Zero Is the New No. 1

At Least for Google Ranking !

If you’re optimizing your web content for search-engine results pages (SERPs), you might be under the impression that No. 1 is the best you can do.

But you need to think bigger. Counter to everything you know about every other aspect of business and life, you want to be No. 0. That coveted slot will snag you a featured snippet to go along with your claim to fame at the top of the first page. And it’s the absolute best place to be if you’re trying to rank a web page.

What No. 0 looks like.

If you want to see a featured snippet, just head over to Google and search for the following vital information: “How to cure bacon.” That box at the top of the SERPs is No. 0. Unfortunately, that same search on a smartphone won’t show you the featured snippet. No worries. Google is obsessed with mobile technology, and it will get there.
Why you want to be there.

Why would you want to be No. 0?

First, you’re at the very top of the search results. Who doesn’t want that? Second, your featured snippet stands apart from the rest of the organic results. It’s highlighted as an important result in the search query, and that gives you a bit of prestige.

Third, your page almost certainly won’t appear just as a featured snippet but also as a “normal” organic result elsewhere on the SERPs’ first page. You get double promotion.

Finally, based on our own Ignite Visibility study, we’ve seen featured snippets drive a more than 180 percent increase in click-through rates, compared to the rest of Google results for the same website.