The document discusses trends in featured snippets on Google search over time. It analyzes data on over 1 million keyword searches and finds that the percentage of search engine results pages containing featured snippets has increased from January to July, both for desktop and mobile searches. Featured snippets most commonly take the form of tables. The type of content and format that appears in featured snippets varies depending on the keyword and query type. The document provides tips for content creators to optimize their content for different queries based on the types of snippets that currently appear.

1. TAKING THE TOP SPOT
How to earn more featured snippets

2. @STATrob
#StateOfSearch

3. Featured snippets are a super interesting phenomenon.

4. KEY FEATURES OF OUR RESEARCH
KEYWORDS 1,000,000
CPC RANGE $9.55 – $1,006.56
SEARCH VOL. RANGE 10 – 2,740,000 average searches
DEVICE Desktop & Mobile
MARKET United States, English (Google.com)

5. WE’RE SEEING MORE SNIPPETS THAN EVER
%ofSERPswithsnippets
0%
6.25%
12.5%
18.75%
25%
15%
9%
January (Desktop) July (Desktop)

6. MOBILE VS. DESKTOP
%ofSERPswithsnippets
0%
6.25%
12.5%
18.75%
25%
15%
17%
July (Mobile) July (Desktop)

7. AND THEY’RE WORTH MORE THAN EVER
TotalCPC
$0
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
$3,000,000
$4,000,000
$3,087,960
$1,750,392
January July

8. SNIPPET TYPES
@STATrob

9. This is a “paragraph” snippet.

10. This is a “table” snippet.

11. This is a “list” snippet.

12. HOW OFTEN DID WE SEE EACH
SNIPPET TYPE?
Paragraphs
Lists
Tables
16%
19%
63%
7%
10%
81%
January (Desktop)
July (Desktop)

13. HOW OFTEN DID WE SEE EACH
SNIPPET TYPE? MOBILE VS. DESKTOP
Paragraphs
Lists
Tables
16%
19%
63%
17%
20%
64%
July (Mobile)
July (Desktop)

14. THE FORMAT OF YOUR CONTENT
DETERMINES THE FORMAT OF
THE FEATURED SNIPPET.
@STATrob

15. WHICH FEATURED SNIPPETS HAVE IMAGES?
Paragraphs
Lists
Tables
4%
6%
20%
18%
26%
28%
January (Desktop)
July (Desktop)

16. WHICH FEATURED SNIPPETS HAVE IMAGES?
MOBILE VS. DESKTOP
Paragraphs
Lists
Tables
4%
6%
20%
2%
4%
13%
July (Mobile)
July (Desktop)

17. WIKIPEDIA OWNS 15% OF ALL
SNIPPETS WITH IMAGES
Images are in 36% of Wikipedia’s featured snippets.
@STATrob

18. UNIVERSAL RESULTS
@STATrob

19. HOW OFTEN DID WE SEE
UNIVERSAL RESULTS?
Places
Video
Images
News
Shopping 1%
3%
13%
11%
13%
2%
3%
20%
11%
13%
January (Desktop)
July (Desktop)

20. HOW OFTEN DID WE SEE
UNIVERSAL RESULTS? MOBILE VS. DESKTOP
Places
Video
Images
News
Shopping 1%
3%
13%
11%
13%
3%
7%
7%
18%
38%
July (Mobile)
July (Desktop)

21. HOW OFTEN DID THOSE RESULTS APPEAR WITH
FEATURED SNIPPETS?
Places
Video
Images
News
Shopping 1%
4%
10%
12%
0%
1%
5%
11%
14%
0%
January (Desktop)
July (Desktop)

22. HOW OFTEN DID THOSE RESULTS APPEAR WITH
FEATURED SNIPPETS? MOBILE VS. DESKTOP
Places
Video
Images
News
Shopping 1%
4%
10%
12%
0%
2%
10%
3%
19%
0%
July (Mobile)
July (Desktop)

23. TWEETABLE TIP
PLACES PACKS NEVER OCCUR
ALONGSIDE FEATURED SNIPPETS.
Local SEOs don’t get to play. Sorry. :(
@STATrob

24. PEOPLE ALSO ASK
@STATrob

25. HOW OFTEN DOES PEOPLE ALSO ASK APPEAR
WITH SNIPPETS?
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
44%
22%
January (Desktop) July (Desktop)

26. HOW OFTEN DOES PEOPLE ALSO ASK APPEAR
WITH SNIPPETS? MOBILE VS. DESKTOP
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
44%43%
July (Mobile) July (Desktop)

