How we and ČSOB Pojišt'ovna increased blog traffic by 620% thanks to featured snippets

ČSOB Pojišt'ovna came in 2nd place in the WebTop100 competition in the SEO of the Year 2021 category. We decided to show a part of the work on the project, which is mainly about how to make the most of the combined knowledge of an SEO specialist and a senior copywriter, in this case Petr Hlaváč and Dana Grófová.

It's been a year since we decided with ČSOB Pojišt'ovna that it was time to start focusing on the content part of the website. Our initial goal in working together was to focus mainly on product landing pages. Within the main verticals, our goal was to become a leader in SEO among insurance companies and increase brand awareness. We decided to measure this with the most rigorous metric - share of voice.

As part of our SEO strategy for 2021, we decided to start paying more attention to the topics that the user encounters during the different decision stages of the purchase process, following the STDC (See - Think - Do - Care) framework. In simpler terms: we wanted to see the ČSOB Pojišt'ovna brand in relation to as many topics as possible in the various stages of the user's purchase cycle, and to build the user's awareness of the brand as a specialist or advisor in the field of these topics.

When selecting topics, collaboration with the client was also important. The selection of topics was based on an initial keyword analysis, but the context within the overall market is also important here and this is always best known by the client. At the same time, some topics or context are not found in the analysis, so here again, participation with the client was important, as they helped us expand the publication plan with specialist topics.

One of the SEO goals was to generally strengthen brand awareness and play a stronger role in an environment where insurance comparison sites in particular reign supreme. But we discovered potential in the so-called featured snippets, which we focused on in our strategy. Thus, the main idea was to make ČSOB Pojišt'ovna a radar within the topics that the user addresses before (in the See phase) when taking out insurance, during or after.

Strategy built on featured snippets

Featured snippets are short snippets of text that appear at the top of Google search results (position zero). Their goal is to quickly answer a user's query. The content that appears within the selected snippet is pulled from the website into Google's index and then displayed in the search results.

The main advantage is that if you can get into featured snippets, you are much more likely to get far more clicks from organic search. According to Search Engine Land, the featured snippet gets approximately 8% of all clicks. On the other hand, it's also worth noting that featured snippets are built to give the user an answer right away in the search results, so the user doesn't have to click on them. But they can also motivate the user to want to learn more and click through to the site.

Results after the first year

In October 2020, CSOB Pojišt'ovna's blog had 3 keywords in featured snippets that accounted for 25 clicks on the site and thus did not form any significant segment within organic traffic. According to the Ahrefs tool, in October 2021, ČSOB Pojišt'ovna has 48 featured snippets that contribute to 1,600 clicks on the blog directory, with an average click-through rate of 20% for all these keywords.

In terms of our primary goal - to be more visible in search results and become an authority within our chosen topics - we can consider the first year a success. The higher occurrence of keywords in featured snippets has naturally translated into visibility and organic traffic. Blog traffic increased by 620% year-on-year in October. The number of keywords in the top 3 increased by 858% and the number of keywords in the top 100 increased by 634%.

From a copywriting perspective, our goal was not to focus on quantity, but on quality. The growth in organic blog traffic was driven by 15 articles, with 7 blog articles appearing in the zero position.

Article assignment

For each article, we first developed a detailed assignment. We used keyword analysis and competitor analysis to create it. Keywords played a crucial role in this case. It was necessary to select all those that can be relevant to the topic and with which we can also occupy the featured snippet.

The competitor analysis then helped us find out how competitors have similar articles - we focused on how they are written, what information they contain, how they are structured, whether they contain graphs, tables, images, etc. Thanks to this, we picked up what the competitors' texts lacked and included it in our articles.

We structured the articles for ČSOB Pojišt'ovna as "ultimate guide " and aimed to cover all the information that a reader might be looking for on a given topic. Therefore, the assignment was very specific and detailed and included keywords with searches, which we divided into main and secondary ones, as well as the structure of the article and notes on what information the given part (paragraph) should contain. All of this came out of research, competitor research and keyword analysis. We can say that it is actually a pre-made article template, which we then "just" filled with text.

