Snippets are the brief entries that appear in Google search results. Snippets typically contain the page name, the URL, and a few lines of text describing the page. Their purpose is to show essential information that will help users decide whether or not to click on the page. Snippet text is derived from a page’s meta description or excerpts from the page that Google selects as relevant.
Rich Snippets Defined
You may notice that some results contain additional information, like a rating, a price, an image, a location, or hours of service. These results are known as rich snippets, and you can get more information about them here. They most often appear in searches for products and services. They also tend to show up in recipe searches, and the extra information might include a calorie count or a baking time. Rich snippets were first introduced in 2009, and they are becoming more common as Google’s search technology evolves.
How Rich Snippets Affect SEO
While rich snippets don’t have a direct effect on search engine optimization (SEO), they are a crucial part of any SEO strategy because they have such a significant impact on the behavior of users. For one thing, rich snippets stand out visually. Users are quick to notice details like ratings, pricing, and reviews, and they are more likely to click on sites that catch their attention.
Also, rich snippets earn more click-throughs than regular snippets because they provide information that makes a website look legitimate and valuable. If a user is searching for a certain brand of shoes, for example, a search result showing a 4.5-star rating based on more than 4,000 reviews looks like a trustworthy place to shop. In these ways, rich snippets can drive more traffic to a website, which can increase the site’s ranking.
Finally, the extra information that rich snippets provide ensures that users know what to expect when they click through. A shoe shopper can know for sure that they’re going to visit an online shoe store rather than a blog about women’s shoes. In this way, rich snippets greatly increase the likelihood that visitors will find what they are looking for and spend more time on the page. When visitors spend time browsing a site rather than immediately clicking the back button, Google sees the site as highly relevant and increases its ranking.
How To Implement Rich Snippets For Your Website
The first step in implementing rich snippets is to decide what information you want Google to display. If you’re a restaurant owner, for example, you might want users to see your Google reviews or a featured menu item. If you’re selling a product, you might want to show pricing and shipping time. The next step is to add structured data to your site. That means writing the information in a coding language that Google’s search engine can read and interpret. If you know something about coding, you can use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper or another similar tool.
Final Thoughts
Rich snippets have the power to increase your website’s visibility, your traffic from search engine results, and your customers’ engagement. Rich snippets are a small aspect of web design that can have a surprisingly profound impact on the success of your business.
