The first position in the search results receives the most clicks. What can beat these results? Position zero! Today we’re talking about “Google Quick Answers”: what it is, how it works, and whether your site can get into the coveted box.
What are Google Quick Answers?
Google Quick Answers is a special result that is shown immediately after the advertisement and before the main block with the search engine’s organic results. Its task is to give the user an instant answer to their query. Like the position in the search results, it is impossible to buy a place in the box. But you can try to optimize your site so that Google displays its pages for certain words.
Now, having found out what search query blocks are - quick answers, a logical question arises - what are the advantages of getting into them?
Let's list the most obvious ones:
- These are bonus impressions for your site that do not require any financial or time costs;
- such blocks provide additional organic traffic;
- The click-through rate of the page from which the text fell into the frame above the search results increases;
- The level of trust on the part of the user also increases;
- Due to improving behavioral factors, the level of trust of search engines in your resource also increases.
Main types
Blocks with answers in Google search are of three types:
- paragraph of text;
- list;
- table.
The most popular are paragraphs. According to statistics from the site getstat.com, they account for over 80% of all quick answers. The block in zero-based output has a character limit of 370. If there is more content, part of it will be cut off, and an ellipsis will appear at the end. The text can be supplemented with an image.
Lists (numbered, unnumbered) - second after Google's answer block is popular. Numbered lists in the prompts can be found when searching for recipes or for keywords containing the word "how to." Unordered lists are issued for queries that require a list of options.
Tables are the most unpopular type of recommendations. The recommendations show part of the table from the page, so to get full information, the user needs to click on the link to the source.
Also, Google's zero position may contain blocks of services from Google itself or its partners. This includes:
- YouTube videos;
- dictionary with word explanations;
- weather;
- map with route;
- air flights;
- translator;
- value and currency converter;
- calculator;
- stock market quotes;
- time and date;
- energy value of products;
- population statistics;
- event date and others.
However, unlike the previous examples, in the case of Google services, such tips do not contain any links to the source. They are designed to ensure that the user receives the most satisfactory answer immediately.
Do you have a chance to get into quick answers
Statistical studies show that in 70% of cases, Google special elements, which include the recommendations block, are sites from the TOP-3 of search results, in 25% of cases these are sites that are in the TOP 4-10 of organic results, and only in 5% of cases results up to position 70.
Why is it worth fighting to get into position zero? If your site is very young and you have just started working on it, even a modest 5% of organic traffic will be extremely useful for you. Moreover, a site in position zero is a kind of recognition from Google. This means that the content is really good and deserves the attention of users. We can confidently say: that getting into special elements will have a positive effect on the promotion of your site.
Of course, no specialist can give a 100% guarantee of getting into the prompts. However, by following our recommendations, you can easily find your resource in the coveted frame.
Find all the opportunities to get into the quick answers section
Now we will talk about how to get into the Google answer block.
According to the above, if your site is in the TOP-10, then its pages already have a good chance of getting into the zero position. How to contribute to this?
Research by the Getstat portal lists the most popular topics in Google tips:
- DIY (do it yourself);
- health;
- requirements;
- finance;
- mathematics.
The Ahrefs service also conducted research and determined which words became the most popular and contributed to the appearance of the recommended answer.
Studies by American marketers show that audience engagement indicators significantly affect a page's appearance in recommendations. Statistically, pages on which users spend an average of 2-3 times more time than on others are more likely to fall into the zero position, so long reads are best suited for such promotion: one such long text is divided into dozens of paragraphs that can successfully get into quick tips.
Choose keywords
Let's take a closer look at how to get into Google's tips. First of all, you should work on keywords. We advise you to collect the most complete semantic core and study it in detail.
After analyzing the data, we can conclude that long-tail keywords work best. What are they? In a general sense, long tail queries are low-frequency. They usually consist of 3-7 words. You can notice such keywords right during a search - Google itself will give you options for "tails" for keywords. It is long tails that increase the chances of your page getting into the search engine's suggestions.
Material on the topic:Collection and clustering of the semantic core
Find relevant questions in Google
Pay attention to queries that look like questions. Also, don't forget about their informational value. How to collect keywords with questions? Use special markers:
- where;
- which;
- how;
- what;
- why;
- when;
- if;
- why;
- where;
- from;
- can I.
