# 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.