Customers have a lot of choices when looking up information online. The number of search results provided for a simple query can be overwhelming. To improve users’ search experience by providing more relevant information, Google introduced featured snippets in 2014.

A featured snippet is a little piece of text you see at the top of Google’s search results that immediately answers a user’s question. Generally, they fall into one of four formats:

  • Paragraph
  • numbered list
  • bulleted list
  • table

The text displayed in the snippet is extracted by Google from a webpage; also included are a link to the page, the page title, and the URL. For example, if you type in the search query, “what are the benefits of Managed Print Services?” the first thing you will see is a featured snippet listing some of the principal benefits.

Winning the prized featured snippet spot in Google search results can help your dealership in a number of ways. 

Sends your website to the top of search results quickly – Featured snippets are presented at the top of Google organic search results just below the search bar, a prominent place that increases visibility. A study by SEO toolset Ahrefs revealed that most webpages chosen to be a featured snippet were already ranked in the top ten results, which means the higher your content is ranked, the better chance it has of being chosen as a featured snippet. 

Boosts brand recognition – The increased visibility can help to make your dealership stand out, giving your brand recognition a giant-sized boost. 

Earns more clicks – A featured snippet is more eye-catching than other organic search results on a page, which can result in more people clicking through rather than strolling past. Featured snippets improved click-through rates by 114% in a study carried out by HubSpot.

Improves your authority – If your dealership’s website has been pulled into the feature box, searchers will naturally think you are an authority in your field. Google only promotes content that is unique, fresh, and informative. 

Makes your site more attractive to users – Snippets show that a website contains helpful and relevant content, which is what searchers are after. 

Leveraging Featured Snippets

There is no guaranteed way for Google to feature a snippet of your content. That’s because search engine algorithms determine which page is most likely to answer a person’s question. Therefore, your content must provide answers. If it doesn’t, it won’t make it as a featured snippet. So what can you do to accomplish this?

You need to understand the sorts of questions your prospects and customers are asking. Typically, inquiries will fall into any of the following categories:

  • How to…
  • How do/does…?
  • Why do/why does…?
  • What is/what are …?

Think about how these question types apply to your users and how you might tailor your content to provide them with the information they need. One way is through an FAQ page with a series of comprehensive answers that are of high quality. 

If you want your dealership to gain an edge over your competitors, aim for featured snippets to get you on top of search queries. For help with this or any other digital marketing strategies, contact the experts at Evolved Office today.