What Google announces about Featured Snippet update?
Every year Google makes about 32,00 changes. Yes folks! It means Google makes several changes every day. If you keep yourself updated by reading my articles then last month (January) Google announced the latest Core Algorithm Update, and one week after this update, Google announced another update for ‘featured snippets and organic listing’. This update has far-reaching impact on SERPs. Google announced that pages currently holding a Featured Snippets for a search result will no longer rank in the top 10 “traditional” organic results for that search. It simply means that featured snippets will no longer appear twice on page one of search results organically.
It’s a fact that whenever Google makes any changes in its Algorithm or Featured Snippets. It surely impacts the organic search results be it positive or negative. However, this time, I guess, the good news is for those website owners whose website is not ranking on the very first page of Google. To know more you have to read out this article till the end.
Google announces the update in Featured Snippets
As you all know Featured snippet is known as an answer box of text at the top of organic results, sometimes accompanied by an image that you see after searching. Featured snippets appear as a way to answer user’s queries immediately in the search results.
Google officially announces an algorithm update that will restrict URLs that are shown in featured snippets and appear again in the first ten organic search results.
On January 22, Danny Sullivan, Search Liaison at Google, confirmed the update on Twitter “if a web page listing is elevated into the featured snippet position, we no longer repeat the listing in the search results. This declutters the results & helps users locate relevant information more easily. Featured snippets count as one of the ten web page listings we show.”
He also confirmed that the new update has been rolled out 100% and is now effective globally.
What this update actually means?
In very simple words, this update to SERPs means that if your site’s page is currently occupying featured snippets, the same page will no longer appear in organic listing in the main body of Google search results page.
Let me tell you guys that prior to this update, a page which showcased as a featured snippet would automatically appear in an organic search result on the first page.
The positive impact of this change in Featured Snippet
If we look at the change then it brings more room for other search listings to appear on first page of the SERP. This is certainly a good news for sites having rank position 11 as now they will be moved up to the first page. It basically means Danny Sullivan has expanded on the net listing on the SERPs. In his words, “if there’s a featured snippet, it was 11 net listings, 10 unique. Now it is 10 net and unique. If there wasn’t a featured snippet, it was 10 net and unique listings. That’s changed.”
How does this update affect your ranking position?
This change will basically impact those websites which currently appear in a featured snippets and occupying the rank in organic search results as well. So moving forward, now your page will no longer appear in the organic search results as Google removes the double listing for the URLs to the second page. Website owners can either have their URL pages appear on featured snippets or in organic results. The website which ranks on 11th position will now be counted in top 10. So it’s a good change for website owners as they can get good rank on SERPs.
The Final track!
In this final note I just want to say that Google featured snippets update will surely going to bring a positive result in ranking and changes in traffic for your search listings. This change brings more opportunities for websites to rank in very first page of Google as Danny Sullivan says that a webpage that gets a featured snippets position #0, will not show up again in the listing.
You may see many more changes in algorithm or featured snippets updates for that just get in touch with us. Till then keep reading and keep sharing!!!
