Have you witnessed how search engine optimisation (SEO) is evolving dramatically? This evolution is now swifter because of AI and AGI. The advent of artificial intelligence has pressed leading search engines to drive zero click searches. Searchers are hyper-impulsive, who don’t like to wait, and navigate links to find an appropriate answer to their queries. That’s why Google introduced this concept. It resolved the user’s concern, offering results that directly answer a query on SERPs.

A study by SEMrush proves that over 50% of Google searches receive zero clicks. This is an alarming sign, but simultaneously, many new opportunities can evolve to get faster and overwhelming brand exposure without navigating the website link.

This post will familiarise you with the concept of zero-click searches and how featured snippets and rich snippets via schema markup help in this matter.

What Are Zero Click Searches?

Zero clicks refers to getting no clicks. In the case of online searches, zero-click searches ideally enable users to access the information directly, without clicking and navigating various hyperlinks of websites on SERPs. Google has introduced this way of answering in multiple ways. Let’s introduce you to those ways.

• Featured Snippets
• Knowledge Panels
• Local Packs
• Direct Answers
• Weather forecasts
• Maps and definitions

These methods give strong competition to traditional website traffic, which is significantly getting fewer clicks. In this whole event, brands or websites offering authentic and proven answers or information are emerging as trustworthy. Their authority is improving after getting most of the clicks with credibility. Both factors attract long-term growth for them.

So! How does it happen – let’s find out.

How to Still Win Traffic: Smart Optimisation Strategies

Let’s share some proven strategies to optimise your content for overwhelming traffic consistently.

1. Optimise for Featured Snippets vs Rich Snippets

There are two major elements that share the credit for the success of the zero-click concept: featured snippets and rich snippets. These elements differ in various aspects.

Featured Snippets vs Rich Snippets

• Purpose: If you want your answer to pop right at the top of the page, answering a query directly, a featured snippet can help. On the flip side, rich snippets enhance existing listings while showing them with stars, ratings, prices, or additional information.
• Format: Whatever it shows in paragraphs, lists, tables, or videos above results (which is a zero position), it’s a featured snippet. And the additional details like images, review stars, and product specifics that appear in regular listings show a rich snippet format.
• Impact: The results of winning a space in the featured snippet gain higher visibility. The popping results in this space are mostly optimized for voice searches. On the other hand, rich snippets enhance the relevancy of regular listings, increasing their CTR.

How to Optimise for Featured Snippets?

Here is how you or an SEO expert can optimise these snippets.

• Choose niche-based questions, which may typically start with “how to”, “what is”, or “best ways to”, to answer in your web content.
• Ensure that your web page or blog answers clearly in a concise way (mostly in 40 to 60 words).
• Align the format of your content comprehensively using bulleted lists, numbered steps, tables, etc.
• Integrate long-tail keywords or LSIs.

How to Optimise for Rich Snippets?

Unlike featured snippets, rich snippets allow prospective customers to know a little more about your brand or offers. To maximise benefits through it, follow these steps:

• Choose the right schema markup and implement.
• Think of all those points that a customer searches for to trust a brand, such as products you offer, services, events, reviews, ratings, etc. Add them in the structured form.
• Frequently update these details to sustain your brand’s credibility.

In a nutshell, featured snippets give maximum exposure to your content. On the other hand, rich snippets realise the dream of earning maximum clicks by getting the relevant answers.

2. Use Schema Markup for SEO

Another method of hooking users overwhelmingly toward your website is schema markup. It is a type of microdata that is integrated into your website’s HTML code so search engines can quickly understand your content. This integration transforms your listing into something stronger and more informative & clickable. Search engines pull that specific detail from your website to present in the SERPs.

Popular types of schema markup:

A lot of schema markups are available to distinctly present your content, which can be the following: 

• Product
• Local Business
• Review
• FAQ
• Event
• Article
• Recipe

Benefits of Schema for SEO

Schema integration boosts your SEO effort, which emerges through these advantages:

• Enhanced online exposure through rich snippets.
• Receive more qualified organic traffic, boosting visibility.
• Inflow of more qualified organic traffic that is intended
• Build greater trust and authority by being visible at the top of the results online.
• The content becomes more eligible to attain special SERP features.

Tip: Like an expert SEO master, you can simplify its integration by using Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper and Rich Results Test tools. They not only help in implementing but also in validating your schema effortlessly.

Pro Move: Creating FAQ sections and integrating them with schema markup can help you to quickly and directly pop up in search results while dominating searches.

Other Smart Tips to Optimise for Zero-Click Searches

• Answer user intent: Emphasise answering questions that users are asking frequently and clearly.
• Use conversational keywords: Since voice searches are on the surge, optimise your content for zero-click results. Use conversational keywords naturally to go with the flow of the content.
• Leverage Google My Business (GMB): Create and optimise a GMB profile to gain and gradually dominate local searches.
• Enhance page speed and mobile usability: optimise your website to allow users to click through and explore it within 3 seconds.
• Create authoritative, evergreen content: Offer trusted and credible information if your intent is to flash in zero–click results as in featured snippets.

Conclusion

SEO is transforming, which offers websites to leverage zero-click searches. It also helps in optimizing webpages for scalable traffic, more clicks, and leads. Optimizing content for featured snippets, rich snippets, and schema markup with the help of tools can be an effective strategy to maximize the value from zero-click searches.