Google strives to meet search intent as quickly as possible. Featured snippets are one way the technology company does this. They are displayed in a way that helps people discover answers to their questions. Google’s automated system decides if a web page’s content would make a sound snippet and displays it in the most sensical way. Law firm websites, just like any other business website, can benefit from being featured in snippet form in Google’s search results. To benefit from Google’s snippets, you need to understand how to optimize your content and what types of snippets make the most sense for the content you publish. 

Explaining the Types of Featured Snippets

Google first introduced snippets in 2014. Featured snippets are the expanded snippets that you see on the first position of Google’s search engine results page (SERP). Snippets are set to answer users’ questions directly in the search results. 

The snippet Google creates depends on the searcher’s question and how the search engine feels it can best answer it. The way you publish content on your website can impact whether it is featured in a snippet and what type is used. 

Lists  

There are two types of list snippets—ordered and unordered. Ordered snippets, also called numbered lists, outline steps that explain how to do something. It takes the searcher through a step-by-step process and can encourage them to click on the hyperlink to learn more. They are most popular for searches involving recipes, DIY tasks, and “how-to” questions. Unordered snippets, also called bulleted lists, are often associated with listicle articles. They are used for searches involving ranked and unranked items and feature lists. 

Paragraphs 

Paragraph snippets are the most popular. This type of snippet is likely to pop up if a search asks a “who, what, why, when, or how” question. Google will extract text from your webpage if it thinks it answers a searcher’s query. For law firms, paragraph snippets are most popular. That is simply because of the content lawyers tend to provide online. Consider chances of someone visiting your site from a paragraph snippet. 

Tables 

Table snippets are the second most popular snippet Google uses. The search engine pulls specific information the user is looking for and recreates its own table. Information may be static or dynamic and use one or multiple columns. Table snippets are popular for searches involving lists, rates, and data. 

Videos 

Video snippets are pulled directly from YouTube. If your law firm posts content on YouTube and Google thinks your video answers a user’s question, it can remove a specific clip from the video or use text from your video description. 

Google Snippets and SEO

There is a chance Google will answer searcher’s queries with information from the site in snippet form when a website’s content is optimized correctly. Several SEO-related benefits to this include the following: 

• Increases website traffic. If your content is included in a featured snippet, it is more likely that users will stop their search and click on your website’s URL to get more information. The snippet may give a basic answer, but it will likely be enough to convince users to head to your site to learn more. 
• Improves rankings. If your content answers common queries potential clients have and Google recognizes that, it is more likely that your content will end up on the first page. According to a study by Ahrefs, featured snippets are most often pulled from pages ranking in the top five. The higher your content ranks, the more likely you will get a featured snippet. 
• Builds your brand. Snippets are the first thing users see in Google’s search results. They are even more prominent on mobile devices. If users see your content pop up in a snippet, they will recognize that it contains valuable information and be more likely to visit your site to have their questions answered. 

Optimizing For Featured Snippets 

In addition to knowing about the types of snippets available, you need to know how to optimize your website and its content to rank for them. The best practices include the following: 

• Research keywords. Conducting keyword research can give you an idea of what potential clients are searching for in your area of law. When you have that research, you can include those long-tail keywords in your content and encourage Google to include your answers in snippet form. 
• Determine search intent. What do your potential clients want to know? How can you include that information in your content in a way that makes Google recognize it as authoritative and credible? Use your keyword research to determine what types of questions users may ask and consider how to optimize your webpage content to answer those queries. 
• Refresh current content. Remember to maintain and update your on-page content. As statutes or requirements change, you need to ensure the information you are providing is factual. Google wants to provide the most up-to-date snippets to users. 
• Optimize HTML headers. Make sure you are properly using basic HTML tags so Google can easily scan your text. Regularly use <h2> and <h3> tags, as well as bullet points and paragraph tags.  
• Review word count. Snippets appear in only a few lines of text, typically with 54 to 58 words. The goal is to answer a person’s question in an introductory way and let them dive deeper with webpage content. 
• Include high-quality images and videos. Graphics can help increase rankings for featured snippets. Ensure that any pictures or videos you include on your site are functioning and high-quality.  
• Follow Google’s policies. To ensure snippets are helpful for searcher’s Google prevents showing snippets that feature dangerous content, deceptive practices, manipulated media, medical content, violence, and vulgar language. 

Digital Marketing Next Steps:

Crafting content that Google includes in featured snippets can take time. Not only does your website’s content need to be recognized as authoritative and high-ranking, but you also need to present content on your web pages in a way that Google can optimize into snippet form. With these tips, you will be on your way to improving your website’s rankings and turning potential leads into paying clients. 

Annette Choti graduated from law school 20 years ago, and is now the CEO & Owner of Law Quill, a legal digital marketing agency focused on small and solo law firms. Law Quill is the only legal digital marketing agency that provides unique, SEO-optimized content, pre-packaged content, and courses for lawyers to learn SEO themselves through Law Quill Academy. Annette used to do theatre and professional comedy, which is not so different from the legal field if we are all being honest. Annette can be found on LinkedIn or at annette@lawquill.com.