What are Rich Snippets? Complete Beginner’s Guide

Like the canonical tag we recently discussed, the use of Rich Snippets (or Schema.org markup) is by no means mandatory, but it does benefit search engines, users, and, yes, even site operators. The big difference, though, is that, unlike the canonical tag, the benefit is more noticeable to all involved:

• The search engines are able to return more relevant results.
• Users can determine the relevancy of specific results more easily, often on the SERP.
• Site operators may benefit from increased click-throughs and reduced bounce rates since users have a better idea of the site's contents and relevancy to their query before they even visit the site.

What Are Rich Snippets?

Rich Snippets is the term used to describe structured data markup that site operators can add to their existing HTML, which in turn allow search engines to better understand what information is contained on each web page. However, the major search engines have taken this a step further and now use this markup to present rich results, enabling users to more easily find the information they are looking for.

Under normal circumstances, when your website shows up on a SERP, Google and other search engines display the site title, URL, and whatever meta description you have assigned to the page. When Rich Snippets is employed, Google will be able to display a bit more information about the actual result, including whether this particular result is a review, a person, a product, a business, or more.

Think of how a result for an item on iTunes or Google Play shows up with a star rating, the number of votes that resulted in that rating, the price, and the platform supported.

Why Are Rich Snippets Important?

Let’s say you are searching for a new recipe. You want something quick, easy, and delicious. Wouldn’t it be great if you could see the estimated cooking time, the ingredients needed, and a picture of the finished dish right there in the Google search results? Rich snippets give you exactly that.

Rich snippets provide extra information about your website’s content directly in the Google search results pages (SERPs). They highlight the most important details of your page. Your website’s click-through rate and visibility in search engines will be increased automatically.

Take a look at this example of a rich snippet of a pasta recipe:

But why should you care about rich snippets? Here are a few reasons:

• They Grab Attention:

Normal search results are just headlines and blurbs. Rich snippets can include star ratings, prices, reviews, images, and more. This extra information makes your listing more visually appealing and informative. This can attract users to click on your result over the competition.

•  They Help Search Engines Understand Your Content:

Rich snippets help search engines better understand the content and context of your webpage. They tell search engines exactly what kind of content you have on your website. This can improve ranking for relevant Google search queries. The better search engines understand your site, the better they can match it with user search intent.

• They Can Increase CTR by Up to 30%:

Studies have shown that rich snippets can increase CTR by up to 30%. That’s a great jump in website traffic just by providing search engines with more information about your content.

• Your Website Can Stand Out from the Crowd:

When people search for something on Google, they can see multiple pages that look similar and try to grab their attention. Rich snippets help your listing stand out. They grab attention and attract users to click.

• They Boost Conversions and Sales:

Rich snippets help pre-qualify leads and drive more conversions by providing users with more information about your products or services directly in the search results. For example, if a user sees a high star rating for your product in the Google search results, there is a great chance that they will click through to learn more and probably make a purchase.

• Your Website Gets Featured in Multiple SERPs:

Rich snippets help you qualify for multiple SERP features, such as Google’s Knowledge Panel or rich cards. These features provide even more opportunities to show your brand and content in a better way.

What Content Types Are Supported?

There are three different markup specifications currently recognized by the major search engines:

• Microdata
• Microformats
• RDFa

With Microdata being the most widely supported in terms of annotations, specifically the schema from Schema.org. Open Graph tags and Twitter Cards are a form of structured data markup, but they should be employed in conjunction with Rich Snippets, not instead.

Rich Snippets, or structured data markup, can be used on the following content types:

Review Snippet

Both individual and aggregate reviews are supported, with different properties used for each.

Products Snippet

One of the single most important uses of structured data markup is with merchants' products and special offers, particularly online stores. Properties available include name, image, brand, description, identifiers (ISBN, SKU, etc.), and even reviews, all extendable with price, currency, seller condition, and quantity. Online marketplaces that offer the same product from multiple merchants can use lowPrice and highPrice to show the price range for a single item.

Businesses and Organizations Snippet

Properties available include business name, address (physical and URL), telephone number, geolocation (latitude and longitude), and logo.

FAQ Snippet

These snippets display frequently asked questions and their answers directly in Google search results. It’s a great way to provide quick and easy access to information, and it can also improve your CTR. Use structured data markup to add special code to your website’s HTML that tells search engines what information is important. There are many tools available to help you generate this markup, even if you are not a developer.

Recipe Snippet

Structured data markup for recipes offers a multitude of properties, allowing operators of websites related to cooking and recipe collections to include everything from the type of dish, reviews, preparation, and cooking time to nutritional information such as serving size, calories, fat content and more.

Movie Snippet

Movie snippets display information about a movie in Google search results. This can include the movie title, release date, rating, director, and cast members. Using movie snippets can make your website more attractive and informative, increasing your CTR and traffic.

Events Snippet

The usage of structured data markup with events is intended only for future occurring events, not past events. It is worth noting here that the property summary is not intended to summarize the event but rather to describe the event’s official name. Other properties include start and end dates, duration, ticket details, and geolocation.

Article Snippet

Article snippets display major information about a blog post or article in Google search results. This can include the article’s title, author, publication date, and a short summary. When you include article snippets on your website, you make your content more informative and stand out in Google search results.

How to Add Rich Snippets to Your Content

Structured data markup does not need to be added to every single content property, though having more content marked up does help search engines present results better. It must also be noted that you should only mark up visible content; hidden page elements and content in hidden divs do not need to be marked up.