27. HOW OFTEN ARE SNIPPETS ALSO THE FIRST
PAA ANSWER?
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
5%
24%
January (Desktop) July (Desktop)

28. HOW OFTEN ARE SNIPPETS ALSO THE FIRST
PAA ANSWER? MOBILE VS. DESKTOP
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
5%
0%
July (Mobile) July (Desktop)

29. TWEETABLE TIP
LET PEOPLE ALSO ASK BOXES
INSPIRE YOUR OWN FEATURED
SNIPPET CONTENT.
Google is telling you what answers they like
for similar queries.
@STATrob

30. KEYWORDS MATTER
@STATrob

31. BE CAREFUL ABOUT IMPLIED QUESTIONS
QUERY SNIPPET
what is a mctwist? TRUE
mctwist TRUE
how do I build a roof? TRUE
build a roof FALSE

32. TWEETABLE TIP
PAY ATTENTION TO KEYWORD
VARIANTS. SNIPPETS ONLY
APPEAR FOR SOME.
Your research just got harder. Sorry!
@STATrob

33. COMMON SNIPPET QUERY TYPES
QUERY TYPE JANUARY (Desktop) JULY (Desktop) CHANGE
FINANCIAL 46% 54% 20%
MATHEMATIC 52% 56% 8%
REQUIREMENTS 56% 56% 0%
HEALTH 44% 52% 19%
DIY/PROCESS 50% 58% 16%

34. COMMON SNIPPET QUERY TYPES
QUERY TYPE JULY (Mobile) JULY (Desktop)
FINANCIAL 54% 54%
MATHEMATIC 53% 56%
REQUIREMENTS 49% 56%
HEALTH 30% 52%
DIY/PROCESS 31% 58%

35. UNCOMMON SNIPPET QUERY TYPES
QUERY TYPE JANUARY (Desktop) JULY (Desktop) CHANGE
LOCAL 0.71% 1.84% 159%
SUBJECTIVE 0.41% 18.14% 4280%
INFO/HELP 1.23% 4.64% 277%
FACTUAL 0.99% 6.63% 570%
SHOPPING 1.28% 6.46% 226%

36. UNCOMMON SNIPPET QUERY TYPES
QUERY TYPE JULY (Mobile) JULY (Desktop)
LOCAL 5.15% 1.84%
SUBJECTIVE 11.84% 18.14%
INFO/HELP 11.65% 4.64%
FACTUAL 5.64% 6.63%
SHOPPING 8.71% 6.46%

37. TWEETABLE TIP
REVIEWS AND OPINION BASED
CONTENT CAN NOW SNAG
SNIPPETS. GO AND GET ‘EM!
@STATrob

38. SNIPPET FREQUENCY FOR “FINANCE” WORDS
salary
cost
refinancing
taxes
fees 58%
58%
46%
59%
68%
40%
36%
43%
57%
77%
January (Desktop)
July (Desktop)

39. SNIPPET FREQUENCY FOR “FINANCE” WORDS.
MOBILE VS. DESKTOP
salary
cost
refinancing
taxes
fees 58%
58%
46%
59%
68%
67%
59%
53%
67%
80%
July (Mobile)
July (Desktop)

40. SNIPPET FORMATS
VS. QUERY TYPES
@STATrob

41. THE BEST INSIGHTS ARE IN THE
INTERSECTIONS OF THE DATA.
We can make some assumptions about the content
formats we should be using for different queries.
@STATrob

42. DESKTOP SNIPPET FORMAT FOR
“FINANCE” WORDS
salary
tuition
fees
33%
66%
58%
13%
1%
0%
53%
33%
42%
Paragraph
List
Table

43. MOBILE SNIPPET FORMAT FOR
“FINANCE” WORDS
salary
tuition
fees
32%
58%
52%
13%
1%
0%
55%
41%
48%
Paragraph
List
Table

44. DESKTOP SNIPPET FORMAT FOR
“SUBJECTIVE” WORDS
rankings
review
comparison
64%
87%
79%
11%
2%
20%
25%
10%
1%
Paragraph
List
Table

45. MOBILE SNIPPET FORMAT FOR
“SUBJECTIVE” WORDS
rankings
review
comparison
56%
72%
72%
14%
3%
27%
30%
26%
1%
Paragraph
List
Table

