Google’s number-one mission is to answer users’ queries in as little clicks as possible. So it’s a common-sense assumption that SERP features such as Featured Snippets and Related Questions significantly reduce the overall number of clicks to sites, including your own.
Unless you happen to be featured in one of them.
Have a look at the example below. One of our posts appeared in a Featured Snippet, even though it ranked in position number 5.
This instantly bolstered its perceived credibility and, therefore, led visitors to click on it for more information.
But is this true for different types of keywords? And how does this vary from one SERP feature to the next?
This is what I set out to answer with this analysis of over 5k keywords across various industries. My study resulted in several actionable takeaways on how to avoid losing traffic to big SERP feature contenders.
Research methodology
Types of keywords studied
Since Google is getting better at understanding search intent, we decided to take this factor into account by categorizing each of the 5,126 keywords analyzed in this study into three types:
- Informational: search queries that indicate a desire to find specific information on a topic;
- Navigational: search queries that show intent to navigate to a specific site;
- Transactional: search queries that imply a transaction, such as purchasing an item, downloading a product or signing up for a trial.
We did this by analyzing specific modifiers and suffixes and categorizing them according to intent. See the table below:
We selected keywords from a variety of areas, ranging from business and industry to travel and tourism. We also went for a wide range of search volumes, from 100 searches a month to more than 100 million.
Metrics analysed
In total we included 5,126 search queries in our research. Since a keyword can display more than one non-organic result, a total of 11,065 SERP features were analyzed within this study.
I won’t list all the existent types of SERP features here. They are perfectly described in this visual guide from MOZ.
The following metrics were collected using Ahrefs Keywords Explorer and then processed:
- Total SERP features: a number indicating the total number of SERP features displayed for a particular keyword.
- Type of SERP feature: the name of each SERP feature present for a particular keyword.
- % With clicks: percent of searches per month that result in clicks.
- % Without clicks: percent of searches per month that result in no clicks.
- Search volume: total number of times a keyword is searched per month.
- Clicks: total number of clicks on search results for a given keyword. As stated previously, not all searches result in clicks.
- Clicks per search: average number of search results people click on after searching for a keyword.
- Return rate: relative value that shows how often people search for a keyword again over the course of a month.
Results
Correlations observed
In order to detect positive or negative relationships between variables, I calculated the correlation coefficient for different pairs of variables, as seen below.
You can see the expectedly strong correlation between the monthly search volume and the total number of clicks per month. Relationship between the total number of SERP features and the return rate is weak-to-moderate negative. The same observed for the appearance of Featured Snippets and percent of searches with clicks.
SERP features vs clicks
Although more evidence is needed, the correlations above could be indicative of the assumption that the appearance of SERP features, particularly Featured Snippets, reduces the number of clicks on search results.
To confirm this, I also calculated the percent of searches per month that result in clicks per number of SERP features that appear on the first page.
As you can see below, searches with one or no SERP features result in more clicks than those with two or more of these non-organic results.
Featured Snippets
As hypothesized, SERPs with Featured Snippets resulted in 18.5% less clicks than those without the non-organic feature.
Related Questions
SERPs with Related Questions also resulted in 11.3% less clicks when compared to those without this feature.
Image Packs
The same trend is observed with the appearance of Image Packs, although the difference is not as large as for the previous two.
Site Links and Ads
Of all SERP features analyzed, the only two that resulted in more clicks were Site Links and Ads, with an increase of 11.6% and 4.7%, respectively. This is expected since their purpose is not to answer a question but to take users to another site.
SERP features by keyword type
To dig deeper into the data, I also analyzed the results by keyword type for each individual SERP feature.
As expected, the percent of searches with clicks grows as you move down the search intent funnel, starting from informational keywords down to transactional ones.
After analyzing the presence of SERP features by keyword type, I also confirmed the assumption that Featured Snippets and Related Questions appear the most in informational search queries.
On the other hand, navigational queries are dominated by Site Links and Knowledge Panels, while both Site Links and Ads are prevalent in transactional queries.
Conclusions and Practical Takeaways
Looking back at the results of this study, it seems that the most logical assumptions regarding SERP features and their effect on site traffic are true:
- Knowledge Graph features such as Featured Snippets, Related Questions and Knowledge Panels do significantly reduce clicks on traditional organic results.
- Site Links lead to in an increase in the number of clicks to organic results
- Ads feature also increases the overall number of clicks, but PPC traffic is not a part of Organic traffic. Besides, advertisers will use the most “clickable” keywords in their PPC campaigns.
All of this confirms the fact that Google is becoming better and better at understanding search intent in its mission to serve users exactly what they’re looking for -- in as little clicks as possible.
But how can one take advantage of this and get an edge over the competition?
Here’s what you could do:
1. Create a search intent funnel
It’s vital to understand that the battle for SERP features is not so much about demographics as it is about search intent. The important thing is to “be there” when a potential customer turns to Google to answer a question or fulfill a need.
This means appearing in highly coveted SERP features, especially those triggered by top-of-funnel queries, such as Featured Snippets and Related Questions.
To start, create a search intent funnel like the one below, with the different types of keywords to target. This will help you visualize the types of search terms your potential customers will use at different stages of the buying journey.
2. Format content for Featured Snippets
Next, you can Google the term and analyze the format of content featured in these non-organic results in order to tweak your own existing pages. If you want to go a step further, you can use Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer to detect SERP feature opportunities and craft new content accordingly.
For example, if you want to place for “how to write a resume” and it has a Featured Snippet with step-by-step instructions, then you can “win” it by using the keyword in your H1 and H2 tags and providing the answer to the question below it, in an easy-to-read, structured format with numbered steps.
Featured Snippets should be at the top of your list of obtainable SERP features for three reasons:
- If you’re in a Featured Snippet, this automatically boosts your content credibility (since Google chose you).
- Other prominent SERP features such as Knowledge Cards and Knowledge Panels are not easily obtainable for most sites.
- Winning a Feature Snippet is one way to leapfrog competitors who appear in the first positions.
3. Format content for Image Packs.
To increase the likelihood of appearing in Image Packs, you can start by optimizing your images for Google Images search. Make sure to give your image file a descriptive name and alt text and a reader-friendly URL.
4. Create content that matches search intent.
Lastly, one of the most important factors in winning the most coveted SERP features--and also climbing organic results positions--is to ensure high CTR and dwell times by creating engaging, unique and useful content.
Make sure that your headlines grab readers’ attention, match search intent and accurately reflect the content of the page in order to meet users’ expectations as much as possible.
Over to you
What do you think of this study? Have you experienced similar (or opposite) impact from SERP features?
Let us know in the comments below!
