Writing articles for SEO featured snippets introduction.
In this article you will learn how to write articles for SEO-featured snippets! and you will be blown away by the simplicity. Writing articles for SEO-featured snippets might sound pretty technical, but rest assured, it is quite easy to understand. SEO is something you “grow into” and you must never be “repelled” by it.
Instead, you must be inspired by it. Once you get the hang of SEO and writing articles for SEO-featured snippets. You will be astonished at the growth you can achieve, especially on Medium. But you will learn all about SEO-featured snippets during the course of this illustrated guide. Buckle up for a pleasant surprise once you start applying this.
Search engines select SEO-featured snippets based on a few basic principles. But they do not necessarily always display all of them. We have done some research to try and establish why this is. It would seem that it is kind of like a “search engine decision” to the best of our understanding.
Sometimes just the H1 header and Metadata (first 2 to 4 sentences) are displayed. Other times, some selected text that best describes the H1 header. They may also choose to display the H1 header, text, and thumbnail (featured image) all together. Writing articles for SEO-featured snippets is based on the focus areas listed below.
- Search engine selected H1-related text.
- Most topic-related images.
- Article H1 header.
- First 2 to 4 lines of text.
Writing articles for SEO-featured snippets with Medium in particular. You want to focus on the 6 areas listed below. Because you are not only writing articles for SEO-featured snippets. You are also writing indexable Medium articles with the potential to rank rather fast (around 6 to 12 hours).
- H2 Medium kicker header.
- H1 Medium article title.
- Article featured image.
- First 2 to 4 sentences.
- Descriptive content.
- Using sub-headers.
Descriptive writing allows search engine spiders (crawlers) with options to choose from when selecting SEO-featured snippet text. The above-mentioned basically comes down to article structure and layout, along with strategic writing, keyword placement, and presentation. Once you start “growing into SEO”, you will be glad you started, so start.
What is an SEO-featured snippet with article writing?
In order for the SEO-featured snippet to display, you must take position one on page one with search result pages. Because from position 2, only the article H1 header (title), and Metadata (first 2 to 4 sentences) are displayed in search result page feeds. Writing articles for SEO-featured snippets will get you noticed.
That means the quality, layout, and structure of your articles will get noticed by both your readers and search engines. SEO-featured snippets are one of the best ways to boost your visibility and increase your audience (readers) response rate. Therefore, an SEO-featured snippet consists of 2 or more of the below-mentioned writing sections.
- Search engine selected H1-related text.
- Most topic-related images.
- Article H1 header.
- First 2 to 4 lines of text.
An SEO-featured snippet attracts attention and creates curiosity, therefore boosting recognition and trust. Because they are always extremely descriptive and “down to the point”. This means your visitors (readers) immediately know exactly what your content is about.
But so do search engines. Below is illustrated an SEO-featured snippet with selected text and article H1 header. Remember that descriptive content can be bullet points, numbered lists, or even relevant text. But, notice how the “text snippet” kind of answers the question “How do you keep your readers entertained on Medium?”.
In this case, search engines selected a numbered list that offers “the best solution” related to the topic (H1 header) at hand. See how writing “descriptive articles” can boost your SEO indexing and ranking capability. That is what writing articles for SEO-featured snippets is all about.
As illustrated below, kind of like an “SEO Royal Flush” all the SEO featured snippet sections are displayed. But this will not happen all the time, as mentioned earlier and to the best of our understanding. This is based on search engine decisions. That appears to be the most logical explanation, but if you can shed some light on that, please do.
Search engines are “businesses”, and they are looking for the best solutions, answers, and guides to offer their “customers”. Writing articles for SEO-featured snippets offer them that choice. Therefore, writing articles for SEO-featured snippets allows you to “step in front” of already existing targeted readers and visitors.
How to write SEO-featured snippet articles on Medium.
If you want to build recognition and trust by leveraging search engines, then “writing articles for SEO-featured snippets is it”. With Medium article writing, this is done by following a few simple content guidelines as listed below. 6 Guidelines you want to follow for search engine optimized articles.
- H2 Medium kicker header.
- H1 Medium article title.
- Article featured image.
- First 2 to 4 sentences.
- Descriptive content.
- Using sub-headers.
As illustrated below, you want to focus on your Medium article header section by writing articles for SEO-featured snippets. Therefore, starting with the Medium kicker H2 header, not the title H1 header, contrary to popular belief. The more descriptive your content is, the more attention it will attract from both your readers and search engines.
Among the different display options for SEO-featured snippets, to our surprise. We also found a featured snippet display one don’t see that often, or we haven’t anyway. Where search engines select the H1 header, Metadata (first 2 to 4 sentences), along with the thumbnail. Well, this is interesting, right? We thought so too.
However, from the illustration above, and below for the same Medium article. You will notice that the title is not precisely the same. Which is a little “secret” we’d like to share. When you write your Medium article, publish it with a longer title, containing specific keywords and search phrases. But why is that?
That is because when you publish your Medium article, all those keywords and search phrases become part of the URL slug. However, by doing this it makes the URL more descriptive to search engines and readers alike. But, after you publish with the “longer title”, go to “edit article” and replace the long title with a more SEO-friendly title.
A ”more SEO friendly” title means 60 characters or less, or closest to. But try and keep this one “short”, because how it displays on search result pages contributes to better understanding. The benefits of having the exact H1 title phrase in the first 2 to 4 sentences are also illustrated above. Below are a winning SEO layout and structure.
Conclusion of writing articles for SEO featured snippets.
There is no better way to drive free (organic) visitors, readers, and buyers than strategic SEO. That means, 100% free, interest, age, and GEO location targeted visitors. Which any online entrepreneur will tell you is priceless. Writing articles for SEO-featured snippets allows search engines to “choose” from the following.
- Search engine selected H1-related text.
- Most topic-related images.
- Article H1 header.
- First 2 to 4 lines of text.
The above sections of writing articles for SEO-featured snippets are also where strategic keyword placement comes into play. Along with keyword density within the context of the content “sentences, headers, and paragraphs. Therefore, you cannot just cram a bunch of keywords together that “makes no sense”.
But, indexing and ranking your Medium stories by writing articles for SEO-featured snippets will “speed things up” quite a bit. But, you will “gain traction” much faster on Medium by focusing on the 6 “ingredients” of SEO writing listed below. It forms part of your article structure and layout.
- H2 Medium kicker header.
- H1 Medium article title.
- Article featured image.
- First 2 to 4 sentences.
- Descriptive content.
- Using sub-headers.
Now you have everything you need to dominate in search engines, with the added benefit of increased exposure on Medium. Descriptive content is king because it improves understanding. When readers and search engines “understand” your content. Then they will most likely be “looking forward” to your next.
If you found this Blog Post helpful, kindly let us know in the comments. We would love to hear your opinion. Did you know about these secrets of writing articles for SEO-featured snippets? Do you struggle with driving traffic, generating sales, creating content, or writing? Have you explored SEO yet?
If you need help with anything, we speak “Blogging”, “Writing”, and “Affiliate Marketing” rather fluently, so feel free to reach out any time. With that, our “Writing Articles For SEO Featured Snippets!”, Blog Post is concluded.
Now you know how to write articles for SEO-featured snippets, but you also know how about a winning layout and structure to dominate SEO and search engines!
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