What Is Google Position 0, And How Can You Get There?

When you’re talking about success on Google, most people will talk about reaching position 1. Which makes sense, given that 1 is usually the first of something. But did you know that position 1 is not, in fact, the best you can do? Google is a sneaky mistress, and it has a hidden, even better option – position 0. Position 0 is highly coveted, as it not only appears at the top of search results, but in an outlines box all of its own. And today we’re going to talk about what position 0 is, what it means and how to achieve it for yourself.

What Is Position 0?

Position 0 is the information that appears right at the top of Google, above the normal search results. It’s also called the ‘featured snippet’, and is exactly that – a featured snippet of content that directly answers a search query. These snippets are placed above the normal search results and even the ad results, and are displayed differently. Google explains featured snippets in search as:

“Featured snippets are special boxes where the format of regular listings is reversed, showing the descriptive snippet first. What’s different with a featured snippet is that it is enhanced to draw user attention on the results page.”

Typically position 0 comes in 3 different formats:

·        Paragraphs – The most common, a block of 40-60 words that explains and directly answers a search query.

·        Lists – A bullet point list of steps explaining how to do the search query.

·        Tables – A chart of data, such as a conversion table for cups to ounces.

What Does Position 0 Mean For Your Business?

So, that’s what position 0 is. Now, why should you care? After all, how much more value could this bring your business over reaching position 1 in organic and paid search results? Well, you’re not the only one to wonder that. When they first popped up, even seasoned marketers were worried, thinking that featured snippets would hit their traffic and people wouldn’t visit their sites. But the reality is that position 0 does not hurt your stats in the slightest. In fact, it gives them a massive boost, particularly visits, click-throughs and conversions.

The main reason for this is that position 0 is the first thing a user sees when they search, and it directly answers ther question. This means they don’t need to search around for answers, and can instead get all the information they need in one place. In addition to boosting traditional traffic and sales for your business (which is great in itself), position 0 is great for establishing brand expertise. After all, when your business is providing the definitive answer to a question, that’s a powerful statement about your brand. It’s also really prominent for voice search, which is going to become more and more important as voice search becomes more common.

Our Top Tips For Position 0

Want to get to position 0? Great! How does that happen? Well, they key behind becoming one of these featured snippets is producing good content. If you can do this, the rest of the journey is fairly straight forward. But just in case, here are a few tips for achieving position 0:

Provide Answers To Real Questions: Featured snippets are all about direct answers to direct questions. So in order to get your business featured there, you need to provide the answers! That might sound simple, but for many this can be the hard part. What questions need answering? How can we be sure that the question we answer is even a featured snippet? If you’re struggling with this, the good news is there are tools that can help. For example, Answer The Public shows you the questions that are being asked in your niche – so all you need to do is pick one and provide an answer!

Be Direct And To The Point: There is a time and a place for fluff in content – but trying for position 0 is definitely not it. If you want to hit position 0, you need to be concise, direct and to the point. That means no padding, dancing around the issue, or using jargon when you really don’t need to. Keep your information specific. The main reason for this is simple – Google chooses featured snippets based on what website provides the best and clearest answer to a particular question. So when Google crawls your content, it’s crawlers need to see that you’ve answered the question as directly as possible.

Write Longer Content: There has been a lot of debate for a long time over whether long-form or short-form content is best for SEO in general, and featured snippets in particular. And while you might have been praying for short-form, it’s long-form content that produces the best results for those with position 0 aspirations. When choosing content to display in position 0, Google chooses the content that’s in-depth, and that offers lots of value to the readers. This is better done through long-form than short-form content, so you’d better get your fingers warmed up!

At Ad-Extra, we specialise in getting your business to display at the top of Google using advertising. But we still understand how important organic SEO is, and understanding how Google works when it comes to choosing which websites to display results for. Our team can not only manage your ads for you, but we can give you all the insights you need to improve your organic rankings as well. If you would like to find out more, just get in touch with the team today to book your free consultation.