Have you paid attention to how the search results have recently changed in Google? Due to the zero-click approach, the search engine is working hard to provide users with as much information on the SERP page as possible.
What Are the Rich Snippets?
These are search results that are more appealing thanks to additional valuable information that is displayed along with the title, description, and URL. The supplementary info is taken from the structured data on the page. To learn if you have introduced these data correctly, utilize Google structured data testing tool used as a validator for checking the Schema markup.
The next essential matter related to rich snippets is when Google will display them instead of a regular link to the site. Rich snippets are displayed only for pages with a specific type of content and may vary on a device of a user. For instance, how-to snippets can only be displayed on mobile devices.
Rich and Extended Snippets: What Is the Difference?
You may have come across the term “extended results” used along with the “rich snippets” term.
Nowadays, pages with search results are much more complicated. Among the varieties of results displaying, one can differentiate the following:
- Extended snippets: Regular snippets with additional info along with title, description, and URL.
- Rich snippets: Any type of extended search results in which information is obtained from relevant structured data. Rich snippets are a kind of extended results.
- Other types of search results. Anything that is not a traditional blue link. Highlighted description, contextual advertising, blocks from Twitter, and blocks of knowledge. These are all different kinds of search results.
How Can Rich Snippets Help SEO?
It is great if you have managed to reach high positions in the SERP. But in the end, users click on the content in the snippet. Rich snippets help improve the attractiveness of your pages in search results. In this case, the first snippet is most likely the most attractive because it makes the most of the schema markup for products. With the largest number of reviews and the price, it inspires trust and the desire to click on it.
To get an even more competitive advantage in search results, you can use price, the number of reviews, ratings, or cooking times for recipes. They give you more room to generate clicks. For example, more people will click on the second search result if it shows the lowest price. But it is necessary to be clear on this point — while attractive snippets can give you more clicks, they are not a ranking factor.
How to Get Rich Snippets
Rich snippets are created from structured data that is available for particular content types. By properly using the schema.org markup, you will be able to format and organize the content in such a way that Google can properly comprehend and use it in search results and for other purposes. Follow the guides provided by the search engine to introduce the markup correctly. Make use of the possibilities from Google and improve your positions in the SERP.