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How to Utilize Rich Snippets for SEO?
Optimize for Google Rich Results & Improve SERP CTR
Google Rich Results, also known as Rich Snippets, allow businesses to showcase their content on the SERPs. Rich results enable users to find relevant content tailored to their search query. By implementing the right strategies, you can see a major increase in organic traffic and a significant improvement in ROI by optimizing for rich results.
If you are still on your way to reaching the number 1 spot on SERPs, rich snippets can pave the way. Rich results grab user attention and earn your web page listing the spotlight that assures you will steal clicks from competing listings.
This blog will explore how optimizing for Google-rich results can help your business grow and what strategies you should implement for the best results. Increase your click-through rate and gain a higher market share by optimizing web pages for rich snippets.
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Rich Results Explained
Rich snippets or rich results are search results that provide more information to readers than conventional results. These interactive listings stand out against the standard ten blue SERP links and are more visually appealing. You must implement structured data markup code to get rich results for your web pages.
Rich results provide users with what they seek quicker while increasing content visibility on SERPs. Additionally, rich results are often displayed in more prominent positions in SERPs than standard SERP listings.
Results with rich snippets add extra information below the meta description, such as ratings, votes, duration, thumbnail image, etc. Rich snippets help improve your web page rankings by making them more visible & eye-catching.
Why are Rich Snippets Important?
Rich results are the visual features that appear on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). They are designed to convey more information to users than a traditional organic search result and typically feature images and reviews.
Rich results help capture potential customers' attention by standing out from other search results. They also offer businesses the opportunity to showcase their SERP listing in a more engaging manner that builds trust and credibility. Here are some top benefits of rich results:
1. Communicate with Search Engines: Rich snippets help search engines better understand the content of your website and how it should be indexed.
2. Higher CTR: The extra information and attractiveness of the rich snippets result in individuals clicking on snippets and more visitors to the website. Higher clicks contribute to increased SERP rankings over time.
3. Assist in Voice Search: When you use a voice assistant to search, such as Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant, the result returned to you is effectively the top rich snippet for that query. You will need rich snippets implemented with structured data to optimize for voice search.
4. Improve User Experience: Businesses can benefit from more website visits, leads, and sales by improving the user experience and making it easier for potential customers to quickly access relevant information and determine the best choice for their needs.
Rich Snippets v/s SERP Features
One common mistake that even many seasoned professionals make is using rich results, snippets, and SERP features synonymously. Even Google often sees rich results and rich snippets as the same. However, SERP features is a different term.
Rich snippets are any search listing that includes visual or interactive data. These contain ratings, event information, data sets, FAQs, and other resources. They are added using structured data and can appear on any search engine results page.
Anything that is not a regular organic listing is considered a SERP feature. SERP features include Featured Snippets, map packs, picture carousels, etc.
It is perfect to say that all rich snippets are SERP features, but vice-versa is not necessarily to be true. The one common element is that you need to add structured data to your HTML code to get either.
Rich Snippets & SEO
Google launched rich snippets in 2009 to summarize the contents of a web page at a glance on SERPs. Since then, Google has been adding different types of rich snippets through their research to enhance the user's search experience.
Google search deploys rich snippets to help visitors find the pages that best match their search. Google extracts rich snippets from your web page's structured data code addition.
Since structured data trigger rich results, many believe that adding structured data equates to higher SERP rankings. However, according to Google’s John Muller, using structured data (in tweet SD) in your code does not help boost your rankings.
Rich snippets may not, on the surface, take your website to the top of SERPs, but they can improve click-through rates and drive more organic traffic.
Improved CTR will mean users find our web page authoritative and trustworthy enough. It may trigger Google’s RankBrain algorithm to recognize your listing as becoming more valuable (as indicated by consistent performance indicators) and place it higher in SERPs.
Your web page can achieve a snowball effect where users click your page link (while improving CTR), and Google improves SERP rankings for multiple search queries. Websites can enhance their SERP visibility, click-through rate, and overall SEO performance by providing users with helpful information with rich results optimization.
How to get Rich Snippets?
As stated above, the way to get rich results on Google SERPs is to use structured data. Structured data is code added to a web page that helps search engines understand the page structure and its contents. Structured data helps search engines provide more accurate results, allowing them to display rich results specific to the web page's content.
Structured data and rich results are closely intertwined; with structured data, search engines can generate rich results in the SERPs.
Now that we understand the relationship between structured data and getting rich results on SERPs, let us find out how you can get rich snippets. Here are the steps to get rich results on Google SERPs:
1. Identify the type of rich snippet that works best for your content
Google offers a wide range of rich snippets, including people, events, recipes, reviews, and news. Choose the type of rich snippet that accurately reflects your content, and then create and implement the code onto your web page. See the next section for an expansive list of rich results.
