Featured Snippet

A highlighted search result box that appears at the top of Google's results page (position zero), showing a direct answer extracted from a web page.

A featured snippet is a special SERP result displayed above the regular organic listings — often called position zero. Google extracts a short answer, definition, list, table, or step-by-step from a web page and displays it directly in the results, along with the page title and URL.

Types of Featured Snippets

• Paragraph — a text block answering a “what is” or “how does” question. Most common type.
• List — ordered or unordered list, often for “how to” or “top X” queries.
• Table — structured data comparison, common for pricing or specifications.
• Video — typically a YouTube video for tutorial-style queries.

How to Optimise for Featured Snippets

• Target question-based keywords (“what is”, “how to”, “why does”)
• Provide a concise, direct answer in the first 40–60 words of a section
• Use a heading that mirrors the question, followed immediately by the answer
• Structure lists and tables cleanly with proper HTML markup

The CTR Trade-Off

Featured snippets can reduce click-through rates for some queries because users get the answer without clicking. However, for complex topics where the snippet only partially answers the question, winning the snippet often increases clicks. The best strategy depends on the query type.