In November 2020, contextual links started to appear in Google’s featured snippets. Instead of having just a single link to the content’s publisher, these featured snippets would feature additional links to other websites on phrases that required more explanation.
Even though this feature remains in a testing phase, the potential for more links to appear in this high-visibility search result has many SEOs worried about their click-through rates as well as how to optimise for it.
What contextual links could mean for featured snippets
“What could put some publishers off is the fact that winning a featured snippet may now result in sharing the spoils with the other websites that were linked to,” says Izzi Smith, technical SEO analyst at Ryte.
But think of it this way – if other sites are getting links in YOUR featured snippets, what is stopping you from creating better content elsewhere to generate more links for yourself in the featured snippets of competitors?
“My reach would be expanded by my featured snippets being referenced in other featured snippets, so it’s likely a win overall even though I may lose a few clicks on the single snippet,” says Patrick Stox, technical SEO and product advisor at Ahrefs.
Who stands to benefit from contextual links?
With the majority of contextual links appearing to cite informational sources, this could prove to be a goldmine of links for certain third-party websites. Crystal Carter, senior digital strategist at Optix Solutions, explains:
“These are likely to be a big win for reference sites like dictionary.com and Wikipedia, as well as sites which have taken the time to create knowledge resources for users. Because of the definition-styled links, it’s only sites similar to Wikipedia that will appear for the most part, which is an extremely small portion of sites on the web.”
This could be a conscious decision by Google, as limiting contextual links to informational sources or journalist publications may prevent featured snippets from becoming an SEO battleground. Then again, a smaller pool of potential sites would go against Google’s mission of providing users with the very best answers to their queries.
But would you want to appear as a contextual link anyway? Tom Crewe, head of SEO at Adido, argues: “This update would take away the control website owners have in relation to where their content appears, and which brands they are then potentially associated with. If the topic is of negative sentiment or something completely unrelated, there might be a connection made that isn’t desirable for the third-party source.”
What does the future hold for contextual links?
Featured snippets are sure to remain the holy grail for SEOs. However, the added intrigue of contextual links could mean a change in strategy according to Crewe.
“One way in which my strategy might adapt is to start identifying where contextual links are appearing within my own featured snippets, and creating content that caters to those contextual links,” he says.
But whatever happens with contextual links in the future, SEOs are bound to want more information about Google’s approach and more control over featuring as a third-party source.
“Reporting on contextual links within Search Console would be a huge help, as it would give publishers an indication of how this impacts their CTR,” says Crewe.
