How To Create Content For Position Zero & Drive Organic Traffic

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 — April 2022
Reading time — 4 minutes
How To Create Content For Position Zero & Drive Organic Traffic

If you're not taking advantage of position zero, you're seriously missing out on a huge opportunity to drive organic traffic to your website. In this blog post, we are going to explain what position zero actually is and how you can create content optimized for this unique Google ranking opportunity in 5 easy steps. We'll also provide you with our top tips on carrying out relevant keyword research and how this can help identify certain questions that you could be ranking for as a business.

What Is Position Zero?

Position zero is the featured snippet box that appears at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). This box contains a short summary of the answer to the user's query, pulled from a web page that Google has determined to be highly relevant to the user's search. Position zero can be extremely valuable for driving organic traffic to your website, as it is effectively a mini ad that appears at the top of the SERP. By ranking for position zero as a business, you can effectively increase organic traffic and reduce ad spend. But, how can you structure your next blog post to rank for this position? Well, let’s first recap the benefits of position zero, before moving on to creating this style of copy.

Why Position Zero Is Key To Increasing Organic Traffic

Position zero is vital to increasing organic traffic for two main reasons. First, appearing in position zero gives your website credibility and authority in the eyes of online users and potential customers. Second, position zero is highly visible and often generates a high click-through rate (CTR), meaning that more people are likely to visit your site when it appears in this spot. And more organic traffic generally means a higher chance to convert users into valuable customers.

When you consider the fact that more people than ever before are using smartphones and tablet devices over a laptop or desktop, it's clear to see how securing position zero is essential if you want to significantly increase organic traffic. While all positions on page 1 are valuable, being at the very top means being instantly visible when a user types a question into the search box no matter what device they use.

Unlike standard Google ranking, position zero will display an answer to a user's question without a user having to click through to a website. By becoming the authority figure and source for these featured snippets, you are proactively positioning your company as an industry leader with a wealth of knowledge to empower users. And this helps to build trust online. And the more content you create that ranks in position zero the better in terms of generating brand awareness, online visibility and trust.

5 Steps To Create Position Zero Content

Now that we've discussed the importance of position zero, let's talk about how you can optimize your content to rank in this coveted spot.

To create content for position zero, you need to understand what users are searching for and craft your content accordingly. Start by brainstorming a list of questions that your target audience may be asking about your topic. Once you have a list of questions, you can begin creating position zero content by following these five steps:

1: Carry Out Keyword Research

If you want your content to rank in position zero, you need to start with keyword research. Use free tools such as Google AdWords Keyword Planner and Google Trends to find out what users are searching for and how these trends are changing over time. You can also use competitor analysis to see what keywords your competitors are targeting.

2: Identity A Question Related To Your Business

Once you have a list of relevant keywords and search terms, you can start creating position zero content. Ideally, you should search for questions that start with 'what, when, how, why and who' and make sure to include the exact question in your H1 title tag. 

3: Craft SEO Copy

The next step is to identify a question related to your business that you can answer. Once you have identified a question, you need to research the answer thoroughly and craft your content accordingly. Remember to keep your answer easy to read and understand using simple language, and is very clear. You can use related search terms and keywords as long as you don't go over the top.

4: Include Images & Visual Content

Position zero is not just about text, you can also include images and visual content to help your answer stand out. Images are a great way to break up blocks of text and make your content more visually appealing. But any images and visual assets must be high-quality.

5: Pay Attention To Structure

Finally, you need to pay attention to the structure of your content. Position zero results are typically between 50-60 words long and are easy to scan. You should also make sure to use bullet points, numbered lists and short paragraphs to make your content as easy to read as possible.

By following these steps, you can create position zero content that is both informative and engaging, which will help you boost organic traffic and generate more leads and sales from your website.

Position Zero Mistakes To Avoid

Product or service placement is a big no, no when crafting copy to rank for position zero as Google is not trying to recommend one brand over another but rather to provide a simple and straightforward answer to a user's question. By trying to promote your own products or services within the copy, you're not as likely to rank for position zero, as Google will view this as self-promotional content over quality copy designed to answer FAQs users have.

Another position zero mistake to avoid is keywording stuffing, which is the act of cramming too many keywords into your copy in an attempt to rank higher. This not only looks unnatural to users, but it will also likely result in a lower position in SERPs as Google will view this as low-quality content.

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