SEO

What Are They & How Do You Get Them?

Published

8 months ago

September 15, 2023

Rich snippets (also known as rich results) are search results pulled from code called schema markup. They provide extra information beyond the standard “blue link,” which helps get more clicks to your content.

Example of Google result with and without schema markup

Rich snippets aren’t a Google ranking factor, but they can make your website’s search results stand out from the crowd.

So what exactly are rich snippets, how are they different from other SERP features, and how can you get them to show for your site?

Rich snippets, rich results, and SERP features are sometimes used interchangeably by SEOs, which can cause confusion.

So what are the differences?

Rich snippets – Google’s glossary states that rich snippets are now known as rich results.
Rich results – Google says rich results can include carousels, images, or other non-textual elements and that they are experiences that go beyond the standard blue link.
SERP features – Provide additional and related information on the search query. Examples include the local pack, videos, and the knowledge panel.

Google supports different types of rich results within its search results. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular types.

Review

One of the most prominent examples of rich snippets is the Review snippet, which adds a yellow star rating to the search results with additional information about the reviews.

Here’s an example of what a Review snippet can look like, with the snippets highlighted.

Review snippets can appear for the following content types:

Book
Course
Event
How-to
Local business (for sites that capture reviews about other local businesses)
Movie
Product
Recipe
Software app

Product

Product rich snippets are useful if you have an e-commerce website. They provide more information to your potential customers about your products—like whether the product is currently in stock, its shipping information, and its price.

Here’s an example of what a Product snippet result can look like in the search results, with the snippets highlighted.

Recipe

Recipe rich snippets give more information about the recipe on the page, such as how long it takes to prepare, its ingredients, and reviews.

Here’s an example of what a recipe result can look like in Google in the Recipes carousel.

Recipes carousel example, via google.com

Event

Event snippets highlight the date and location of your events. They’re useful if you have ticketed events like concerts or shows.

Here’s an example of an Event snippet.

Sidenote.

FAQ and HowTo results are not included in this list, as Google announced it was reducing the visibility for them on August 8, 2023, to provide a “cleaner and more consistent” search experience.

To be eligible for rich snippets, you’ll need to add schema markup to your pages and ensure you follow Google’s structured data guidelines.

But before attempting to add the code, check whether your CMS has added it already.

To do this, head to a page where you think there should be markup, open up Ahrefs’ SEO Toolbar, and go to the “Structured data” tab.

If there’s no structured data on the page, you’ll get a message that looks like the one below.

Checking for structured data using Ahrefs' SEO Toolbar

You can double-check this by running a page through the Rich Results Test tool.

If no markup is present on the page, the rich results test will display the message “No items detected.”

"No items detected" message, via Rich Results Test

Assuming there are no rich results detected, you’re safe to add the code.

Here’s how you do it.

1. Generate the code

If you use a popular content management system (CMS) like WordPress, adding schema to your website is as easy as installing a schema plugin like this one.

If you already use a plugin like Rank Math, you can use its guide to generate and customize your schema.

If you don’t use one of the more popular CMSes, you may have to generate the code yourself.

Tip

If you are not confident with code, it’s worth talking to a developer or SEO consultant to help you implement these changes.

I’m using Merkle’s Schema Markup Generator to generate Product schema markup. But you can use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper or even ChatGPT as well.

To generate the code, simply fill out the prompts from the tool.

Once you’ve finished, copy the JSON-LD code; this is the code format Google recommends for schema markup.

Sidenote.

Remember to only add code for content that’s visible to users and adheres to Google’s guidelines for the selected schema type.

2. Check and validate the markup

Once you’ve generated the code, it’s just a matter of checking if it’s valid. If it’s not valid, your page won’t be eligible for rich results.

If you generated your code with a plugin or through your CMS, you can check it by:

Opening the SEO Toolbar on the page you want to check.
Going to the Structured data tab.
Clicking on Validate and then the Rich Results Test.

Accessing Rich Results Test, via Ahrefs' SEO Toolbar

Clicking this will take you to Google’s Rich Results Test. If it’s valid, you’ll see a green tick.

Once you’ve confirmed it’s present and valid, you can skip to step #3 below.

If you’ve manually added your schema code, you’ll need to make two checks:

Check the code is valid before you implement it
Check the code is valid after it’s added to your website

To see if your code snippet is valid, select “Code” on the Rich Results Test and paste your code snippet in.

Code selector, via Google's Rich Results Test

If it’s valid, you’ll see a green tick appear under the subheadings “Detected items.”

Code test example, via Rich Results Test

Once you’ve validated your code, you can upload it to your website. Add it to the <head> or <body> of your website. Google has confirmed either is fine.

Once the code is added, you can run the page URL through the Rich Results Test to double-check it’s valid on-site.

This time, select “URL,” and enter a URL you want to test.

If it’s valid, you’ll see a green tick.

Valid items detection, via Rich Results Test

3. Monitor marked-up pages for performance and errors using Ahrefs

There are two reasons monitoring your marked-up pages is important:

Websites break easily – Even if your code is valid on day #1, it can break later on. There may be code on other pages that isn’t valid as well.
Existing code may be invalid – Old schema markup may be invalid and need fixing.

The best way to run a check is by using Ahrefs’ Site Audit—you can access this for free using Ahrefs Webmaster Tools.

Here’s how to check your website.

