In a recent Webmaster Hangout, Google’s John Mueller was asked about the ranking factors related to featured snippets. Mueller clarified what is not a ranking factor for featured snippets and provided insights into the type of content that Google tends to promote as a featured snippet.
### What is a Featured Snippet?
A featured snippet is a summary that answers a search engine user’s query. It’s particularly useful for mobile device users and those using voice search. While these results may not always drive traffic, they do send some. A pragmatic approach is to aim to benefit from that traffic.
### When Does Google Show a Featured Snippet?
Google displays a featured snippet when its algorithm identifies a search query as a question. Here’s a helpful explanation from Google’s featured snippet support page:
> “When we recognize that a query asks a question, we programmatically detect pages that answer the user’s question and display a top result as a featured snippet in the search results.”
This offers a clue about ranking in featured snippets. To be shown as a featured snippet, consider what problem your content is solving, then create at least a paragraph that answers a specific question. Include images and use structured data to clarify the image’s context and relevance to the content.
### What Ranking Factors are Used for Featured Snippets?
One question raised was whether the E-A-T factors described in Google’s Search Quality Evaluators Guidelines influence ranking for featured snippets. E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. According to the guidelines:
> “The amount of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EAT) that a webpage/website has is very important. MC quality and amount, website information, and website reputation all inform the EAT of a website.”
Initially, John Mueller seemed unfamiliar with the “eat” reference. However, he ultimately commented on a website’s authority:
> “Generally speaking, it’s not the case because you have an important website that we’re automatically including everything that you write as a featured snippet.”
While it’s unclear if Mueller specifically addressed E-A-T, he noted that a website’s importance does not automatically make its content eligible for featured snippets.
### What Makes a Site Rank in Featured Snippets
Site authority is not a ranking factor. John Mueller discussed what factors do play a role, stating:
> “We look at a number of factors when it comes to featured snippets. Part of that is… relevance to understand what makes sense to show to users for individual queries.”
Mueller highlighted that relevance to a user’s question is among the factors for ranking in featured snippets. To rank in a featured snippet, ensure a statement or paragraph clearly answers a user’s query.
It’s important to understand that answering a search query is not the only ranking factor, and a site’s “importance” does not play a role.
### What Other Factors Help a Page Rank for Featured Snippets?
Mueller did not specify the other factors, but examining featured snippets and identifying similarities can offer insights. Although it may seem that images could help a site rank, Google sometimes features content from one page while using images from another.
### Takeaway for Featured Snippets Rankings
The key takeaway is that a site’s importance does not make it more eligible for featured snippets. The content must answer a search query. When creating content, consider what problem it solves and how a user might search for that solution.
### More Resources
_Images by Shutterstock, Modified by Author_
