Module 5 – Optimizing for Rich Results

What are SERPs and Rich Results?

In the last years, one of the big changes in the search landscape is the introduction of rich results. In order to understand rich results and the role they play in SEO today, let’s define some terms.

SERPs (Search Engines Results Pages) are Google’s response to a
user’s search query. SERPs can include organic results, paid ads, featured snippets, knowledge graphs and … rich results.

Rich Results are visually enhanced search results that provide supplemental information to the title, URL, and meta description of a web page.

Image Packs

Image packs are results displayed as a horizontal row of images which click through to a Google images search. To optimize:

  • Include a descriptive file name, a title attribute and detailed alt texts

  • Make sure your image URL is readable

  • Optimize image size

Local Packs

Local packs contain the three physical locations that Google deems most relevant to the search query.

  • If your business is on the street, it’s very important to exist in Google Map.

  • Create a Google My Business profile

  • Keep your information updated: exact address, opening hours and so on.

Reviews

Review stars and ratings data can be displayed for products, recipes, and other relevant items.

Results with review stars have a higher click-through rate, so it’s worth investing in if it’s relevant to your business.

Recipes

For recipe searches, a carousel of recipes is displayed including rating information and ingredients. This is done using structured data.

Structured Data

Structured data is a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content. It’s computer code that can be written, read, and understood by humans. HTML is an example of a common markup language that most marketers have at least some familiarity with. To have a short story, we are talking about Schema.org and JSON-LD format.

Structured data is primarily implemented by developers. If you use WordPress as your CMS, there are multiple plugins available that allow you to add structured data to your pages automatically.

Featured Snippets

A featured snippet is a summary of an answer to a user’s query, which is displayed on top of Google search results. It’s extracted from a webpage, and includes the page’s title and URL. Your best chance at capturing the featured snippet is by optimizing blog posts that helps your customers to get answers. Keep your blog simple and concise in a list format. List 7 steps or fewer: Google will cut you off at 8.

But it’s a bit more complicated than that and you will need to learn more about featured snippets and how to get #1 position with Google.