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How Law Firms Can Optimize Their Content for Google’s Featured Snippets

by Good2bSocial • October 1st, 2018 • SEO | Blog

featured snippetsFeatured snippets are the boxes that you see at the top of certain Google search results pages. These snippets deliver a brief answer without users having to click through. While featured snippets make search easier for users, they can be frustrating for firms trying to get a click back to the content on their website which is why it’s important to get your law firm’s page to rank first. This will give you an advantage over competitors and help you optimize your law firm’s site for voice search.

But how do you optimize your content to become a featured snippet and reap these rewards?

Understand Featured Snippets

Before getting into optimization of featured snippets, you need to better understand what they are. Google says that it displays the snippets in cases when it thinks the additional information will help searchers, pointing out the usefulness for voice and mobile searches in particular. Features snippets have a text-based form, although they may also include images. They typically have the title and URL of the page, plus a paragraph, list, table, chart, graph, and/or image. The format the snippet takes depends on the query, with definitions typically returning a paragraph and how-to instructions returning a list.

Target the Right Featured Snippets

To make the best use of your time and resources, strategically choose which featured snippets you will optimize for. Ideally, you will choose to optimize for a snippet involving terms that you already appear on the first page of search results for. Additionally, look for featured snippets that currently feature your competitor. Start off by looking specifically for featured snippets that are easier to beat, such as those from low-quality sites, from poorly formatted sites, or that do not have accurate information. Tools like SEMrush can do this for you.

How to Optimize

It all comes back to the content found on your law firm’s website, but there are multiple things you will want to do to increase your chances of having your snippet featured. Consider how your audience searches and develop content around these queries. For example, instead of a page titled “The Personal Injury Litigation Process” consider a topic and header like, “What do you do when you’re injured at work?” Start by repeating the question you want to appear for on your page in a clear, prominent manner. Then, include a direct, short answer that is as complete as possible. If necessary, include images, diagrams, and/or a list of instructions. Be sure that you do not have any extraneous information in this area, either. Don’t forget to make sure that your page is structured in a manner that ensures search engines and users alike can easily skim it to find the information they want. When it comes to featured snippets, Google prefers highly structured content. Consider bulleted or numbered lists that provide the answers to the query you’re aiming to rank for. Finally, avoid JavaScript or CSS and keep your formatting to basic HTML elements, including tables and lists.

Takeaway

As Google shifts toward user intent, the way you craft and structure your content is becoming more important. As we’ve said in the past, law firms need to think like their clients and provide content that they’re searching for. Not only will this method of content marketing help establish thought leadership, but it will now help your law firm’s website rank higher on search engines. If your law firm needs help optimizing your content for search engines, contact us and we can help.

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