Feb 12 2020 11:02:31 / By Saiyed Mehdi

YOU SHOULD AIM FOR POSITION ZERO

Businesses are always in a cut-throat competition for gaining that opal spot of the first search result on Google search. But carrying out all the marketing efforts to just rank on the first page might prove to be a very laborious task. What if there was a way around this process? Yes, there is, and it’s called Position Zero.

Now you must be wondering what is position zero and how does one rank above the first spot on Google Search? The boom in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has ensured that Google constantly keeps updating its search feature. With more and more businesses looking to generate traffic through Google search (with or without pay-per-click), reaching the top position in Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) has become imperative. And Position Zero is the new top spot. Read below to find out all you need to know about Position Zero, why it is important, and how to improve your SEO ranking.

What is Position Zero?

Position Zero is the information Google offers at the topmost position of SERPs. It is an outline of the most relevant result, often in a list form. However, images, tables, paragraphs, videos can also show up in Position Zero.

Also called a featured snippet, Position Zero further lists out the company URL and Page Title.  

Here is what it looks like:

As is evident from the image above, the featured snippet not only gives the best possible result but also saves time. Further, by listing the website and its URL, it helps to build brand value.

Why should your business aim for Position Zero?

In this digital era, SEO plays a crucial role in helping businesses grow. And a SERP top spot ensures exactly that, in the most cost-effective manner. Here is why you should aim for Position Zero:

• Position Zero will boost your conversion rate and drive organic traffic to your website.
• It will also boost your CTR (click-through-rate).
• In addition to boosting traffic and sales, Position Zero is great for establishing brand expertise.
• Position Zero will give your business a chance to beat the competition. 
• Position Zero is also the top result in Google voice search. As more and more people shift towards using voice search, Position Zero is the spot you should aim for in order to target them.

How to get Position Zero?

The next question you should be asking is how to achieve the top spot on Google Search? Read below to find out:

The easiest way to get to Position Zero is to produce quality content and format it properly. You have to make sure that your content can easily be “snipped” for Google to pick it up.

• Identify the opportunity: The first step is to identify the right opportunities. Not every search result has a featured snippet.

It is important to understand that not every search result shows a featured snippet. Research has shown that only 12.29 percent of search queries have featured snippets in their search results. The type of content that yields featured snippet results include how-to queries, definitions of complex terms, comparison questions, ‘best’ and ‘worst’ lists, questions about money/currency, generic frequently asked questions. The list is not definitive and as SEO evolves, it is bound to change.

• Quality and type of content: The next step in your bid to achieve Position Zero should focus on the quality and type of content. Quality content always ranks higher. Featured snippets exist to answer the 5Ws: who, what, when, where, and why. In journalism, this is what is called the inverted pyramid structure. A featured snippet is exactly that - the lead of your story. You should also remember that evergreen content has a higher chance of featuring in Position Zero. 
• Context of the content: Google now uses Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) to feature content. The website understands how words relate and it doesn’t help to stuff your content with keywords unnecessarily. It is ideal to use related phrases to show a deeper understanding of the topic. 
• Formatting: Once you have the content in place, the formatting is equally important. Make sure that your page titles and meta description use the primary keywords. Place H1-H5 tags properly. This will not only help with the visual aesthetics but also help structure your content so that search engines can understand it. Further, make sure that there are enough hyperlinks in your content.  
• Target the “People also ask” box: Below Position Zero, there is sometimes a clickable list of related questions. This is called the “People also ask” box. These questions could also be considered as featured snippets since they appear before the “top” search result.