2. Use valid Schema.org markup
To show rich snippets in Google, you must first implement schema markup code or structured data in your website content. Schema.org is a collaborative initiative to provide a standard set of schemas for structured data markup on web pages. Create a valid schema.org markup and add it to your HTML. Schema code will help search engines better understand your web page’s contents.
3. Use keywords in the meta tags
Using keywords in your web pages' titles, descriptions, and headings will help search engines like Google better understand the content. Optimize your web page for multiple keyword clusters that target users’ search intent. Search intent optimization can help your web pages appear in relevant searches and increase the chances of your content getting rich snippets in SERPs.
4. Include relevant images and videos
Rich media, like images and videos, can make your content stand out in SERPs. Add image and video schema makeup code to enhance further how Google sees and ranks your web pages.
5. Create high-quality content for users & search engines
Optimizing your content for SEO can help your page rank higher in the SERPs. Furthermore, providing valuable content to users can signal Google's E-A-T ranking factor, improving click-through rates. Make your content informative, readable, and provide a seamless user experience.
6. Monitor the performance of your content
Once you’ve implemented schema markup and optimized your content for search engines, you should monitor its performance. Look for potential improvements and analyze the impact of rich snippets in SERPs.
These steps can get you rich snippets on Google SERPs and increase your website’s visibility. Implementing schema markup and optimizing your content is a surefire way to get rich snippets in SERPs and help your web page stand out in the search engine results.
Types of Google Rich Results
While there are numerous rich snippets to optimize for, many of them only relate to some specific industries, business types, or domains. Check out the complete list of structured data markups Google supports for rich results here. We classify them based on particular business needs.
Top 5 Rich Results for B2B Businesses
B2B businesses can benefit from rich results that allow their websites to appear more prominently on search engine results pages (SERPs). Examples of rich results that can help B2B businesses include product listings, reviews and ratings, FAQs, videos, events, and more.
1. Local Business or Organization
Get your business to be presented more prominently on the SERP with a logo, website URL, contact information, and a short description.
You can also optimize rich results, including reviews, ratings, and opening hours. A business-rich result increases the company's visibility, creating potential leads and new customers. Follow Google’s guidelines to get a local business-rich result listing.
2. Review and Ratings
Promote your brand more by displaying user ratings and reviews for a product or service on the Google search results page.
With rich reviews and ratings, users can see a rating score, the number of reviews, and the average rating for a website right on the search results page.
A business with reviews and rating snippet help customers make informed decisions and be aware of what others say about a company before visiting. To implement rich results on your website, see the documentation page.
3. Product or Service
Provide your users with a detailed description of the product or service and links to related websites, reviews, videos, and other helpful information on SERP.
You can also optimize rich results to display pricing, availability information, and customer ratings and reviews.
Product rich results give the user a comprehensive overview of what the product or service offers, making it easier to decide whether to purchase. To learn more about the product or service snippet, click here.
4. Videos & Images
Video and image rich results appear as an image or video when a user searches for a particular query within a SERP.
You can optimize your videos & images rich-results to include product videos, thumbnails, links to images, and more.
These results give users a more visual, engaging, and interactive experience when searching for information online. Video or image results associated with a company's search engine results can help create memorable first impressions and encourage users to click on their results to learn more about their offerings.
Visit the Google documentation page to learn how to implement videos & images rich-results.
5. Author & Article
An article-rich result is a search result that includes a detailed article on the subject matter, including title, reviews, rating, price, and date information.
Author-rich results can help a B2B business draw attention to its thought leadership and demonstrate credibility to prospective customers. Article-rich results can allow a company to showcase specific content related to its products or services, amplifying its reach and increasing visibility. Such results can be beneficial in encouraging potential customers to click through to the website to learn more.
You can also optimize rich snippets to display the author's image and name to enhance credibility. Visit the guidelines page to learn more.
Top 5 Rich Results for B2C Businesses
Rich results enable B2C enterprises' websites to appear more prominently on search engine results pages (SERPs). Here are some rich results that B2C companies can leverage:
1. Local Business, Organization, Reviews & Ratings
These rich results are equally relevant for B2C companies. See how to get a local business rich result and reviews rich result here.
2. Product
A product rich result provides a comprehensive list of products related to the search topic. These rich results typically feature product images, manufacturer names, product descriptions, prices, availability, user ratings and reviews, and more.
B2C companies should leverage product-rich results to increase their visibility and reach a wider audience. Product-rich results help shoppers compare different products and make informed purchase decisions.
