What is a snippet?
In online marketing, “snippet” is a short excerpt of text that is used as a preview of a website in Google search results (SERPs) is presented. Google offers various ways to display snippets, including rich snippets and featured snippets. Targeted snippet optimization can increase the click rate, which can lead to an increase in website traffic.
Building a snippet
A snippet consists of elements automatically generated by Google or specially designed metadata (title, description and URL). Google can abbreviate this information if it is too long to display in the SERPs. It is possible that Google independently creates a snippet that differs from the metadata set. In addition to metadata, other elements such as date, rating stars or event data can also appear in a snippet.
Snippet optimization
Optimizing a snippet aims to increase the click rate. The content should match users' search intent and encourage them to click, for example by asking a question or making an appealing announcement. A well-optimized snippet can even generate more traffic than better-positioned competitors. This is particularly the case with rich snippets or featured snippets, which sometimes reach the so-called position 0 and thus move ahead of the actual first position in the search results. It is important that the snippet does not create false expectations, as this can lead to high bounce rates and have a negative impact on SEO performance. Using special characters or emojis can increase visibility in SERPs, especially for highly competitive keywords.
Featured Snippets and Rich Snippets
Google is constantly evolving from a mere broker of web addresses to a provider of direct information. This is particularly reflected in the increasing number of questions that are answered directly in the SERPs, through special snippet formats such as featured snippets or rich snippets. As a result, users often no longer have to click on a website, which is known as no-click searches.
Snippet with rating stars:
