Rethinking Search Visibility After Google’s Snippet Shift

Google changes the way featured snippets appear in search results. Pages that appear in the featured snippet no longer show a second listing on the same results page. This streamlines the search experience but alters how marketers must approach visibility and click-through strategy (Search Engine Journal, 2019).

For digital marketers and SEO professionals, this is more than just a technical adjustment — it reshapes how attention and traffic are earned. Winning a featured snippet means more visibility at the top of the page, but also removes a backup presence in the organic list. That makes your snippet content — and the context around it — even more important.

In B2C, snippets often support quick answers like definitions or step-by-step instructions. But in B2B, users search with greater depth and specificity. Snippets must now serve as both a helpful preview and a bridge to deeper trust-based engagement.

Factics

What the data says:
Featured snippets appear in over 12% of search queries, and pages that earn them an average 8.6% click-through rate — yet some lose visibility overall after the second listing is removed (Ahrefs, 2018). Moz and SEMrush both find that the impact depends heavily on how engaging the snippet content is. Google confirms the change is meant to reduce redundancy, not aid marketers (Webmaster Central Blog, 2019).

How we can apply it:

• Audit which of your pages currently win snippets and assess traffic trends post-update.
• Avoid giving away the entire answer in the snippet — create curiosity or a need to click.
• Format content using natural question headers and concise answers in 40–60 word blocks.
• Implement schema markup for FAQs and how-to content.
• Use internal links and embedded tools (calculators, videos, etc.) to increase time on page and conversions.

Applied Example:
David runs SEO for a SaaS company. One of their guides — “How to Calculate ROI on SaaS Subscriptions” — appears in a featured snippet, but traffic suddenly drops. Users get the answer directly and skip the click. David revises the content, turning the snippet into a teaser. He adds a call-to-action, a short explainer video, and a link to download a free ROI calculator. Results improve, and qualified leads increase.

References

1. Search Engine Journal. (2019). Google confirms featured snippets will not appear twice in search results
2. Ahrefs. (2018). Featured Snippets Study: How to Get Them
3. Moz. (2018). How featured snippets impact organic traffic
4. SEMrush. (2018). How to win featured snippets
5. Google Webmaster Central Blog. (2019). Deduplicating search results