What are rich results?
In the last few years, the search landscape has undergone a dramatic change. Rich results, or rich snippets, as they are sometimes called, have been a major change. To understand the rich results of today and their role in SEO, let’s define some terms.
What is a SERP?
Google’s SERPs are the results of a search query. In the early days, SERPs were just the “10 blue links.” These were organic search results that simply included links to web pages. Today, SERPs have become much more complex as Google has developed more sophisticated ways to display information and better assist searchers.
SERPs include:
- Organic Results
- Advertisements that are paid
- Snippets featured
- Knowledge graphs
- Rich results
SERPs are crucial for SEO, as they determine the way your website appears on Google.
They decide, more importantly, how your website appears on Google’s front page.
Rich results are included in the majority of SERPs.
5% Less that 5% of the search results do not have any SERP features. (Source: SEMrush sensor data)
Compare these two SERPs.
This example illustrates the difference between SERPs with rich results, and those without.
SERP rich results look more dynamic and visually appealing. They also offer different ways for users to find information about the products they are searching for.
What are rich results, exactly?
Rich search results are enhanced visually and provide additional information in addition to the URL, title, and meta description. Rich results are only available for certain pages. Google creates rich results using structured data from the page. This information is only available in certain types of content. You can find the full list of rich results in the Google Search Gallery documentation, which is linked under the Resources section. Focus on those rich results that are relevant to your company.
Common rich result to optimize for include:
- Image Packs
- Local packs
- Review
- Recipes
- Site links
- Image Pack
Image packs are a set of horizontal images that can be clicked to go directly to Google Images. Follow these best practices to optimize your image content. Include a descriptive image file name and alt text. Make sure that your image URL can be read. Optimize your image size and add a title attribute. Check out the Resources section to learn how to optimize images for search engine results.
Local Pack
Local packs are the three locations Google considers to be most relevant for the search query. Local SEO has evolved a great deal in the last few years. The local features have also changed rapidly. Google’s local tools are important for brick-and-mortar businesses. Create a Google My Business profile for your company and update it with the latest information about its hours, location and other details. Check out the resources to learn more about local SEO.
Review
You can display ratings and review stars for recipes, products and other items. Review stars are more likely to be clicked on, so investing in them is worth it if they’re relevant to your business. The best practice varies greatly by industry. However, it is always to include structured information on your website. In the Resources section, you can learn more about structured data.
Recipes
A carousel with recipes, including ingredients and rating information, is displayed for recipe searches. How to optimize your website to appear in the recipes results If you run a food-related site, the recipes-rich result is an excellent opportunity to increase visibility and click-through rates in SERPs. This is achieved using structured data.
Site Links
Google will display a list of links to up to 10 sites when someone searches for a domain.
Site links will benefit your website by increasing the clickthrough rate. They can also help users find what they are looking for more quickly. Site links are more likely to appear on large sites that have a well-known brand and high traffic, since they show up when branded search results are used. Structured data can be used to optimize this type of search result if it is relevant for your organization.
Rich results come in many forms, and some are not under your control. Google’s Knowledge Panel tends to use data that it has gathered from its own database and private data partnerships. Most websites are unable to appear in rich results of this kind. You can’t place organically in other results, like shopping and ads. Optimizing your site for rich results will increase your click-through rates. Rich results are more visually appealing, so users are more likely click on them.
This is to say,
It’s important to also understand the landscape of SERPs for your industry, and the keywords that you are trying to rank. It might be better to choose a keyword that isn’t as crowded with results. While doing keyword research, note what is on the first Google page and if you can optimize for any rich results, do so. Rich results on SERPs are an evolution of the on-page optimization. When you are confident that all your pages have been optimized the traditional way, you can optimize for rich results to take your website to the next step.
Blog resources
- Tool: Google Structured Data Testing Tool
- Tool: Google Rich Results Test
- Tool: Schema Markup Generator
- Website: Schema.org