Selection of keywords

We selected keywords for each article based on searches, relevance and competitiveness. For the purposes of the article, we focused mainly on long-tail terms, which are much more specific and thus have a chance to show up in the first positions in searches. They also make it easier to optimize the article for featured snippet and rank for it.

The generic phrases that have a high search volume will appear organically in articles and will also come out of the writing itself - for example, when we wrote about mandatory equipment, the keyword "mandatory equipment" would appear in the text whether we included it in our keyword selection or not. Therefore, it is necessary to combine keyword analysis with competitor analysis. This combination gave rise to the content of the article and the questions we wanted to cover in the topic. The keywords then included questions - how, why, what, when, where - as well as phrases such as "mandatory car equipment austria", "mandatory car equipment slovakia" or "mandatory motorcycle equipment".

What tools did we use?

In addition to the keyword analysis, we then used Marketing Miner in particular to find additional keywords. Additionally, it's a great tool that will also show you who has populated the featured snippet and with which keyword, or show you new and trending keywords.

In addition, we also used Ahrefs to analyze the competition or a competitor's article. Ahrefs showed us which keywords and positions the competitor's article was showing up in search, and this allowed us to optimize our article to outrank the competitor. It also shows the featured snippet's occupancy.

Ahrefs also helped us identify competitors, in the Competing Domains tab. It's a good idea to at least look there and see if we've missed anyone when doing searches and looking at search results, for example.

The Ahrefs Keyword Explorer works similarly to Marketing Miner, but can display different searches. However, this doesn't change the fact that it is a tool that can help to highlight other keywords and also articles to draw from.

The searches are a copywriter's daily bread and precede the entire writing process. You need to focus on the topic, absorb all possible information and then use all the output to form a picture of how to conceive, formulate and structure the article. Research is not just about reading a few articles in the field, or articles on the same topic you are going to write about... It is also about putting yourself in the reader's mind and thinking about search intent, i.e. how the user will search and what they want to find out. Based on this, we were able to determine what information we would provide to the reader in the article and what questions we would answer. The reader always wants a specific answer to their question, and we always kept that in mind when writing.

How do we structure the article?

We have structured the articles for the ČSOB Pojišt'ovna blog as "ultimate guide", i.e. a text in which the reader can find everything he/she might be interested in. Typically, for example, in an article on compulsory equipment, you will find its contents, what the recommended compulsory equipment is, the contents of a car insurance policy and its validity, and what the compulsory equipment is abroad or for a motorcycle. In the article on roadworthiness tests, you will find out what they are, what to take with you, where they are located and how they are carried out or how long they take.

By covering all the information in one article, we keep the reader on our website where they can take other actions (arrange a service, view other articles, etc.).

Optimizing text for featured snippet

We've already optimized the text for featured snippet when writing it. This can take several forms:

• paragraph,
• list,
• table.

When optimizing, you need to keep in mind that Google "pulls" the featured snippet automatically. In this case, we optimized the text for both paragraphs and lists by not overloading it with unnecessary "padding" and getting straight to the point.

How did we do it?

• ** Clear, short and punchy answers.**
• Wrapping the question (a certain phrase) - e.g.: What is the mandatory equipment for the car? The mandatory equipment for the car is...
• Logical structuring of the article - e.g. in an article about MOTs, we won't put how they are carried out at the beginning and what documents you need at the end, but you need to follow a logical step-by-step process.
• Use bullet points and lists where it makes sense.

Thanks to optimization, we've been able to fill in the zero position on dozens of queries, such as "buying a vignette", "expired driver's license" or "what does an electronic vignette look like" and "registering a new vehicle". According to Ahrefs, in the featured snippet CSOB Insurance Company appears on a total of 48 queries with just the blog.

In which tools can you find the featured snippet?

When optimizing text for a featured snippet, we always look at who has already cast it and aim to beat it, or use phrases not already in the featured snippet to optimize it. For example, you can find out who has populated the featured snippet in Ahrefs under the Organic Keywords tab, where you can then filter the featured snippet in the SERP features. This way you can see which keywords the featured snippet appears for and who has populated it.

You can also find information about the featured snippet in the keyword analysis if SERP analysis was used. You can then use it to see what features are visible on the SERP for that phrase (featured snippet, video, knowledge graph, structured data, image, and more).