SPOTTING VOLATILITY ON THE SERP @STATrob
SNIPPET FORMATS RETURNED BY EACH KEYWORD FORMATS NO VOLATILITY LOW VOLATILITY HIGH VOLATILITY Only paragraphs 61.25% 26.92% 10.50% 0.80% 0.28% 0.26% 0.00% 49.48% 22.30% 6.99% 10.83% 4.74% 5.28% 0.28% 44.51% 20.03% 5.41% 15.39% 5.66% 7.63% 1.38% Only lists Paragraphs & lists Paragraphs & tables Lists & tables Paragraphs, lists & tables Only tables
@STATrob KEEP TABS ON FORMAT TO HELP IDENTIFY VOLATILE SNIPPETS. TWEETABLE TIP
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11-20 ORGANIC RANK OF SNIPPET URLS No volatility Low volatility High volatility Rank
@STATrob UP YOUR ORGANIC RANK FOR A BETTER SHOT AT SNIPPET STABILITY. TWEETABLE TIP
FEATURED SNIPPETS & VOICE SEARCH @STATrob
VOICE SEARCH IS HAVING AN IMPACT ON FEATURED SNIPPETS. @STATrob
Search engines have evolved to understand natural language queries.
GOOGLE IS SURFACING FEATURED SNIPPETS FOR NATURAL LANGUAGE QUERIES. @STATrob
The ratio of featured snippet keyword length to non-featured snippet keyword length continues to grow.
DIGITAL ASSISTANTS TRANSLATE SPOKEN COMMANDS INTO WRITTEN QUERIES. @STATrob
MACHINE LEARNING: THE GOOD “What are the best headphones for $100” “What about wireless” “I meant $100 Canadian” [best wireless headphones for $100 Canadian] [best wireless headphones for $100] [best headphones for $100] COMMAND QUERY
COMMAND & QUERY 1 COMMAND & QUERY 2 “How do I bake a bundt cake” “How long will it take” “How long does that take” [how long does a bundt cake take to bake] [how long does it take to take a bundt cake] [how do I bake a bundt cake] MACHINE LEARNING: THE GETTING THERE
MACHINE LEARNING: THE GETTING THERE COMMAND QUERY “How do I bake a bundt cake” “What kind of pan does it take” “How much do those cost” [how much does bundt cake cost] [what kind of pan for bundt cake] [how do I bake a bundt cake]
MACHINE LEARNING: THE… WAIT WHAT? “How do I bake a bundt cake” “Does it take butter” [how do I bake a butter] [how do I bake a bundt cake] COMMAND QUERY
OPTIMIZE FOR VOICE SEARCH BY CREATING SNIPPET CONTENT FOR LONG-TAIL, NATURAL LANGUAGE QUERIES. @STATrob TWEETABLE TIP
SEARCH INTENT ISN’T GOING ANYWHERE. @STATrob
IT’S NOW TIME TO LAYER IN SEMANTIC INTENT. @STATrob
RESEARCH THE TYPES OF SNIPPETS APPEARING FOR YOUR QUERIES THEN FORMAT YOUR CONTENT TO MATCH. @STATrob TWEETABLE TIP
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Does Cost 10% 1% 3%0.4% 88% 98% Paragraph List Table WORDS THAT PRODUCE MOSTLY PARAGRAPH SNIPPETS
[how much do hoverboards cost]
WORDS THAT PRODUCE MOSTLY LIST SNIPPETS 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Best How to 0% 11% 68% 79% 32% 10% Paragraph List Table
[best kitty names]
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Rates Abbreviations 96% 54% 4% 15% 0% 31% Paragraph List Table WORDS THAT PRODUCE MOSTLY TABLE SNIPPETS
[abbreviations for Canadian provinces]
WRAPPING IT UP @STATrob
SNIPPETS SHOW UP A LOT AND ARE MOSTLY STABLE. @STATrob
The number of snippets continues to trend upwards.
A double–snippet SERP.
SNIPPETS ARE A CORNERSTONE FOR VOICE SEARCH. @STATrob
@STATrob TRACK THE FEATURED SNIPPETS IN YOUR QUERY SPACE. TWEETABLE TIP
Download the updated findings, volatility whitepaper, and presentation slides at getSTAT.com/searchlove.