UNDERSTANDING GOOGLE'S NEW TYPES OF FEATURED SNIPPETS

Pop quiz: What do the following questions have in common from a digital marketing perspective?

• How does cremation work?
• How much does cremation cost?
• What are the steps for preplanning a funeral?

They're all great, keyword-rich subheading options for cremation and funeral care marketing blogs. They're also all things people might type into search engines.

But the answer we're looking for is that each of those questions shows up in a featured snippet such as "People also ask," "From the web," or "Other sites say" when someone searches Google for related keywords (such as "funeral cost").

Perhaps you've heard of featured snippets in general or "People also ask" questions, but you might be wondering: What are those other snippets? And why is Google always changing the layout of the search engine results pages?
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Let's take a deep dive into Google's new feature snippets testing and what it means for deathcare marketing.

what are featured snippets?

Also called "answer boxes," featured snippets are short pieces of content Google takes directly from web pages to display in search engine results pages. For Google, the goal is to provide the searcher with as much relevant information on the search page as possible.
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For example, as of the writing of this piece, The Annuity Expert held the featured snippet for the search "how much does a funeral cost." Google displays the following text in the answer box, along with the URL and link to the page the content came from:

According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the average funeral costs $7,000 to $12,000. This average includes the cost of viewing and burial, basic service fees, and transporting remains to a funeral home. The average cost of cremation is $6,000 to $7,000.

On the same search engine results page, Google presents a box with "People also ask" questions—queries it deems the searcher might also be interested in. For this search, some questions included "Is $10,000 enough for a funeral?" and "What is the cheapest funeral cost?"

For cremation services and other deathcare firms, these snippets and boxes provide another way to show up organically on the first page of Google search results. If Google thinks you provide the best, most relevant answer to a specific question, it scrapes your content to include on the page along with a link to your site.

You can show up in the answer boxes even if your page doesn't rank in the top 10 results for that keyword. Even better, you can show up in the top 10 and in an answer box, providing you more presence on the first page and an increased likelihood of winning the click.
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Having other ways to land on the first page of Google is great news for businesses that provide cremation services. Three-quarters of people never click past the first page of search engine results, so if you're not on page one, you're probably not getting seen or driving organic traffic.

what else is google testing?

Snippets and answer boxes are such good ideas, Google is trying out more of them. Throughout early 2022, the search engine has tested "From the web" and "Other sites say" features.

• From the web: This feature presents a box that gathers a handful of answers to a query from what Google deems are top pages. On average, the collection includes two to five results from the web, presenting 20-25 words of relevant content from each page and a link to click on. So far, when "From the web" answers show up, they replace the featured snippet.
• Other sites say: In other cases, Google keeps the featured snippet but appends an "Other sites say" section to it. This gathers three pages that also address the question or topic and presents a short content snippet (less than a sentence) along with links to the pages in question.

Both boxes provide searchers with more choices that Google has deemed highly relevant and potentially high-quality.

​WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR CREMATION MARKETING?

For cremation service businesses, these new tests are mostly good news. If Google moves to regularly providing more link options in answer boxes, that's more real estate on page one of the search results.
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Of course, if you already own a featured snippet, this change comes with a small bit of bad news: You'll have more immediate competition for the click. If Google rolls this change out over all pages and keywords—including those related to cremation—anyone driving traffic with featured snippets might experience a drop in traffic.

WHAT SHOULD BUSINESSES DO ABOUT ANSWER BOXES?

Many marketers and SEO firms make the mistake of focusing exclusively on Google properties like answer boxes. They tailor all their content to win the featured snippets, and when Google makes a change like this, a lot of their work must be rethought.

As a deathcare firm engaging in digital marketing, you should never load all your eggs in one basket. Is there value in asking relevant questions and answering them with short, concise paragraphs? Absolutely. Users love this, because it helps them scan content for exactly what they need (which is why the FAQ page remains a popular format). And if your answers win you an extra link on page one of Google results, even better!

But avoid writing content just to win answer boxes. Google's move to add more links to those properties dilutes the power of them, and you can diminish the quality of your content by focusing solely on these things.
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Instead, stick with tried-and-true content marketing best practices:

• Write relevant content. Think about the keyword and the intent of the searcher, then answer it with your content.
• Write high-quality content. Make sure your content is easy to read, includes good information, and is grammatically correct.
• Write useful content. Create content that is actionable or helpful for the reader. If you're targeting "cremation preplanning," write about the steps people should take and the benefits of funeral preplanning specific to cremation. Don't simply define cremation preplanning and leave it at that.

While you're creating great content, look for ways to organically include answers that Google might pick up for snippets. "Organically" means that the questions and answers flow naturally with the content you're creating as opposed to the content coming from a desire to write a featured snippet.

Putting high-quality content first—even above the latest Google change—supports long-term digital marketing success.

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Welton Hong, is the founder of Ring Ring Marketing® and a leading expert in creating case generation from online to the phone line. He is the author of Making Your Phone Ring for Funeral Homes, Second Edition.