New Answer Box Properties Are Good News for Deathcare Marketing

For deathcare marketers, the goal of search engine marketing is to show up in search results and get more clicks. Google offers several paths to page one of search results, and its new answer box properties may increase those opportunities.

What Are Google Answer Boxes?

Google answer boxes are features on the first page of search results. They provide short answers to questions most relevant to the search terms you entered. The answers appear directly on the search results page, but the content is lifted from web pages and Google provides the matching links along with the answers.

Answer boxes are good for Google and the searcher because they provide relevant content that’s immediately accessible. They’re good for deathcare marketing because they offer the chance to land on page one by providing the best answer to a question.

Your page can show up in the answer box even if it doesn’t break the top 10 organic results. It can also show up there if it does, which means you get two of the organic links on the first page and increase your chances of winning the click.

Current Answer Boxes

The current answer boxes include:

• The featured snippet. The featured snippet is a box that typically sits above the other results on the page. It includes one answer to the search question—typically about 40 words that Google scrapes from a website. The link for the website is also included.
• Map results or local pack. Map results show up for local queries—such as “funeral homes near me” or “crematories in Dallas.” They provide three top results that match the query alongside a map that shows you where the businesses are located.
• People also ask questions. The “People also ask” question box includes other queries Google thinks are relevant to yours. Each question comes with a short answer and a link to the page where Google found it. For example, when people search “funeral cost,” Google offers “People also ask” questions such as “What is the cheapest funeral cost?” and “What is the average amount spent on a funeral?”

New Answer Boxes Google Is Testing

Google is assessing two new answer box properties for page one of search results:

• From the web. Where this box shows up, it replaces the featured snippet. Instead of a single answer and link to one site, Google provides short snippets of potential answers or relevant content from several sites (along with links to those sites).
• Other sites say. This box works alongside the featured snippet. When this option shows up, Google keeps the featured snippet as is but appends a section with three more results from different sites (and the links to go with them).

By increasing the number of sites showcased in the answer box, Google increases the chance you can land one of these coveted spots.