Zeroth ranking- A cryptic dimension to SERP | Google’s Featured Snippets

Apparently, attaining the highest ranking on Google SERP is the holy grail of SEO, every website owner craves to achieve. But in this incessant attempt, have you overlooked the probability of the zeroth ranking for your web page? Well, Zeroth Ranking or the featured snippet lists even before the #1 search result and you could grab this position with more focus on your web page content. So stop worrying if you have been outgunned due to back links as featured snippets could do wonders to your SERP ranking!

Read Also: How to Get a Google Featured Snippets?

What is the Zeroth Ranking?

The zeroth ranking or a featured snippet contains a URL, page title and a snippet which ideally answers the search query with closest relevance. This snippet is displayed way above the first organic search result. A survey by Rank Ranger says that featured snippets appear in almost 9.196% of search queries. Technically Google detects pages which are most relevant to the search query and displays them on the position #0. This framework has been nailed in attempt to gravitate the attention of viewers. It has also been found that the click through rate or CTR for websites showcased as snippets has skyrocketed with regard to their SERPs. There are different types of featured snippets like:

This particular snippet is of the paragraph type which is displayed with the web page URL and a description.

This snippet explains a process in bullet points along with an illustrative image for better understanding.

A tabular representation of the snippet represents improved clarity and this can be achieved by marking the table using a tag on the web page.

So are you at an advantage with #0 ranking? The answer is a definite yes!

• Zero Ranking pushes down #1 search result. This is followed by a set of related questions. The #1 search result is actually the web page URL of the featured snippet. So with #0 you are actually getting listed twice on a single search result page!
• Featured snippets occupy an eye-catching attention and this way the viewer is persuaded to visit your web page. This contributes to turbo boost your click-through rate immensely.
• Instead of looking into the nuances of SEO, you could achieve the zeroth position by focusing on the content of your web page. The more the content is relevant and matches search queries, the more is the probability for you to rank #0
• Though your target could have been to be #1 on SERP, #0 gives your web page an even more elevated position, higher than the usual #1!
• As the featured snippet is displayed along with a URL and description, you get much more organic clicks which drives potential traffic to your website.

Read Also: Optimizing for Voice Search – Your Chase for Featured Answers

Positioning your web page on #0

Placing your web page on the #0 is a systematic process. Let us understand how to accomplish it.

• Firstly, your web page will have to appear on the first page of search results. So is it necessary that your web page ranks #1? It is not. Actually, #2 or pages appearing even after that have a greater opportunity to rank 0 than the #1 web page.
• The content on your page should be affirmatively relevant and educative. It should be able to answer maximum search queries. Offer information on demand rather than targeting in propagating your services. This will help you in ranking better on SERP.
• Featured snippets do not strictly adhere to keyword research. They actually target in replying queries in the best possible manner. It basically follows this format,
• 5Ws (what, why, when, where, who +how)
• Detailed content on the topic
• Additional content.

Identifying pages for zeroth ranking:

You could use the format [Site: yoursite.com “desired phrase”]. For eg: Site: modulebazaar.com “Magento extensions” If your web page is eligible for a featured snippet, it will be displayed by keying this format on Google as shown above. Short listing questions on-demand related to your keywords: Though featured snippets do contain targeted keywords, they are more about answering with maximum relevance to search queries. Listing down few “frequently asked” questions for your keywords could do the trick. To get this list of questions, answerthepublic.com has proved to be a very useful tool. It uses the Google API to generate multiple questions which are trending based on a given keyword.

Find below the answers generated for Magento extension:

To conclude: Though Google ranking is all about getting you the desired conversion rates, an appropriately managed & structured web page with quality content actually serve the viewers with useful information automatically contributing to an increased CTR and prospective sales.