What is SERP Position Zero and Why Should You Aim for it?

Every SEO professional or business owner wants their business to rank at the top of search engine reports. The number one position is the sweetest spot and gets the most link clicks. Any website in that position gets the stamp of reliability for that particular query. But what if you were told there is a higher, sweeter position?

Indeed, there is, and it is called Position Zero. Position Zero is attractive because it is the topmost result on the SERP for any query, even higher than the normal results. Because a featured snippet usually holds Position Zero, it is visually different from the other ranked results and attracts more attention.

And if you know anything about featured snippets, you know that they are results meant to answer readers’ queries straightforwardly. But what are other reasons why you should aim for this position?

What is SERP Position Zero?

SERP Position Zero, a featured snippet at the top of all rankings, is designed to provide a quick and concise answer to the user’s query. That is, they don’t have to click on another website before getting the results they want.

Featured snippets can be in the form of simple paragraphs, or they may appear as lists, tables, or even videos. They are also sometimes accompanied by images. This means that Position Zero entries, being naturally prominent, are even accorded more prominence through their visual appearance in search results.

This naturally leads to several benefits, including increased visibility and exposure and higher click-through rates. Another important benefit is that you get a higher chance of appearing in voice search results. Voice searches prioritize short, concise answers, shown as featured snippets in regular searches.

How to Rank for SERP Position Zero

Now that you know why SERP Position Zero is so important, let’s discuss how to rank for it. Here are some tips and strategies to keep in mind:

• Conduct keyword research: start by researching the keywords most relevant to your business and that align with what your audience is looking for. Use the Eye10 Keyword Planner to identify excellent keywords.

• Optimize your content for featured snippets: Primarily, your answer should be written to provide simple and accurate answers to possible queries. Also, you need to use structured data to arrange your content so that Google can crawl and extract relevant information. 
• Create high-quality content: Google places more than enough emphasis on the importance of high-quality content. Don’t try to engage in unethical practices. Google’s algorithm will likely figure it out and penalize your website.

Types of Featured Snippets

Since we’ve mentioned featured snippets a lot in this article about the SERP Position Zero, we must only take a brief look at some of the types of featured snippets and their unique features.

1. Paragraphs: This is the most common type of featured snippet. It’s a short paragraph that directly answers the user’s query.
2. Lists: This type of featured snippet is a numbered or bulleted list that provides a step-by-step answer to any question.
3. Tables: the data is displayed in a tabular format that is relevant to the user query
4. Videos: this is usually a video from YouTube, displayed, sometimes even highlighting the specific part that matches the user’s intent. 
5. Carousels: the user will see a carousel of images and videos answering their question.
6. Local business snippets: it works with Google My Business information and displays the address, phone number, hours of operation, etc.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

As with any SEO strategy, there are some common mistakes to avoid when aiming for SERP Position Zero. Here are a few:

• Focusing solely on the featured snippet: don’t get it wrong; it’s important to optimize for featured snippets, but it’s far more critical to optimize your entire website and ensure your content is of the highest quality.
• Neglecting other aspects of SEO: featured snippet is just one part of SEO. Your strategy should be comprehensive, featuring on-page optimization, link building, and technical SEO. Eye10 has SEO tools you can explore for these areas and more with only a single subscription.

• Ignoring user intent: the featured snippet is designed to answer search engine queries quickly. Without ensuring that your website is directed towards the intent of users who make those queries, then you won’t rank very well. 
• Keyword stuffing: To optimize their content for certain keywords, some people overdo it and place keywords everywhere. Keyword stuffing is frowned upon by Google, and it will affect your rankings negatively. 
• Targeting irrelevant keywords: conduct diligent keyword research using the Eye10 Keyword Planner tool to ensure that the keywords you target are relevant to your content and target audience.

Conclusion

SERP Position Zero is the most coveted spot in SEO. It is said that only 11% of results fall in this position. This is why it is most important, but you must be strategic to get into that position.

Also, you need to invest in tools to enhance your SEO strategy. Using Eye10 SEO tools will go a long way in achieving your goals. Sign up for a trial today at only $3 for all the tools combined.