How To Rank For Featured Snippets And Achieve Position Zero

A Google featured snippet is that coveted answer box right at the top of a SERP. Search marketers agree that getting your page on a featured snippet can give you a boost in traffic and set you apart from the competition. In this video, we show you exactly how you can get all the way to the top of a search result and score a featured snippet.
Let’s start by examining the different types of featured snippets.
You have the usual paragraph snippets, lists, tables and videos. Apart from that, there’s People Also Ask, Quick tools, Carousels and Knowledge Cards – which aren’t exactly featured snippets but perform a similar function.
Then, we move on to the top 3 reasons to rank on position zero.
# 1: Traffic.
Featured snippet STEALS traffic from Position 1, as proven by studies by Ahrefs and others. We also show you a sneak peek behind how Link Building HQ manages to score featured snippets for highly engaging keywords in the digital marketing industry.
# 2: Voice search.

With the rise of Alexa, Siri and other virtual assistants, voice searches are becoming more common. Voice searches tend to be longer, more natural-sounding and almost always in the form of a question. We discuss the correlation between voice search queries and the odds of appearing in a featured snippet.
# 3: Building authority.
Ranking on page 1 is great. Ranking on position 0? Even better. A higher ranking means that Google thinks you are the best source of information for a particular search query. It helps build trust and authority for your brand, making you stand out from the competition.
Finally, we give you 4 actionable tips you can use right now to improve your ranking and earn a featured snippet on Google.
Tip 1: Find existing snippet opportunities
Your pages ranking on the first SERP are in a prime position to be featured on position zero. Because you’ve already done the hard work of getting these pages to the top 10 rankings, all you need to do is clean up the page’s HTML and move up to the featured snippets.

Tip 2: Optimize your code

This means working on your on-page markup and code. We’ll tell you when and where to use the H2, H3, paragraph and list tags to improve your chances of earning a featured snippet.
If you want to rank for a paragraph snippet, then your H2 should include the entire search query, or at least a few keywords from the query. Your p tag, or paragraph, should be the snippet you want to display.

If you want to rank for a list snippet, then you need to use the ordered list or unordered list tag instead of paragraphs. Your H2 would still be the search query.

Tip 3: Find new snippet opportunities

You are going to have only so many pages that rank on SERP 1. However, there are plenty of opportunities out there for you. Depending on your business, product or service, and target audience, ask yourself what are the search queries and keywords you should be ranking for. Think in terms of volume, competition, and relevance.
Bonus: We’ll even tell you our favorite tools you can use to find snippet opportunities.

Tip 4: Create valuable content and improve your site’s authority

Research, research, research. Find out what topics your competition is talking about, what kind of content are they creating, and how you can one-up them. You need to create content that genuinely satisfies a user’s search intent. You’ll also need to work on improving your site’s authority by getting backlinks and establishing yourself as an expert.
If you do these things right, you significantly improve your chances of scoring a featured snippet and getting more traffic to your page.

Link Building HQ
At Link Building HQ, our goal is to provide the most relevant and up-to-date information to search engine marketers.