By providing detailed product information and reviews, businesses can help build trust with potential customers and establish credibility. Product results can drive more traffic to a site and increase sales.
3. How-to
A how-to rich result leads viewers through a series of steps to execute a task, including video, graphics, and text.
A how-to rich result visually represents (or in a list format) the steps needed to execute the task, accompanied by text that clearly explains each step. You can have a video to provide an overview of the task or an infographic to illustrate the process visually.
B2C companies should leverage how-to rich results because they can be a great way to provide helpful information to customers in a format that is easy to understand and digest.
It not only provides valuable information, but it can also help increase brand awareness and engagement while giving customers a direct path to purchase. Providing how-to rich results can help build trust in the company as giving helpful content shows customers that the company cares about their needs.
Read the Google documentation page to know the guidelines.
However, it's important to note that there have been recent updates to How-to rich results guidelines. Google has limited How-To rich results to desktop devices. Google stated that businesses with How-To pages must ensure that their mobile versions include the appropriate markup to show How-To rich results on the desktop. If businesses do not do this, they may see a decrease in their traffic. Website owners will observe these modifications in the metrics related to How-To search appearances within the performance report.
4. FAQ
The FAQ-rich snippet answers users' queries from the linked page. These rich results display as a dropdown box underneath the SERP listing featuring related questions and answers.
Businesses should leverage FAQ Rich Results to provide their customers with answers to commonly asked questions in an easy-to-read format. It allows them to reduce the number of customer service inquiries and make it easier for customers to find the answers they need.
FAQ rich snippets help improve a website's visibility by making it easier for customers to find the information they need and help B2B companies achieve more traffic to their websites. However, businesses should note that Google only displays FAQ-rich snippets for authoritative government & health websites.
It is done to provide a cleaner & more consistent search experience for its users. The new update means that businesses not in these categories can no longer show FAQ-rich results in search results. It could lead to a decrease in traffic to these businesses' websites. Google said that the structured data that is not being used does not cause any problems for search. But these structured data will have no visible effects in Google Search.
You can learn more about the FAQ-rich snippets by visiting Google’s documentation page.
5. Events
Events rich results will display important information about an upcoming event, such as the time, date, and location.
You can also optimize your rich results to display information for several events, such as sales, product launches, webinars, and customer events.
An event rich-results can reach a wider audience, increase engagement, and drive more traffic to their event. It helps build a positive image for the company and create a better customer experience. B2C companies can use this feature to boost SEO rankings, as it provides users with relevant information about upcoming events.
Visit Google’s documentation page to learn more about event rich-snippet.
How to Validate & Monitor Rich Results with Google?
Once you have applied the structured data, your next step is to verify the code so that Google can read and display it correctly. Fortunately, Google has created a free tool to make this process easy.
You can see how search engine bots interpret your schema markup code with Google's Rich Results Test tool. Follow the below steps to validate your rich results.
Step 1: Visit Google’s Rich Results Testing tool
Step 2: Enter your web page URL or the structured data code into the tool. Choose whether to run tests on desktop or mobile and click Test URL or Test code.
Step 3: Once the test is finished, view the results to see whether your structured data is valid and working correctly. If the test finds any issues, it will provide suggestions on how to fix them.
Step 4: If your markup receives a warning, go to "Detected structured data" and look for the rich snippet type for further information. The tool also highlights any incorrect elements that you must correct and optimize.
Once you have added and validated your schema markup, it is critical to monitor the performance of your web page.
Monitoring for faults in your structured data is critical since schema.org vocabulary and search engine standards are constantly changing.
For example, Google may begin demanding a new Product Schema attribute to enable Product-related rich results in the SERP. If your structured data fails to meet the new standard, Google will withdraw the rich result for your listing.
Web admins can use Google Search Console (GSC) to monitor website performance. GSC’s ‘Search Appearance’ tab allows you to review any rich results performance, errors, and warnings associated with your website. You can also see all the rich snippets added to your website.
When you click on a rich snippets enhancement, you will get a report displaying valid or invalid URLs or containing warnings.
You should be fine if you have previously verified the markup. The best part is that you don't have to set anything up. It will display in GSC when you have deployed the rich results markup and Google has crawled those sites.
Rich Snippets SEO Best Practices
Rich results give your website more exposure, helping you get more visitors and customers. Here are some best practices to optimize for rich results:
1. Use Structured Data: Adding structured data to your website’s HTML code helps search engines understand the content of your website more clearly. It gives the search engine more information when deciding if a website should get a rich result, increasing your chances of getting one.
There are several schema markup codes that you can add. Remember to choose those that align with your business goals and ensure the correct implementation of structured data code.