Enter your main keywords in the search bar, and put these markers in front of them. Search tips will give you the corresponding "tail" with such a marker and your key. Study the output. Record in the table those keywords for which the featured snippet is displayed.
Study your competitors' results. Be sure to check if Google's rich snippets are showing for your selected keywords. You can do this manually, or you can use the Serpstat service.
Filter all the keys and see which of them display featured snippets.
Use the "Similar queries" option under the quick answers window. This way you can explore the topic more broadly and discover interesting keywords that can also get you to the zero position of the search results.
Determine for which queries you are in the TOP of the search results
How to get into Google Hints using those queries for which your site already ranks well? Study them well and highlight long tail keywords with question marks. After optimizing the content, they will allow you to get into the prompts. Use the Google Search Console tool. Here you can determine which of your pages are the most popular.
Using the filter, find the keywords with question markers among all the queries.
Optimizing the site for quick answers
As you already understood, there is no one magic button, by clicking you will immediately bring your page to the zero position. But there are a number of actions, by performing which you will most likely still be able to get into the frame above the results.
SEO optimization
First of all, start optimizing the pages of your site. Collect a high-quality semantic core, use the right key queries, and create SEO URLs for the pages. Be sure to analyze your competitors: see how they mark up the pages, how much content they upload, whether they use tables, images, quotes, etc.
Micromarkup and text structuring
To get into the recommendations for keywords, you need to configure Google's rich snippets.
What is Google's rich snippet and how does it differ from the usual one? A classic snippet consists of a title, a description, and a link that leads directly to the page. A featured snippet, in addition to this, includes some other elements and allows the user to get much more information. For example, Google's advanced search allows you to add:
- links to other pages of the site;
- images;
- rating;
- contact information.
The extended snippet allows you to stand out from your competitors and also gives you a real chance to be highlighted in the tips.
Creating snippets in Google is possible in various ways. One of the most popular is using the free micro-markup generator Schema Markup Generator from Merkle.
As you already know, long reads are best suited for getting into the frame above the search results. But at the same time, solid text is not suitable for this role. Structure it: highlight paragraphs, don't forget about the table of contents, bulleted and numbered lists.
Text content
How to make a Google knowledge block from your article? Focus on its content. Here are some useful tips:
- Use long-tail keywords with questions in the subtitles of your article;
- The answer to the question posed should be contained in the paragraph immediately below the title;
- Continue to develop the topic further so that a user who is interested in your short answer can get even more information by going to the page on your site.
Use facts, and confirm them with links to reliable sources. Don't forget about images. Search engine prompts with images attract more attention than regular text. The length of the paragraphs should be small — such that the text can fit into the space allocated for it in the zero issue. Try to fit the answer to the question in 370 characters. However, do not limit yourself to this, continue to reveal the question more fully in the text — Google is better at recommending resources that offer the user the most complete information.
Sometimes the text from the page ends up in the zero issue completely by accident. Why does this happen? It's simple: the user had a specific question, and this block of text contained a clear answer to it. This is quite natural and only benefits your pages.
You do not have to write a new article to get into Google's knowledge block. Optimize existing texts using the collected semantics. It is important that your article is truly useful. It is good if it answers several similar questions at once. This way you increase your chances of your page being included in the suggestions because Google is quite good at identifying phrases that are close in meaning to the one the user entered into the search engine. Therefore, it makes no sense to create separate pages for different variants of long-tail keywords that are similar in meaning.
Summaries
So, let's summarize how to get into the featured snippet:
- Analyze the collected semantics for long tail keywords.
- Identify the keywords for which your pages rank well and use question markers and the "similar queries" function to collect new keywords.
- Analyze competitors and the keywords for which their pages are displayed in quick answers.
- Structure articles. Break the text into paragraphs, use lists and images.
- Write a question in the subtitle and give the answer in the text below it.
You must remember that, first of all, you are writing content for people, not for the search engine. Therefore, focus on its content, and write author's articles on topics that interest your audience. Give advice, make recommendations, and step-by-step instructions for action. And don't overdo it with optimization. Entrust this matter to professionals from Idea Digital Agency. Our specialists know all the intricacies of search engine SEO optimization and will help your resource get even more traffic.