46. DESKTOP SNIPPET FORMAT FOR
“INFO/HELP” WORDS
course
programs
storage
8%
56%
56%
18%
25%
9%
74%
20%
35%
Paragraph
List
Table

47. MOBILE SNIPPET FORMAT FOR
“INFO/HELP” WORDS
course
programs
storage
12%
54%
49%
22%
27%
18%
66%
19%
33%
Paragraph
List
Table

48. [course requirements for physical therapy]

49. [texas approved driver safety course]

50. [medical school course requirements]

51. THIS IS A WEAK SNIPPET.
It’s evident that Google prefers tables in this query
space, so optimize your content with tables.
@STATrob

52. 29% OF SNIPPETS ARE TABLES.
Google is using them for a reason. They’re good UX for
certain queries. Use this to your advantage.
@STATrob

53. [main insurance companies]

54. [RN salary los angeles]

55. [best miles reward credit card]

56. [online nursing schools]

57. [online accredited christian colleges]

58. There’s data missing from the snippet, and they’re using <div>!

59. THIS IS A WEAK SNIPPET.
Put this data in a table so that Google can extract it
with confidence, and you’ll take it from them.
@STATrob

60. TWEETABLE TIP
YOU CAN STEAL WEAK SNIPPETS.
USE THE FORMAT GOOGLE REALLY
WANTS TO SEE FOR A QUERY.
@STATrob

61. WHAT ABOUT THE
OTHER SNIPPET TYPES?
@STATrob

62. DESKTOP SNIPPET FORMAT FOR
“GENERAL QUESTION” WORDS
does
what
how
2%
6%
3%
42%
4%
0%
56%
90%
96%
Paragraph
List
Table

63. MOBILE SNIPPET FORMAT FOR
“GENERAL QUESTION” WORDS
does
what
how
1%
6%
3%
43%
4%
0%
55%
89%
97%
Paragraph
List
Table

64. THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF “HOW” QUERIES
HOW QUESTION SNIPPET TYPE
how do I poach an egg? list
how does evaporation work? paragraph
how do I wax a car? list
how do frogs croak? paragraph

65. TWEETABLE TIP
RESEARCH THE FEATURED
SNIPPETS IN EACH QUERY SPACE &
FORMAT YOUR CONTENT TO MATCH.
@STATrob

66. I SENSE A GOLD
RUSH COMING.
@STATrob

67. [online nursing schools] in USA (Google.com)

68. [online nursing schools] in Canada (Google.ca)

69. TWEETABLE TIP
LOOK FOR MISSING FEATURED
SNIPPETS IN OTHER MARKETS.
Create geographically relevant content to target them.
@STATrob

70. WRAPPING IT UP
@STATrob

71. FEATURED SNIPPETS
AREN’T GOING ANYWHERE.
They’re a corner-stone of Google’s strategy
for mobile and voice search.
@STATrob

72. TWEETABLE TIP 1
YOU HAVE TO USE A TOOL TO
TRACK FEATURED SNIPPETS.
@STATrob

73. TWEETABLE TIP 2
PLACES PACKS NEVER OCCUR
ALONGSIDE FEATURED SNIPPETS.
Local SEOs don’t get to play. Sorry. :(
@STATrob

74. TWEETABLE TIP 3
LET PEOPLE ALSO ASK BOXES
INSPIRE YOUR OWN FEATURED
SNIPPET CONTENT.
Google is telling you what answers they like
for similar queries.
@STATrob

75. TWEETABLE TIP 4
PAY ATTENTION TO KEYWORD
VARIANTS. SNIPPETS ONLY
APPEAR FOR SOME.
Your research just got harder. Sorry!
@STATrob

76. TWEETABLE TIP 5
REVIEWS AND OPINION BASED
CONTENT CAN NOW SNAG
SNIPPETS. GO AND GET ‘EM!
@STATrob

77. TWEETABLE TIP 6
YOU CAN STEAL WEAK SNIPPETS.
USE THE FORMAT GOOGLE REALLY
WANTS TO SEE FOR A QUERY.
@STATrob

78. TWEETABLE TIP 7
RESEARCH THE FEATURED
SNIPPETS IN EACH QUERY SPACE &
FORMAT YOUR CONTENT TO MATCH.
@STATrob

79. TWEETABLE TIP 8
LOOK FOR MISSING FEATURED
SNIPPETS IN OTHER MARKETS.
Create geographically relevant content to target them.
@STATrob

80. Download the whitepaper, data set, and slides at getSTAT.com/stateofsearch