Introduction: Rich snippets enable your content to stand out in search results listings. They provide additional information to potential customers and visitors, making your listing more attractive and subsequently helping to increase your click-through rate.
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at what rich snippets are and how you can get them.
What are Rich Snippets?
Introduced in 2009 by Google, rich snippets provide more context and information about a web page in search results. They reside underneath a website’s title and URL, and highlight specific website details such as ratings, reviews, prices, and product availability.
Why Are They Important?
They are an essential for building SEO and helping your website to stand out in crowded search engine listings. By providing more context and information to your listing, they make your link more appealing to potential visitors. As a result, rich snippets can also improve your organic click-through rate which further-improves your SEO and Google rankings.
As a comparison, traditional search engine listings usually look like this:
Whereas listings with rich snippets include additional information like this:
As you can see, it instantly makes the listing more informative and helps it to stand out, increasing your chances of getting clicked on by a visitor.
When Do Rich Snippets Appear?
Rich snippets appear organically in search results, meaning that they are based solely on the relevance to a user’s search query. There is no paid option to add these. Google decides which sites get them based on their content and structured data, which is why not every website has them. This means that you will need to follow specific guidelines and implement markup on your website to enable rich snippets.
To check if your website is properly setup for this, enter your website URL into Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to see if it can detect any structured data. Alternatively, you can use Google Search Console to see if your site has any issues or errors in its structured data. You can do this by visiting your GSC dashboard and clicking the “Enhancements” section. From there, select “Sitelinks searchbox”. This will list any errors or warnings in your data and will mark them up and fix them accordingly.
Rich Snippets vs Rich Results
You may have heard of the term “rich results”, which often appears when searching for information about rich snippets. In reality, they are actually the same thing, as Google’s own definition states, “A visually enhanced search result, now known as a “rich result””. These rich results often include features such as images, carousels, and non-textual elements.
Examples of Rich Snippets
Some common types of rich snippets include:
- Products
- Reviews
- Recipes
- Events
- FAQs
- Videos
- Offers
There are many more available outside of the list we’ve provided, but the type that your listings will display depends on the type of content you have and the purpose of your website. For example, a website for a food blogger could display a snippet of a specific recipe, along with links to other recipe suggestions on that same blog, cooking times, and recipe reviews from other users. Another common example is for products, which often show customer reviews, a clip of the product description, prices, stock availability, and more.
3 Ways to Get Rich Snippets
Now that you have a better understanding of the importance of rich snippets and have seen some examples, we will now delve into a simple 3-step process that you can follow to get them for your website.
- Choose Your Rich Snippet Type
You must first choose a suitable rich snippet type for your type of business or content. You can view a list of all the available types here. The list is very long, but it includes a plethora of options including; Article, Book Actions, Breadcrumb, Carousel, Dataset, Education, and many more. Just ensure that when choosing your rich snippet type that you carefully consider the content on your website and what would be most beneficial to showcase in search results. - Implement Structured Data Markup
Once you have chosen your rich snippet type, you will need to implement structured data markup on your website. It is best to follow Google’s Structured Data Guidelines to ensure that the search engine displays your website content correctly, although you can use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper if you need any assistance with this. This helper allows you to simply select the type of content you want to markup, paste your website URL, and start tagging the necessary information.
Once completed, you can just click on “Create HTML” and add the generated code to your website, although if you’re not familiar with coding, we recommend consulting a web developer for assistance.
- Validate and Monitor
Once you have implemented structured data markup on your website, you use the previously mentioned Structured Data Testing Tool to check if the markup is set up and is properly detected. If there are any errors or warnings you can fix them accordingly and retest until the tool shows no issues.
It is important to monitor your rich snippets regularly by using Google Search Console, as this will keep you ahead of any changes or issues with your structured data so that you can take action to fix them.
WordPress Plugins for Rich Snippets
If you have a WordPress website, you can choose from a range of plugins which can help you add structured data markup for rich snippets without any coding knowledge. Some of the most popular ones include:
These plugins will allow you to easily add structured data markup for several rich snippet types and provide additional features to help you improve your SEO.
Rich Snippets FAQs
Q: Are rich snippets exclusive to Google?
No, rich snippets are not limited to Google. Other search engines, like Bing and Yahoo, also recognise and display them.
Q: Is it possible to use different kinds of rich snippets on the same page?
Absolutely! You can include structured data markup for various rich snippet types on a single webpage. Just make sure you adhere to the specific guidelines for each type and avoid any redundant or conflicting data.
Q: Will rich snippets automatically boost my search rankings?
Rich snippets don’t directly influence your search engine ranking. However, they can make your website’s listing more visually appealing and offer valuable information to potential visitors. This can lead to a higher click-through rate, which then indirectly contributes to improved rankings over time.
Q: Do I have to add structured data markup to every page on my website?
No, it’s not mandatory to add structured data to all your pages. You can choose to focus on specific pages where the content is suitable for a particular rich snippet type. That said, using rich snippets on multiple pages can enhance your website’s overall visibility in search results and improve user experience.
Q: Can I include my own information in a rich snippet?
Yes, you can add extra details to your structured data markup. However, this information must still comply with the guidelines for the chosen rich snippet type. Custom information can provide additional context or details about your content, helping it stand out in search results.
Q: How soon will my rich snippet show up in search results?
After you’ve implemented structured data markup and Google has indexed your page, you’ll usually see rich snippets appear within a few days. Keep in mind that this timeframe can vary depending on how often Google crawls and updates its index.
Conclusion
Adding rich snippets to your website can greatly increase its clickthrough rate, increase its visibility, and ultimately lead to more potential customers. By following the steps listed above, you can easily implement structured data markup for rich snippets to your website. Just remember to regularly update and monitor your structured data to ensure it is accurate and Google-friendly.