For listicle or table-like rich results, ensure that the necessary structured data is included in the code so that search engines can effectively parse it and display the correct snippets. A well-structured website also helps search engines understand the website’s content better and can even improve rankings.
2. Focus on Relevance: The content of your website should be relevant to the topic or query that users are searching. Search algorithms look for websites that contain highly relevant content about the topic users want to find.
If your website’s content is relevant and optimized for semantic search, you have a greater chance of appearing in the top results, including rich results.
3. Follow Search Engine Guidelines: Different search engines have different guidelines for displaying rich results. It's essential to follow the guidelines of the search engine you're optimizing to ensure that you comply with their policies for rich results. It increases the chances of your website appearing in the rich results section.
4. Choose and Optimize for the right Snippet: Rich results come in a variety of forms, so it's essential to choose the right snippet type for your website and then optimize it for the best performance.
You should choose the correct snippet that will align with the services offered by your company. The type of rich result should also depend on the content you provide, such as reviews and ratings, videos, or recipes, among others.
Note: If the rich snippets markup on a website is spammy, deceptive, or otherwise abusive, Google’s algorithms will disregard it and generate a text-only sample.
Following these best practices will help you optimize your website for rich results, boosting your visibility and bringing in more visitors. Optimize for rich results to increase your visibility and stand out from the competition to capture more user attention.
Rich Results Implementation Case Study
One case study of a successful FAQ schema implementation is that of Quattr. We at Quattr saw that our SERP listing looks plain compared to the competitors. Competitors were using FAQ schema, because of which they were taking the higher market share.
We decided to implement FAQ schema in our website to make it more user-friendly and boost our search engine visibility. We started by identifying the frequently asked questions that a customer would have about the topic and crafted the FAQs accordingly.
Then, we added the FAQ schema to our blog pages and saw an immediate improvement in our SERP listing. We used the FAQ schema to feature our in-depth answers prominently, allowing users to easily find the information they needed. In addition, the markup also helped us to enhance the search engine visibility of our website, as well as our overall SEO ranking.
Implementing the FAQ schema was a success, the number of impressions has increased by approximately 12K. Adding FAQ schema helped Quattr better answer customer queries, further enhancing the customer experience on the website.
Final Thoughts on Rich Snippets
Implementing structured data on your website can help your content get promoted with rich results in the SERPs. But it does much more than that! Structured data may provide additional insights into your website, assisting search engines in better understanding your content. Rich snippets also help establish topical relevance and authority and present oneself as an expert using schemas, such as the Author schema.
For a business to prosper, its website must be well-optimized to increase engagement and clicks. It is critical to have the correct tools for optimizing your web pages for search engines and their features if you want to generate essential leads for your organization.
Quattr, an SEO platform, can help you scale your website optimization efforts. Quattr’s features allow you to analyze your website and find optimization suggestions at scale for multiple web pages, so you don't have to test and change one page at a time.
Quattr’s sandbox environment allows you to test the structured data and compare it with your competitors before publishing it on your website.
By optimizing for rich results, brands can increase visibility in search engine results, enhance the user experience with more interactive and engaging content, and be more competitive in the SERP rankings. Ultimately, rich SERP results are the key to success in today's digital landscape and a crucial tool for brands wanting to gain more organic search traffic.
Optimize for Rich Results at scale with Quattr!
Get StartedGoogle Rich Results FAQs
What is a rich result?
Rich results on SERPs are displayed with additional visuals or other specialized content, like images, videos, maps, or reviews. It helps users make more informed decisions about their query results by giving users a more interactive and engaging experience. Rich results are often marked with a badge or icon to let the user know what content is displayed.
When should you optimize for rich snippets?
You should optimize for rich snippets when you want your website's search engine results to stand out from the competition. Rich snippets make it easier for visitors to quickly find what they are looking for and can improve click-through rates.
Do rich snippets improve SEO?
Yes, rich snippets improve SEO. Although not directly, rich snippets can assist you in improving your SEO rankings. On-page indicators such as click-through rate, bounce rate, and time spent on the page can significantly influence a web page's ranking. Including your website in the rich snippets can help you stand out on SERPs, increasing click-through rates.
About The Author
About Quattr
Quattr is an innovative and fast-growing venture-backed company based in Palo Alto, California USA. We are a Delaware corporation that has raised over $7M in venture capital. Quattr's AI-first platform evaluates like search engines to find opportunities across content, experience, and discoverability. A team of growth concierge analyze your data and recommends the top improvements to make for faster organic traffic growth. Growth-driven brands trust Quattr and are seeing sustained traffic growth.
