Climb higher than number one with a Position Zero ranking

Position Zero SEO is one of the most important techniques in search engine optimisation at the moment, and it’s something we’ve gained quite a reputation for here at First Internet, so we thought we’d share the knowledge.

In this blog we take a look at this coveted space on the Google search results page, including why it is good for businesses and how to rank Position Zero in Google search results.

So, what is Position Zero?

A perfectly reasonable question since SEOs are usually aiming for position one, however Position Zero is the content you sometimes see above the first search result on Google (with equivalents on other search engines like Bing, too).

It’s not a sponsored result or a paid ad placement – instead, it is a natural/organic search result, with the difference that a summary or featured snippet of the target page is directly embedded into the search results page.

That can be anything from Wikipedia-style information (“how tiny IS Tinie Tempah?”), to song lyrics, to dictionary definitions (define: procrastination), to all kinds of other summaries and snippets that provide a direct answer to the user’s search query.

Could be tinier…

Isn’t zero worse than one?!

Nope, that’s where you’re wrong, search engine results pages, or SERPs, show a lot of information nowadays, including sponsored results, organic results, paid ad placements and a variety of summaries and snippets.

The featured snippet is the most eye-catching placement on the page – up top, clearly formatted and with a good chance of users clicking through to your business website for more information.

Because of this, having your web page content embedded directly into the SERPs can be extremely valuable, as the highly engaged audience and much greater visibility will typically lead to more clicks through to your website by people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say.

Position Zero SEO black magic…..

The good news is that it’s not black magic and the process is very similar in principle to SEO in general – use relevant page titles written with SEO key phrases in mind, and put relevant words and information near the top and left of the page.

You don’t have to rank #1 in order to be the featured snippet, but it’s helpful to rank in the top five, so it’s sensible to target a first-page or top-five organic ranking AND an aim to be the rich snippet content for the same search query.

At First Internet we are seeing a growing success rate at getting our clients’ websites into the featured snippet box for relevant search terms, with a boost to their clickthrough rate as a result.

First Internet can help your business become a zero hero!

Not all search queries bring up a rich snippet in the results, but we can help you to identify the best and most relevant SEO key terms to target.

By working towards a first-page and top-five organic SEO ranking for these key phrases, we maximise the chances of Google selecting your website as the featured snippet.

To find out more about making your business a zero hero, contact First Internet today, or existing clients can speak to their account manager about adding Position Zero SEO to your intended outcomes.