Search engine optimizers often use the terms “answer box” and “feature snippet” interchangeably. Both are quick answers or summaries at the top of Google’s organic search results.
And yet there is a big difference.
Highlights are short answers taken from what would otherwise appear in the top 10 organic results. Google moves the page to the top of search results with a link below.
Answer boxes they’re short, made-up answers that Google pulls from its own knowledge base, a decade-long project. Answer boxes are usually addressed to known entities: names, brands, places.
For example, search Google for “how tall is the Eiffel Tower.” The main result is an answer box, a factual answer, without citing the source as it is a known fact.
Answer boxes provide real answers to questions such as “how tall is the Eiffel Tower?”
Then search for “how long to climb the Eiffel Tower”. The main organic listing is a featured snippet, a short paragraph based on the author’s expertise, and a link to the source.
Featured excerpts are the authors’ experiences and opinions and link to the source URL. This example is an answer to “How long does it take to climb the Eiffel Tower?”
I’m not aware of recent data on the number of clicks on featured snippets or the number of clicks response boxes get from regular tabs.
But in general, featured snippets are opportunities for publishers. Answer boxes are not.
Highlights
Optimization of highlights it involves providing concise and factual answers to searcher queries. Featured snippets appear as:
Paragraphs, usually two to three sentences, with the answer in bold. Lists, bulleted or numbered, in response to a query involving an enumeration. Tables, all or part of an HTML table, are rare.
Snippets featured as lists answer queries that involve enumeration, such as “best places to live in the US due to climate change.”
Each type of featured snippet can include an image, which may come from a different site, not the featured one. Snippet images expand when clicked, inviting the searcher to that site, an opportunity to generate traffic.
Featured snippet images expand when clicked, an opportunity to drive traffic.
Google pulls these images from its “Images” search results. So image optimization Featured snippets can drive traffic.
To increase a site’s chances of appearing in Featured Snippets:
To know your organic position when a page appears, add &num=0 to the URL. This forces Google to generate “normal” SERPs with nothing special.
To know your organic position when a page appears, add &num=0 to the URL.
Knowing the non-prominent organic ranking helps you understand:
The difficulty of replacing a competitor from the prominent position. A snippet that otherwise ranks first organically will be difficult to remove. The traffic value of a prominent position. For example, a featured position is gold if your page is otherwise ranked #6.
Answer boxes
Answer boxes come in many shapes and styles: lists, numbers, images, and include “People Also Search” results.
Answer boxes do not link to publishers. Boxes don’t drive traffic and probably divert clicks. Therefore, avoid optimizing for keywords that trigger answer boxes.
Not all answer boxes are strictly made up. Some are subjective, such as an answer to “best place to retire in Florida.” This query generates an answer box despite relying on opinions.
Some answer boxes are subjective, such as this answer to “best place to retire in Florida.”
Images provide the only opportunity for traffic from reply boxes. Therefore, image optimization is a key tactic for featured snippets and answer boxes.
Image optimization is a key tactic for both featured snippets and answer boxes.
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