If you want to win for SEO and organic voice search in today's internet, you need to find ways to get visibility in Google's Featured Snippets. This presentation provides step by step tasks on how to get shown in the knowledge graph.

1. #StateOfSearch
Owning Answer Boxes,
the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
@AlanBleiweiss

2. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Forensic SEO Consultant
22 Years Internet Marketing
17 Years SEO
5 Years Specializing in Site Audits
350+ Audits Performed
Over 1 billion Pages
Deindexed Over 600 Million Pages

3. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Knowledge Graph:
Attempts to present direct access to answers to questions,
allows searchers to explore collections and lists.

4. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Carousel

5. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Auto-Complete

6. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Topical Knowledge Graph Boxes

7. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Featured Snippets
(Answer Boxes)

8. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
“Also Asked”

9. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Want to Win Featured Snippets?
Don't Fear Larger Sites!

10. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
With more complete answers,
stronger architecture & organization,
smaller sites can win!

11. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

12. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

13. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

14. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

15. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

16. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

17. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

18. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

19. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

20. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

21. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

22. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

23. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

24. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

25. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

26. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

27. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Featured Snippets (Answer Boxes)
No consistency regarding reliance on structured markup
Exact Match Page Titles Not Required
Not always accurate
Google continues to change & refine results - Expect Fluctuation
Images are often drawn from sites other than the site the actual answer is drawn from
Not All Featured Snippets Include a Source Link!

28. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Answer Box Tasking
1. Research Extensively
Existing Competitive Answer Box Results
"People Also Asked"
Click "Also Asked" Results to Reveal More Questions
"Searches Related To" at Bottom of SERP

29. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Answer Box Tasking
2. Answer All the Questions For Your Situation
2a. For product and service sales sites:
Think like prospective customers during each phase of the decision process
Initial research questions
Multiple vendors comparison questions
Questions about your brand as potential source
Existing customer questions

30. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Answer Box Tasking
2b. For Educational Content
Think like a student researching the Topic
What information do I need, in order to have confidence I have learned
all I need to for this topic?
Does this content meet that need?
Do I trust this content?

31. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Answer Box Tasking
Topical Research Resource:
https://answerthepublic.com
H/T @TopHatArsen

32. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Answer Box Tasking
Topical Research Resource:
https://answerthepublic.com
H/T @TopHatArsen

33. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Answer Box Tasking
Completeness Bonus Task:
Add photos, graphs, charts, & rich media help to enhance text content

34. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Answer Box Tasking
Completeness Bonus Task:
Don’t ignore the power and
future growth from including
Schema Markup!

35. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Answer Box Tasking
Completeness Bonus Task:
Sometimes, a short answer is sufficient.
Sometimes, a more complete answer is better.
Determine which is best for your needs.

36. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

37. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

38. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

39. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

40. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets

41. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Deeper Answers Get More Featured Snippets

42. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Answer Box Tasking
3. Strong Topical Organization Reinforces Topical Strength
Navigational Silo Access
URL Hierarchical Silo Model
Section Level Sidebar Interlinking

43. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Answer Box Tasking
4. High Quality Inbound Links
To maximize sustainable trust, you'll need to obtain high quality links pointing to
those topical silos

44. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Choose Schema Wisely!
Whether you want more visibility in Featured Snippets,
Carousels, or the knowledge graph box, pick the right
Schema.

45. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Choose Schema Wisely!
Example: Recipes
Many sites have been penalized for using recipe markup for non-food
recipes like "how to make soap".
There was no viable replacement until this summer, when they came out
with Schema for "How-To" Articles.
See http://schema.org/HowTo

46. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Choose Schema Wisely!
Broad Local business Markup
http://schema.org/LocalBusiness

47. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Choose Schema Wisely!
Refined Local Business Options
http://schema.org/Attorney
http://schema.org/RealEstateAgent
http://schema.org/Dentist
http://schema.org/FoodEstablishment
http://schema.org/LodgingBusiness
http://schema.org/FinancialService

48. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Choose Schema Wisely!
Event Collection
http://schema.org/events

49. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Choose Schema Wisely!
Individual Event Types
http://schema.org/Event
http://schema.org/BusinessEvent
http://schema.org/DanceEvent
http://schema.org/Festival
http://schema.org/MusicEvent
http://schema.org/SportsEvent

50. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Choose Schema Wisely!
Articles
http://schema.org/Article
http://schema.org/NewsArticle
http://schema.org/ScholarlyArticle
https://schema.org/MedicalScholarlyArticle
http://schema.org/citation

51. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Google Tools
Structured Data Markup Helper
https://www.google.com/webmasters/markup-helper/
Structured Data Testing Tool
https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool
Google Search Console Structured Data Report
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/structured-
data?hl=en&authuser=0&siteUrl=*YourDomainHere*

52. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Google Docs
Carousels
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/mark-up-listings
Books
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/books
Corporate Contacts
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/corporate-contacts

53. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Google Docs
Events
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/events
Musicians & Bands
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/music
Recipes
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/recipes
Social Icons
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/social-profile-links

54. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Take Control (sometimes)
Suggest Changes to Knowledge Graph
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/6325583

55. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Tasking Summary
1. Answer All the Questions
a. Research Existing Search Results
Auto Complete
Existing Featured Snippets / Knowledge Box
Also Asked
Related Searches

56. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Tasking Summary
2. Answer All the Questions
a. Think Through Questions during Full Life Cycle Journey
b. Enhance with Media
c. Enhance with Appropriate Schema

57. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Tasking Summary
3. Organize with Strong Navigation
a. Reinforce navigation with nested URLs
b. Reinforce with section isolated sidebar navigation

58. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Tasking Summary
4.Reinforce with inbound links
a. Target internal silos
b. links should be based on matching silo topical focus
c. don’t be an asshat with links

59. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Tasking Summary
Schema for the Sustainable Win!
Refine to Accurate Sub-Types
Test all the Things!
Monitor in Google Search Console Structured Testing Tool

60. #StateOfSearch @AlanBleiweiss
Owning Answer Boxes, the Knowledge Graph
& Featured Snippets
Thank you!