This next tip is something I stumbled across when I was doing a blog refresh and trying to get a featured snippet for a client was ranking #2.
What I wanted to know, was what my featured snippet was going to look like when I got it.
Hard to tell right? There was a hack that used to work for this, but since it’s not mine and I do not have permission to show you it, I will just show you the one that I came up with.
This works well when you are in contention for the snippet. If you’re on page two, this is probably not going to work as well.
Step 1: Google the featured snippet you’re gunning for (don’t know which snippets you have, use this note to find out).
Step 2: open a new window, paste in the same keyword, but this time, put your brand name at the end of the query.
E.g. if you’re keyword is “top 10 best headphones” and you are techradar.com, Google “top 10 best headphones techradar”
This will show you the snippet Google wants to show you for despite for the fact that there are pages ranking above you.
At this point, you will want to look at these SERPs side by side. The one with the actual snippet and yours that you’ve revealed with this trick.
Here’s another example:
This works in most featured snippet SERPs and in the SERP above, I tested it 8 spots down and they all showed unique snippets.
Putting these side-to-side and studying the difference is going to be the key to stealing your competitors snippet. Notice how the snippet on the right for Photography Life only has one bolded keyword where the one for iceland-photo-tours.com has 3. Well that’s a start. You might also want to check out the headings that precede it and its placement on the page. Good luck!
Want more notes like this? Sign up today and receive my spreadsheet bundle.
No comments yet.