Imagine you're strolling down a busy street.
As you absorb the sights and sounds of the city, you're sure to glance at a shop sign here and there. But it's the window displays that really draw your eye and make you want to step through the door.
Rich results are the digital equivalent of an attention-grabbing shop window.
The search engine results page (SERP) showcases a web page's most attractive and relevant aspects. These aspects demand attention and encourage users to click through to the website—or "walk through the door," so to speak.
What are Rich Results Exactly?
The standard search result is a blue hyperlink showing the name of a web page accompanied by a brief description of its contents, also known as metadata.
Rich results—aka rich snippets—are essentially any results that have some extra pizzazz.
They're enhanced search results incorporating additional visual or interactive features compared to regular text-only results. This includes things like FAQs, star ratings, reviews, sitelinks, and product details.
Google's primary goal is always to provide users with high-quality, relevant information as quickly and accurately as possible. Rich results are designed to do that—to pull out and highlight valuable information from a high-quality search result for a particular query.
Take this example from The Brand Brew ® blog. Rather than simply showing the blog title and meta description, Google has included an excerpt from the blog content itself.
Cool, right?
Why Should You Care About Rich Results?
Nothing feels quite like landing the top spot on Google's SERP. But aside from bragging rights, what are the tangible benefits of earning rich results?
Improved Visibility
Rich results make your content more noticeable in SERPs by adding visual elements like images, ratings, and snippets. This increased visibility helps your site stand out among plain text listings, making it more likely to catch users' attention.
This is the contrast between a normal–blah–shop sign and an alluring–wow–window display.
Enhanced Click-Through-Rate (CTR)
Ranking high in search results is excellent, but it's really only the first step. Enticing users to actually click is essential in increasing website traffic and, ultimately, buyers.
Rich results earn a CTR of 58%, compared to 41% for non-rich results. That speaks for itself, really.
Rich results get traffic. Traffic brings buyers (at least, it does when you have strong copy). In summary, rich results make you richer!
Boost Brand Credibility
Rich results are sort of like attaching a neon sign to your site that says, "Hey, these guys know what they're talking about!"
Remember, Google only rewards rich results to quality sites with valuable information. Earning rich results reflects very well on your brand, signalling to users that you're trustworthy and authoritative in your niche.
How to Get Rich Results with SEO
Surprise, surprise, it all comes back to search engine optimization (SEO). SEO never stops, after all!
Don't Sleep on Structured Data
Schema markup is a type of structured data that helps search engines understand the content and structure of your web page. Structured data is an essential aspect of technical SEO.
Rich results are very difficult to achieve without structured data.
Start by identifying the content you want to mark up, such as articles, products, or FAQs. You can use tools like Google's Structured Data Markup Helper to help you create schema markup for your desired content, which you can then insert into your website through HTML or plugins.
For instance, you might use the schema type "Article" for blog posts, "FAQ" for question-and-answer sections, and "Product" for e-commerce pages.
To test whether or not your page supports rich results, take advantage of Google's Rich Results Test.
You can also rely on The Brand Brew ®'s SEO Website Audit to scour your site for SEO essentials and help you position your website for SEO success.
Consider Content
There are two main aspects to consider when optimizing content for rich results: structure and information.
Structure-wise, you want to use clear and concise answers. Consider bullet points, numbered lists, and tables, but only if they suit the web page. You don't want to sacrifice readability and quality for your human audience in your quest for rich results.
In terms of information, it all comes back to providing value. Google needs to think that your content will succinctly answer a user's query to feature it in a rich result, so make sure your web page content is top-notch.
Benefit from Best Practices
SEO is an ecosystem, with each aspect working together to strengthen the website as a whole. So, to leverage SEO for rich results, lean on your SEO best practices.
Optimize your website for mobile users, pay attention to site loading speed, and build your internal linking strategy.
Remember to turn to Google Search Console for a deeper look into your website's performance so you can pinpoint exactly which elements of your SEO ecosystem need attention.
Get Ready to Count Your Riches
Surely, we can all agree it's good to be rich. SERP results are no different!
The Brand Brew ®'s Website Design completely transforms your website—or builds it from scratch—to give your business the fully optimized online presence it deserves and boost your chances of achieving rich results.
Book a call to take the first step toward earning rich results that will have more buyers flowing in than the most magnificent window display in town. You'll put even the Macy's holiday windows to shame!
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