Websites that rely heavily on tables may experience a decline in traffic for searches specific to their site. John Mueller advises against using tables when aiming to optimize for voice search because both tables and pages filled with links do not align well with voice search capabilities.
Voice search queries and featured snippets are interrelated since featured snippets are audibly relayed during a voice search. If your website’s information is mainly organized in tables or links, it may be overshadowed by another page in the featured snippets. In a discussion during a Google Hangout about voice search SEO, John Mueller pointed out that tables and link lists are not effective for voice search.
“If you have a question and the answer is a big thing or a table or a list of links, it doesn’t really work with voice…”
Is this a Pricing Page Issue?
This issue arises when someone searches for a brand name along with the word “Pricing.” If the brand’s webpage is structured as a table or a collection of links, Google might display another site in the featured snippets. Other search queries could also be impacted in a similar way.
I have observed this with various search phrases, where another site consistently appears in the featured snippets instead of the brand being queried.
The Role of User Experience in Mobile Indexing
Google strives to deliver the search results that best satisfy user needs. Normally, a search for a brand name should lead directly to the brand’s website. However, that isn’t happening here.
The reason Google might not prioritize the brand page in the featured snippet is due to the presence of tables or links, which don’t work well with voice search. Tables are cumbersome for voice searches, resulting in a less-than-ideal user experience if a long list of prices is read aloud.
Why Aren’t the Brand Pages Ranking?
One possible reason is the unfavorable user experience for Google Voice Assistant when dealing with tables or link-heavy pages. John Mueller highlighted this issue during a Google Hangout on voice search optimization.
This creates a dilemma where the page that should logically appear for a brand search isn’t shown. This is because Google deems the table-based brand page as offering a poor user experience and opts to feature another website instead.
Instances of Pages Losing Featured Snippets
Searches involving brand name + pricing often show this issue when the brand’s page primarily consists of tables or links. For example, you would expect “Bluehost Pricing” to strongly signal the brand, yet another website appears in the featured snippets instead:
The Bluehost pricing page presents its data in tables.
Another example is the keyword “Constant Contact + Pricing.” The Constant Contact brand doesn’t rank for this search query due to pricing information being conveyed through tables.
Key Takeaway 1 – Summary Creation
The key takeaway is to avoid overusing tables for essential information. Consider presenting such information in a way that is easily spoken, perhaps by summarizing your content in three concise paragraphs. The data in tables is valuable for your site visitors, but to rank for featured snippets, you may need to condense the table information into a few short paragraphs and place this summary strategically.
Key Takeaway 2 – Beyond Just Pricing Tables
While this analysis focused on brand names and pricing searches, other similar queries might exist. It would be beneficial to assess the use of tables on your web pages and create corresponding summaries to enhance page ranking in featured snippets, if applicable.
Acknowledgment to Th3Core Forums for highlighting this issue!
Further Information
