As one of the peak SEO prizes, rich snippets can offer your site the top spot on SERPs (search engine results pages). Whether you are knowledgeable about the importance of content in SEO or new to digital marketing entirely, creators, developers, and users alike recognize the importance of this prime position. With rich snippets, it’s not only the location but also the greater visual appeal and depth of information that compels users to choose that page. What does this mean for your company? Investing in schema markups and structured data has the potential for a significant increase in your click-through rates (CTR), which ultimately leads to more visits and sales.
In addition to understanding the strategy behind schema and the importance of structured data, knowing how you can assess the impact of these choices in creating your rich snippets is invaluable for your continued SEO success. To help, the following offers some visual examples of snippets and their user benefits, along with addressing how to review a site’s use of schema, structured data, and rich snippets.
Rich Snippets: Examples and Benefits
People search for recipes, products, and events on a regular basis, if not multiple times a day. So, these search queries make great examples that highlight the potential benefits of any rich snippet development.
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Recipe Rich Snippet
For example, the rich snippets offer food bloggers with an opportunity to highlight their recipes via properly deployed schema markup with structured data to arrive at the top of the SERPs. Upon searching for “homemade pizza recipe,” a rich snippet like this one may appear:
Details like the high star rating, number of reviews and related recipes make it clear to beginning pizza makers (and everyone else) that this recipe is a well-tested and celebrated offering. After just a few seconds, it’s likely that they’ll quickly click on this page to further explore this informative resource.
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Product Rich Snippet
Another great example of the power of rich snippets is enhanced product offerings. For instance, a search for “beats headphones” will likely show a similar result to the following that allows merchants to highlight important buying decision points like rating, cost, delivery and return information with a rich snippet.
When buying gifts or looking for their own products, people often search for items by price. Implementing the correct schema markup can mean the difference between a user buying your product or clicking through to a site that may not even feature your brand or store.
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Event Rich Snippet
Likewise, event venues will likely want to include the event schema into their shows in order to show in common searches, such as “boston events.” For example, the following SERP shows upcoming and popular events throughout the Boston area. For event organizers, using schema markup can help distinguish your event, location and platform as the premier opportunity!
Ensuring Results with your Schema Use, Structured Data and Rich Snippets
SEO requires constant reflection, evaluation and updates, including structured data use and rich snippets. It’s not enough to simply appear at the top of the SERPs; ultimately, it’s about keeping that spot! Here are some ways to confirm that this schema-based aspect of your SEO strategy is working for you.
- Google Search Results: Conduct searches related to your website’s content. If Google has recognized and implemented your structured data, you should see rich snippets that include additional information, such as star ratings, pricing, event details, etc.
- Structured Data Testing Tools: Google offers two testing tools – the Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator to help you assess the effectiveness of your schema markup use and structured data input.
- Google Search Console (GSC): GSC can provide valuable insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your site. The Yoast experts further explore how this tool and its Enhancements tab can offer recommendations and feedback about rich results and other aspects of your site.
- Website Traffic Evaluation: Monitor your website’s organic traffic, CTR, and user engagement to assess the potential impacts of your structured data implementation.
- Analytics Tools: Track the performance of your website pages with Google Analytics or other SEO tools to determine if rich snippets are positively influencing user behavior. Other tools for structured data testing and execution appear in this article from Search Engine Journal contributors.
To enjoy a prominent place in SERPs, develop rich snippets by utilizing schema markup to make your website understood and structured data to increase the depth of this understanding for search engines and users. Looking for experts to help you with this aspect of your SEO strategy? Choose All Points Digital. As a data-driven organization, APD will continually collect and assess the impact of existing and new SEO strategies on your website’s visibility, user engagement, and click-through rates. In prioritizing transparency about these findings, APD can better help you celebrate your success with rich snippets and continue to monitor and improve them for continued growth and ongoing benefits for your business. Contact our team to learn more or engage in another collaborative effort today!
