Featured Snippet
A highlighted answer shown at the top of Google results. Often pulled from well-structured content.
A featured snippet is a selected search result that Google displays in a highlighted box at the top of search results, above all other organic listings. It typically shows a direct answer to a question extracted from a webpage, such as a paragraph, a list, or a table, alongside the page title and URL. Featured snippets appear for queries that have a clear, answerable format, such as "how does Carehome.co.uk ranking work" or "what is a CQC rating."
Appearing in a featured snippet dramatically increases the prominence of a result. The featured snippet occupies more screen space than a standard result, appears before all other organic listings, and is often the only result visible without scrolling on mobile. Click-through rates vary; some users get their answer from the snippet without clicking, which results in a "zero-click search." Others click through to read more, particularly for complex topics.
For a care SEO specialist, featured snippets are achievable for specific, answerable queries in the care sector that have limited high-quality competition, including niche questions about directory ranking formulas, specific regulatory terms, and care-specific SEO mechanics. The most reliable way to earn a featured snippet is to write clear, well-structured content that directly answers a specific question in 40-60 words within the page, with the question appearing as a heading (H2 or H3) immediately above the answer paragraph.
FAQ schema markup can supplement this by explicitly marking up questions and answers in structured data, making it easier for Google to identify and extract the content for featured snippet display.