The concept of SEO Rich snippets plays a vital role in the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The term ‘rich snippet’ is familiar to every SEO specialist but it is quiet vague for SEO newbies. Therefore, the current article is focusing on the concept of Rich snippets SEO and how they help you rank higher.
There are multiple definitions about what exactly a Google snippets process is, since Google clearly states that the term snippet in SEO concerns to the description only. However, if digital marketers generally speak about the Google snippets process, they observe the snippet associated with the search list and thus include the definition, URL, headline and other detailed information displayed in the search.
What Are Rich Snippets?
The term Rich snippets SEO are the structured data markup added by the website operators to their existing page’s HTML code which enables a search engine to effectively understand the details a web page contains. Generally, events, recipes and reviews are common types of Rich snippets. In addition, they provide visual context for users when shown in Google SERPs and let Google to comprehend the intent and implications of the web pages. Rich snippets are also known as Rich Results.
In other words, a snippet in SEO is the outcome that appears on the Google webpage as a search results. For an instance, I was searching for best Hollywood movies on Google and then a list of results with rich snippets and normal snippets displayed on a screen.
Schema is the structured data markup on the website that generates SEO Rich Snippets. This code enables the search engine to organize your information and understand it.
The image below represents a normal snippet,
As per the above image, the content provided in blue represents a title, green is the URL and black is the description of the entire page. This is how a snippet in SEO looks like!
In the above image of snippet, you can clearly observe the rating along with the picture of an ice cream, time taken to prepare the ice cream and the amount of calories contain by it. However, it is clearly visible that the information covered by the above snippet in SEO is more than the normal snippet; therefore, it is considered as a Rich Snippet.
How SEO Rich Snippet Increase Click Through Rate (CTR)?
When anyone searches for something online then they drive directly to the SERP or Search Engine Results Page. Google will present a snippet of each website associated with the initial search. People may spend weeks, months and years fighting for their brand to be appearing on the first page of Google SERPs for marketing purpose.
SEO Rich snippets are one of the greatest ways to stand out visually in Search Engine Results Pages (SERP’s) and get a lead over your competing brands. The effective and additional information is provided by rich snippets. Additional context the website’s link has been served by them which includes review based star rating, product availability and price. Therefore, you remove a barrier for your customer by pulling that information into the search results.
The people from e-commerce industry spent most of their time in finding out the ways to increase the number of clicks on their links than the links shared by their competitors. In order to increase your click through rate, strengthening the SEO rich snippets is stated as one of the effective ways.
The snippets refer to the additional information that boosts a search results and let you know about the content of the website before clicking on it is an effective way to improve click through rates (CTR).
Also Check: What is Cost Per Click (CPC) ? How does CPC work?
Simple snippets are mostly tedious and most probably consist of text only. But, as per the online customers’ behavior, we understand that the people get attracted by the personality, colors and imagery. Rich snippets can be the special thing that fascinates the eye and wins the click, with so many image results, paid advertisements and other visually appealing elements competing for attention on the search results page. As per the studies, product with high quality images always sell better than the products with poor quality or no images.
The searchers or shoppers always want to do research and compare with other products before buying a product. Snippets offer them this option and let them do the research and comparison effectively.
Have a look at the image below:
If you look at the results of the organic search then you are more likely gravitate towards the search result having the well-defined start rating.
Consider this situation for better understanding of the concept: Being prominent in the competitive environment of search results page is equivalent to creating a good impression in a field of ten work applicants. The ten applicants worked very hard to make a distinction among them and are qualified for the job. However, only one will be chosen amongst all the qualified applicants. The selected position secured by the lucky candidate must have something unique that makes him stand out from other applicants.
Same concept goes with the search results: The webpage that achieve the click of a searcher will be the one that stands out itself from a bundle of several paid advertisements and ten blue links occupying the page of search results. SEO Rich snippets can win the attraction, sales and clicks in the crowded field of e-commerce, where even commerce-free information websites are competitors.
Common Ecommerce Rich Snippets
The types of rich snippets SEO that are most effective and relevant to the e-commerce sites are supported by both Google and Bing.
Reviews: The Reviews markup often incorporates the Aggregate Reviews which are more commonly viewed. The tagging reviews would be used to markup an individual review but the aggregate of all reviews and ratings like 3.5 stars out of 5 over 50 reviews will be reflected as Reviews Aggregate. Count, rating and item are the widely used properties which defines the amount of reviews which are actually submitted. The markup type Reviews also enables the capability to markup a photo of a product.
The image below indicates the type of rich snippet along with the product ratings and reviews.
Business and Organization: If bricks and mortar stores have also been managed by your company then you must ensure marking up the pages of the store. URL, phone, geolocation and address are some of the valuable properties. This necessary information can also be used to authenticate local search information and can be easily readable and accessible for the visitors of the search engine.
Products and Offers: A range of other attributes can also be labeled after the product name has been defines which includes availability and price. When your goods are normally searched by SKU numbers, use the “identifier” property in order to mark up the SKU on the pages of your product. You can effectively use the “priceValidUntil” property in order to drive a sense of urgency if your product is on sale for a limited period of time. You can also use the “quantity” property if your product is special and is available under limited editions.
The Product markup also incorporates the capability to markup an image of your product but in traditional search results I have only seen Bing using product images as mentioned in the figure below. Although, all the products illustrated in your website already have images then why not mark up those images for search results of Bing that will possibly be included in Google snippets process at certain aspect.
A search result of Bing outlining “Born Dinah loafers” with the product photo
People: If your website contains biographies of executive staff members of your company then these needs to be marked up properly in order to display your company and its respective position in the search results.
Breadcrumbs: For breadcrumbs, a formal markup type is being consumed by Bing by essentially identifying the properties of Child and Title. Google automatically recognizes the breadcrumbs.
More snippets will soon start to clutter up the Google snippets process as there are endless options for detailed and updated information on the search listings. The best approach is to determine which snippets are beneficial and most suitable for your website and will make you stand out among your competitors.
Making improvements in your listing looks is obviously an effective thing to increase the click through rates. Choosing the best rich snippets SEO will totally depend on the selling point and content of your website. At first, it seems quite complicated to incorporating rich snippets to your website but in the future it is really effective and advantageous. It not only strengthens the scope of your product marketing but also help customer to gain the better shopping experience.
