What are Rich Snippets? Complete Beginner's Guide

Rich Snippets (also known as “Rich Results”) are normal Google search results with additional data displayed. This extra data is usually pulled from ... ContentOptimizationStrategiesRichSnippetsSEOMarketingHub2.0ContentOptimizationStrategiesRichSnippetsSemanticSEOLSIKeywordsRichSnippetsWhatareRichSnippets? RichSnippets(alsoknownas“RichResults”)arenormalGooglesearchresultswithadditionaldatadisplayed.ThisextradataisusuallypulledfromStructuredDatafoundinapage’sHTML.CommonRichSnippettypesincludereviews,recipesandevents. WhyareRichSnippetsImportant? ThevastmajorityofGooglesearchresultsdisplaythesame3piecesofdata: Titletag Metadescription URL Here’sanexample: That’sanormal“snippet”. RichSnippetstakeanormalsnippet…andaddtoit. Here’sanexampleofaRichSnippet: Asyoumightexpect,RichSnippetresultsaremoreeye-catchingthannormalsearchresults…whichcanleadtoahigherorganicCTR. GooglegetsRichSnippetdatafromStructuredMarkup(likeSchema)inyourpage’sHTML. EventhoughsomepeoplethinkthatusingStructuredDatacanimproveyoursearchenginerankings,GooglehascomeoutandsaidthatusingStructuredDataisnotarankingsignal: Soatleastfornow,themainbenefitofRichSnippetsisanincreasedclick-through-rate. Withthat,here’showtogetRichSnippets. BestPractices ChooseaRichSnippetType YourfirststepistoidentifythetypeofRichSnippetthatyouwanttoget.Thatway,youcanuseStructuredMarkupthat’sspecificallydesignedtogetthattypeofRichSnippetintheSERPs. TherearedozensofRichSnippettypesoutthere.Butagoodchunkofthem(likeflightinfoandbooks)onlyapplytoaveryspecifictypeofsite. That’swhywe’regoingtofocusonthe8mostcommontypesofRichSnippets. Reviews:Displaysastarrating(outof5).Canbeanindividualrevieweroraggregatereviewsfromusers. Recipes:AspecialtypeofStructuredDatathatonlyappliestorecipes.Recipemarkupincludesdataliketimetopreparethedish,reviewsandrecipeimages. Music:GivesGoogleinfoonmusic,likealbumreleasedates. ProductMarkup:Givessearchenginesinformationaboutaspecificproduct(includingpriceandproductimages). Organization:HelpsGoogleunderstandkeyinformationonanorganization(likeabusiness),includingaddress,logoandcontactinformation). TopStories:Allowsasitetoappearinthe“TopStories”boxinthesearchresults.OnlyappliestoGoogleNewsapprovedwebsites. Video:Searchenginescan’t“watch”videosonyourpage.Sovideomarkuphelpssearchenginesunderstandwhatyourvideocontentisallabout. Events:Includesinformationondates,times,locationandmore. Soonceyou’vepickedaRichSnippettypethatmakessenseforyourcontent,it’stimetomakeithappen. UnderstandTheBasicsofStructuredData StructuredDatahelpssearchenginesbetterunderstandyourcontent. Forexample,let’ssayyoujustpublishedablogpostthatfeaturedachilirecipe: WithoutStructuredData,Googleandothersearchengineshaveahardtimeunderstanding: Howlongtherecipetakes Whichimagesareoftherecipeitself Thelistofingredients Steps Enter:StructuredData. WhenyouaddRecipemarkuptoyourpage,youtellsearchengines: “Therecipetakes45minutes” “Thisisthelistofingredients” “Here’sapictureofthedish” Andifyouplayyourcardsright,GooglewillshowoffthisdatainthesearchresultsasaRichSnippet: