What is the zero position? What are the different forms of zero position ? What are the Google criteria to get there?
Zero position is the first result that appears before the organic results in a SERP (Search Engine Result Page).
Here are the most important forms of zero position and how to achieve them.
The different forms of Zero Position :
Direct answers or Answer box: direct answers from Google to a question asked (different from the featured snippet that we will see later and which is an excerpt from a content link):
Can we get there? Not really, Google is mainly interested in answering the question at once, rather than directing users to the content of a page.
Partnership : "weather.com" for exemple, which displays the weather when you type "weather Paris".
Can we get there? If we can propose a partnership to Google, why not :)
Universal search : when Google integrates information from other databases it manages in its results, like Google Images, or Google News. Can appear at the top or in the middle of the SERP:
Can we get there? If your content appears on other Google databases (Image, News, Videos, etc), it’s possible, but only Google makes the decision so it’s not really possible to optimize towards it.
Point Of Interest: linked to Google Maps, Google Flight and Google Hotel Finder data, it is about ideas/suggestions of destinations to visit when the query contains a search intention related to travel. The query "hiking France" returns several destinations in position zero:
Can we get there? Google develops partnerships with online travel agencies and online airlines for its Google Destinations database.
People Also Ask: questions suggested by Google to refine a search and satisfy the curiosity of the Internet user, often in correlation with Featured snippets. Example for the query "use argan oil":
Can we get there? To see your page appear on PAAs, the recommendations are the same as for targeting the Featured Snippet, which we will see just after.
It's also important to know that PAAs appear mostly on medium and long tail queries, and very little on short tail queries, and also on search intentions "how?" rather than "who?" or "where?", because the "how?" lends itself more to exploring a topic.
Featured Snippets: when Google tries to answer a question by presenting an excerpt from a page that answers it:
Can we get there? Yes! To know everything about featured snippets, continue reading :)
Focus on Featured Snippets:
Featured Snippets (and by extension People Also Ask) are the only zero position we can aim to reach by working on our site’s SEO. Let’s see how !
What is a Featured Snippet made of?
Extracted text to answer a user’s question
The link to the page and its URL
Sometimes an image: either extracted from the same page or from another
Why this Featured Snippet?
Often when a question is asked that has a low search volume. The more the query is asked the less it will be seen: probably because the question format lends itself well to it and the questions have low search volumes
Prepares for voice search (one question = one answer)
Several formats exist: a paragraph, a list (for tutorials, recipes, etc), a table, etc.
What do we know about the extracted text?
Often taken from the meta-description tag: remember to answer the question in the description, when possible
Featured Snippets: when Google tries to answer a question by presenting an excerpt from a page that answers it
Size: 250 to 350 characters
It contains the request (example "contactless payment" above)
Is it necessary to be well positioned in the natural results?
Most often (99% of the time), it is a result on the 1st page. In this case, the page has a double display: in zero position and in "normal" organic position.
It is often the 1st position on the SERP (⅓ of cases)
Does the site have to be popular and large in size?
No :) Size and popularity don't seem to have an effect.
And so, how do you go about getting there? Here's the full checklist!
Assess and define the questions your visitors may ask
Answer them in an intelligent and relevant way
1 page = 1 question = 1 answer (not an FAQ with several questions)
Isolate a paragraph that perfectly answers the question in a precise and concise way. If possible, put this paragraph in the meta-description.
Of course, do the classic on-page optimization: tags, content and semantics, links, etc.
Put a title (H2, or H1 if it is the main query of the page) in the form of a question, at least above the section of the paragraph or table
If it is a table : use the appropriate "table" HTML tag.
If it is a listing/tutorial : use "ul li" tags.
Don't hesitate to use “strong” tags for important keywords.
You know everything about Featured Snippets! Do not hesitate to integrate these recommendations each time you write a new page.
PS: this article is not exhaustive and there are other zero positions, such as "easter eggs" from Google or Google Adwords, etc., which do not fall within the framework of SEO.