Have you ever wondered how to make your content stand out on the search engine results page? The simple answer is using rich snippets to showcase useful information for relevant queries.
It is a type of markup that allows search engines to display more information about search results on specific types of content. A rich snippet can increase the click-through rate and improve the target audience’s experience.
If you want to optimise your content and be at the top of every Google search, consider implementing rich snippets to your site. So read on to discover how to use a schema that can drive traffic to your site and turn every click into profit.
What are Rich Snippets?
Rich snippets are a way to stand out in search results by showing users more information about your business or site.
A rich snippet is a structured data block displayed in Google search results that includes relevant details about your content for certain topics.
It is a great way for search engines to provide additional information about your business to their market audience.
Adding structured data (major search engines host Schema) develops rich results for pages and uses it to tell Google what the data is about, such as reviews or events.
The information featured in a rich snippet can help improve your content’s click-through rate (CTR) on SERPs, which can result in increased traffic from netizens searching for that specific information.
The example/s below should give you a better idea of how rich snippet is displayed on Google. When trying to acquire rich snippets, you should aim for this image.
Rich Snippets vs. Rich Results
You may have heard the terms “rich snippets” and “rich results” used interchangeably concerning Google Search. However, they are two different things that serve distinct functions.
A rich snippet is a way for Google to display information about your website that can be read directly from the SERPs. This information includes product price or review rating.
On the other hand, rich results are displayed in a separate box at the top of the page with a specific query description. Rich results can include news articles related to that query or information about a person or business mentioned in the query result.
The main difference between these two types of results is what type of content they show. Rich snippets directly show more detailed information about your site in the SERP. In contrast, rich results give audiences more information about topics related to their query in an expanded box at the top of each result page.
Rich Snippets on SEO
Although rich snippets do not directly contribute to the SEO ranking of the page, they help your content stand out among other search results.
Rich snippets can help you get more clicks on your search results page. According to a study conducted by Milestone research, results with rich snippets get 58% more clicks than non-rich snippets, which is 41%.
By getting more clicks, your website’s content will drive more traffic, allowing Google Analytics to notice that your content drives more user engagement than others with similar content. This additional data greatly improves your search result ranking and drives conversions.
Types of Rich Snippets
Rich snippets include price and availability information, user reviews, star ratings, and more.
These types of rich snippets help draw audiences’ attention away from competitor sites, so they are more likely to click through on yours instead. Google also features enhanced search engine features for certain types of content that use structured data.
Listed below are the six common types of rich snippets in Google SERP features:
- Reviews
- Recipes
- Music
- Movie
- Events
- Product Markup
Review Snippet
A review snippet is one of the most common types of rich snippets. It usually displays a review of the product or service, but it can also be in the form of star ratings from the reviewers of the blog post.
It is an excellent way to attract the audience by showcasing what previous visitors think about your content with a simple search result.
Recipe Snippet
If your website is all about food and cooking, recipe snippets come in handy when attracting more traffic to your website.
It is an excellent way to display basic information about the recipe to give a glimpse of your content. Recipe snippets typically include review ratings, cooking time, recipe images, and nutrition information.
Music Snippet
Music-rich snippets bring an interactive rich result with a simple search by showcasing extra data about the artist or music title. It also displays the artist’s name, album art, and release date.
When users search for songs and albums, these snippets are shown in Google search results. Displaying featured snippets is a fantastic tool if you want to direct your audience to the different pages of your website.
Movie Snippet
A movie-rich snippet is a structured data markup that can be inserted into the title tag of a web page and used to display extra information about a movie.
It allows search engines to show relevant information like viewer ratings, movie posters, and release dates. A movie carousel is only available on mobile devices.
Events Snippet
The events snippet can show you important details about the events listed in your search results, including schedules, locations, event names, and time zone.
This rich result snippet allows higher click-through rates because it is more convenient for users to navigate websites hosting different programs.
Product Markup Snippet
Adding a product markup to display basic purchasing information to your target market is essential for e-commerce companies and online vendors. This kind of snippet typically consists of the product’s price, availability, buyer rating, and image schema markup.
How to Get Rich Snippets?
Rich snippets are great for SEO because they help users navigate your content and invite them to your site.
The goal is for users to get information instantly by just looking at the rich snippet result. Rich snippets add visual interest, which generates higher click-through rates since users prefer to click on results that offer more data or information.
Getting a rich snippet is more than just a nice-to-have feature for your website content. It is essential if you want your content to reach the top of every Google search.
As more and more websites feature snippets, you should also utilise the purpose of every rich snippet in a way that helps you reach your audience and drive more traffic to your site.
Here’s how to get the most out of Google Rich Snippets in simple steps to display in SERPs.
1. Select the Markup Specifications
Markup specifications are a way to let search engines know what your content is about and to input features to display in SERPs. It is a code that uses structured data to annotate the elements of content and collects markup data that communicates and reflects SERP features.
JSON-LD is the most common example of markup specifications, along with microdata and RDFa. Choosing a structured data format depends on your content type, but Google recommends JSON-LD, among other types, and it is also easier to express from the source code.
2. Identify the Content Type
Content types are determined by looking at an article or webpage’s context and then analysing that context to determine whether the content is suitable for inclusion within the results list.
Identifying the content types and their different genres can give you a clear view of what rich snippet type to add as new data. This process allows you to get rich snippets that fit your content and gather data as part of the markup code.
3. Determine the Required Properties
Properties are tools that are required metadata you can add to your page to help Google transform a normal snippet into relevant information in Google’s results.
They are the key elements of a website that provide a summary of the page’s content. Each type of content property has different purposes, and each is marked up differently, determining the required properties.
For example, a product markup will include features like ratings, descriptions, images, and availability.
A second example would be movies, which include the actors, language, country of origin, and duration.
4. Create a Structured Data Markup
Structured data represents your site’s information in a standard, machine-readable format that helps search engines understand what your content is about.
By adding structured data to your website, you can increase the visibility of your content in SERPs, improve click-through rates from ads, and increase traffic from social media.
Implement structured data directly into the source code of your web pages by using a specific data type like JSON-LD, microdata, or RDFa. You can do it manually by editing HTML files with a text editor.
You can visit Schema.org for references on which tool to use, the vocabulary in structured data, and Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper to aid in coding.
5. Test and Deploy your Structured Data Markup
The last step is to test your data correctly and deploy the new data. It is crucial to run structured data testing to ensure that Google displays the information you want to showcase for your content.
First, you need to find a page on your site where you want to add rich snippets and copy their URL into a new browser tab. Then head over to Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to test the rich results on your page. Finally, you will find a box where you can enter the URL (input one URL per line), then hit Enter or click Submit Query when done.
Conducting structured data testing allows you to overlook test code and validate the markup data. Upon test completion, you can now apply all the new data to your website accordingly.
Conclusion
Having a rich snippet feature provides a benefit to both website owners and Google users.
Including structured data in your SEO strategies can significantly increase your website’s visibility and make it easier for people to find basic information in search engines. It results in increased traffic to a website’s home page and sales.
When applied correctly, rich snippets positively impact your ranking performance.