Structured data markup is made up of three primary elements:

• Itemscope, which specifies that the HTML contained in the <div> block is about a particular item,
• Itemtype, which indicates exactly what kind of item it is, and
• Itemprop, which is the specific property, such as name, URL, review, etc.

Books, movies, photographs, TV shows, recipes, and music are considered creative works, so an example of markup HTML for a book listing could look something like this:

Note how each of the three elements has been used.

The available properties vary according to the content type, and the sheer number of properties can in itself be intimidating for anyone thinking of implementing structured data markup. Thankfully, for anyone operating a WordPress-based site, there are several plugins available to make things a bit easier, including All-in-One Schema.org. You can also find plugins for the major e-commerce systems, but if you are using a bespoke CMS or e-commerce system, you will need to involve your web developer in setting up an easy method to start using structured data markup.

Step 1: Go to Google's Structured Data Markup Helper

The Structured Data Markup Helper is a free and user-friendly tool by Google. It makes it easier to create structured data for your website. Start by visiting this tool. This tool will help you generate the structured data markup code you need for your rich snippets.

Step 2: Choose the Data Type and Add the URL

Once you are on the Structured Data Markup Helper, you’ll see a selection of supported data types on the landing page. Choose the one that best represents the content for which you want to add rich snippets (e.g., “Article,” “Product,” “Event,” and so on).

Once you have selected the data type, enter the URL of your web page in the designated field. You can also paste the HTML code of your page if you prefer.

Step 3: Assign the Data Tags

The tool will display your web page or its HTML code. Examine the content and identify the relevant elements for which you want to add rich snippets. These elements could be product names, prices, event dates, recipe ingredients, or any other data points specific to your chosen data type.

Google’s tool will provide a list of suggested data tags on the right-hand side. Click on the appropriate tag that has the elements you are highlighting on the page. For example, if you are marking up a product name, you’d select the “name” tag.

Step 4: Create the HTML Code

Once you have assigned all of the necessary data tags, the Structured Data Markup Helper will generate the HTML code in the right-hand panel.

This code contains all of the structured data information that Google needs to understand your rich snippet.

Step 5: Add the Code Using Your CMS

After the structured data code is generated, copy the code. How you do this will depend on the content management system you are using. If you are using a popular CMS like WordPress, there are plugins available that can help you add structured data markup to your website. Otherwise, you’ll need to manually add the code to the HTML of your web page.

Login to your CMS, where you edit your website’s content. Locate the section of the HTML code where you want to insert the structured data markup. You might need to place the code within the section of your HTML or within the body of the content itself, depending on the data type and CMS. Paste the copied structured data code into the designated location in your CMS.

Step 6: Validate the Markup

After adding the structured data code to your CMS, you need to validate it to make sure it is free of errors. You can use Google’s Rich Results Test Tool to do this. Enter the URL of your webpage into the tool and click “Test URL.” The tool will then check your webpage for any errors in your structured data markup.

Step 7: Correct the Issues

If the validation process identifies any errors, review the highlighted sections and make the necessary corrections to your structured data code.

Once you have addressed the errors, re-validate the code using the tool to make sure it’s error free.

Step 8: Wait Patiently for the Results

After validating your markup, it can take some time for your rich snippets to start showing up in the Google search results. Google needs to process your website and index your structured data markup before they will appear.

What to Expect After Adding Rich Snippets

Writing for SEJ, Rich Benci notes that Rich Snippets are a privilege, not a right. The fact that you start using structured data markup on your site will not automatically translate into the major search engines displaying Rich Snippets for your content. Google, in particular, will first analyze and assess your markup before starting to display rich results. Over multiple implementations, Benci has observed a pattern in how Google responds to the introduction of structured data markup:

• Google only starts analyzing the new markup 10 to 14 days after it is first introduced on a website.
• If everything appears to be correct, Google will start showing Rich Snippets for some (not all) pages, but after approximately five days, these will disappear.
• Several days later, some Rich Snippets will reappear—either for the same set of pages or a new set. This may be repeated several times.
• Only after roughly eight weeks will you be rewarded with (semi-permanent) Rich Snippets throughout your site, assuming Google’s repeated analysis and assessment did discover any errors.

This cycle often confuses site operators, who then resort to “tweaking” their implementation of Schema.org, resulting in further delays. Benci’s observations suggest that it is better to implement the markup and wait roughly two months for full, rich results to start showing up before attempting any modifications to the markup.

Finally, a qualification of the term semi-permanent as used above: although Rich Snippets were adopted by the major search engines more than two years ago, they are still adapting how they are implemented to ensure the best end result. This means that not all of your rich results will be displayed using Rich Snippets and that what does and doesn’t display will itself change from time to time. This is most obvious currently with the way in which Google sometimes displays Authorship, something that was introduced in 2013 but has already undergone several changes.

Likewise, Google has also started to penalize sites that have been found using Rich Snippets inappropriately, with the notification reading:

Markup on some pages on this site appears to use techniques such as marking up content that is invisible to users, marking up irrelevant or misleading content, and/or other manipulative behavior that violates Google’s Rich Snippet Quality guidelines.

Of course, if your approach to your website and SEO is always ethical, you probably have very little to be concerned about, wisely aware that when it comes to SEO, short-term wins seldom result in long-term gains.