Prettycool. ImplementStructuredDataWithSchema WhenitcomestoStructuredData,mostwebsitesuseSchema.orgmarkup. That’sbecauseSchemaissupportedbyallthemajorsearchengines(includingBing).Andasyou’llseeinaminute,it’sprettydarneasytosetup. AllyouneedtodoisfindthetypeofmarkupthatyouwanttouseonSchema.org… …andmarkupyourcontentusingtheguidelinesonthatpage. GooglealsohassoliddocumentationonStructuredData. Inmyopinion,Google’sstuffisaloteasiertounderstandforpeoplethataren’tprodevelopers. HowyouactuallyaddStructuredDatacodetoyourwebsiteiscompletelyuptoyou. IfyouuseWordPress,thereareplentyofpluginstochoosefrom: AndifyouwanttoaddyourStructuredDataMarkupwithoutthehelpofaplugin,youcanuseMicrodataorRDFa.ButIhighlyrecommendusingJSON-LD. That’sbecauseJSON-LDistheeasiestwaytoaddStructuredMarkuptoyourpage. WithoutJSON-LD,youneedtomanuallyaddStructuredDatatotheHTMLofyourpage: Thisahugepain.Plus,addingnewcodetoyourexistingHTMLincreasestheoddsthatsomethingwillgowrong. ButwithJSON-LD,allofyourStructuredDataispackedintoalittlepieceofJavaScriptcodethatgoesintothe

sectionofyourwebpage: TestWithTheStructuredDataTestTool YourlaststepistomakesureyourStructuredDataissetupcorrectly. Fortunately,GooglelaunchedanAWESOMEtoolthatmakesthisstepanabsolutecinch:TheStructuredDataTestingTool. Touseit,eitherpopinaliveURLfromyoursite: OrcopyandpasteHTML: Andhit“RunTest”: GooglewillthenshowyouanyStructuredDatathatitfindsonyourpage. Andifthetoolfindsanythingfunky,they’llletyouknow: OnethingIshouldpointout: There’snoguaranteethatStructuredDatawillresultinRichSnippets…evenifyouhaveeverythingheresetupPERFECTLY. Infact,Googlemakesthissuperclearintheirdocumentation: Inotherwords: UsingStructuredDatacorrectlymaximizestheoddsofgettingRichSnippets.Butitdoesn’talwayswork. LearnMore MarkUpYourContentItems:AsolidoverviewofstructuredmarkupthatcomesstraightfromGoogle. RichSnippets:Troubleshooting:AreyourRichSnippetsnotshowingup?ThisdetailedtroubleshootingvideofromtheGoogleWebmasterchannelcanhelpyoufigureoutwhat’sgoingon…andfixit. AGuidetoJSON-LDforBeginners:VeryhelpfulpostontheMozblogaboutJSON-LD,includinglotsof“ProTips”onusingitcorrectly. SpammyStructuredMarkup:Althoughrare,it’spossibletogetamessageintheGoogleSearchConsoleabout“SpammyStructuredMarkup”.ThisguidefromGooglehelpsyoufigureouthowtogetbackontrack.8ResourcesSEOWritingMetaDescriptionsSEOFriendlyURLsInternalLinkingSemanticSEORichSnippetsLSIKeywordsFeaturedSnippetsNextLSIKeywordsPreviousSemanticSEONextLSIKeywordsMoreTopicsAllTopics6ResourcesUserExperienceSignals5ResourcesSEOToolsandSoftware7ResourcesAdvancedSEOStrategies8ResourcesSEOFundamentals4ResourcesKeywordResearchStrategies6ResourcesTechnicalSEO5ResourcesLinkBuildingforSEO6ResourcesUserExperienceSignals5ResourcesSEOToolsandSoftware7ResourcesAdvancedSEOStrategies8ResourcesSEOFundamentals4ResourcesKeywordResearchStrategies6ResourcesTechnicalSEO5ResourcesLinkBuildingforSEO6ResourcesUserExperienceSignals5ResourcesSEOToolsandSoftware7ResourcesAdvancedSEOStrategies