Google is striving to give a better search experience by adding a feature that highlights detailed articles for people who need more than an overview. The new functionality is rolling out over the next few days. It appears in search results like this:
The official blog post mentions that approximately “10% of people’s daily information needs fit this category.” It could have added that that people who want detailed information are highly likely to buy solutions that fill their needs.
The algorithm that selects the content is secret but one can expect that Google will look for high quality definitive information. Promotional posts won’t be included. All of this is good news for companies willing to create content that helps people solve problems. Detailed “how to” posts attract traffic, increase credibility, and work even if they don’t make it to the in-depth article block.
Creating great content is the first step to getting highlighted. It is also the first step in converting prospects to customers. When people find answers at your website, they trust your company. This makes your business their first stop when they are ready to buy.
The second step is to follow Google’s technical recommendations:
- Implement schema.org article markup – Your metadata may be enough but using schema.org clearly identifies the key components of the post.
- Use Authorship markup – This helps Google recognize the writer’s expertise.
- Install proper pagination and canonicalization – If your articles spread across multiple pages this is needed to insure that Google’s bots see all of the content.
- Make it easy to Google to choose your logo – Your logo shows readers to source of the information and improves brand awareness.
- Implement First Click Free if your content requires a subscription – First Click Free opens the gates keep bots from accessing content on your site.