Once you’ve run your audit, head to the All issues report in Site Audit. If there are structured data issues, you’ll see a message like the one below.

Structured data issues, via Ahrefs' Site Audit

Clicking on this issue will show all structured data issues on your website. There are 1,332 results in this example. I prioritize fixes for pages by sorting “Organic traffic” from high to low.

To do this, click on the “Organic traffic” header, then click “View issues” in the “Structured data issues” column to get more details about it.

All filter results, via Ahrefs' Site Audit

Structured data report, via Ahrefs' Site Audit

Although you can check rich results status using Google Search Console (GSC), the advantage of using Site Audit is that you can find and diagnose invalid schema code before it gets picked up by Google by scheduling regular crawls.

That way, when you go to GSC, you’ll see nothing but green “Valid items” that are eligible for Google’s rich results, as you’ve already fixed any invalid code.

"Valid items" message, via Google Search Console

Final thoughts

Rich snippets often get more clicks than traditional “blue link” results. But whether they’re worth implementing for your website depends on the type of content you have.

You don’t need to be a coding expert to get rich snippets for your website—but it takes some work to get started. Even once everything is set up, there’s no guarantee they’ll show. Tools like Ahrefs’ Site Audit are helpful here, as they can help you validate and monitor your code.

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SEO

Google Hints At Improving Site Rankings In Next Update

Published

4 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Max

Google Hints At Improving Site Rankings In Next Update

Google’s John Mueller says the Search team is “explicitly evaluating” how to reward sites that produce helpful, high-quality content when the next core update rolls out.

The comments came in response to a discussion on X about the impact of March’s core update and September’s helpful content update.

In a series of tweets, Mueller acknowledged the concerns, stating:

“I imagine for most sites strongly affected, the effects will be site-wide for the time being, and it will take until the next update to see similar strong effects (assuming the new state of the site is significantly better than before).”

He added:

“I can’t make any promises, but the team working on this is explicitly evaluating how sites can / will improve in Search for the next update. It would be great to show more users the content that folks have worked hard on, and where sites have taken helpfulness to heart.”

What Does This Mean For SEO Professionals & Site Owners?

Mueller’s comments confirm Google is aware of critiques about the March core update and is refining its ability to identify high-quality sites and reward them appropriately in the next core update.

For websites, clearly demonstrating an authentic commitment to producing helpful and high-quality content remains the best strategy for improving search performance under Google’s evolving systems.

The Aftermath Of Google’s Core Updates

Google’s algorithm updates, including the September “Helpful Content Update” and the March 2024 update, have far-reaching impacts on rankings across industries.

While some sites experienced surges in traffic, others faced substantial declines, with some reporting visibility losses of up to 90%.

As website owners implement changes to align with Google’s guidelines, many question whether their efforts will be rewarded.

There’s genuine concern about the potential for long-term or permanent demotions for affected sites.

Recovery Pathway Outlined, But Challenges Remain

In a previous statement, Mueller acknowledged the complexity of the recovery process, stating that:

“some things take much longer to be reassessed (sometimes months, at the moment), and some bigger effects require another update cycle.”

Mueller clarified that not all changes would require a new update cycle but cautioned that “stronger effects will require another update.”

While affirming that permanent changes are “not very useful in a dynamic world,” Mueller adds that “recovery” implies a return to previous levels, which may be unrealistic given evolving user expectations.

“It’s never ‘just-as-before’,” Mueller stated.

Improved Rankings On The Horizon?

Despite the challenges, Mueller has offered glimmers of hope for impacted sites, stating:

“Yes, sites can grow again after being affected by the ‘HCU’ (well, core update now). This isn’t permanent. It can take a lot of work, time, and perhaps update cycles, and/but a different – updated – site will be different in search too.”

He says the process may require “deep analysis to understand how to make a website relevant in a modern world, and significant work to implement those changes — assuming that it’s something that aligns with what the website even wants.”

Looking Ahead

Google’s search team is actively working on improving site rankings and addressing concerns with the next core update.

However, recovery requires patience, thorough analysis, and persistent effort.

The best way to spend your time until the next update is to remain consistent and produce the most exceptional content in your niche.

FAQ

How long does it generally take for a website to recover from the impact of a core update?

Recovery timelines can vary and depend on the extent and type of updates made to align with Google’s guidelines.

Google’s John Mueller noted that some changes might be reassessed quickly, while more substantial effects could take months and require additional update cycles.

Google acknowledges the complexity of the recovery process, indicating that significant improvements aligned with Google’s quality signals might be necessary for a more pronounced recovery.

What impact did the March and September updates have on websites, and what steps should site owners take?

The March and September updates had widespread effects on website rankings, with some sites experiencing traffic surges while others faced up to 90% visibility losses.

Publishing genuinely useful, high-quality content is key for website owners who want to bounce back from a ranking drop or maintain strong rankings. Stick to Google’s recommendations and adapt as they keep updating their systems.

To minimize future disruptions from algorithm changes, it’s a good idea to review your whole site thoroughly and build a content plan centered on what your users want and need.

Is it possible for sites affected by core updates to regain their previous ranking positions?

Sites can recover from the impact of core updates, but it requires significant effort and time.

Mueller suggested that recovery might happen over multiple update cycles and involves a deep analysis to align the site with current user expectations and modern search criteria.

While a return to previous levels isn’t guaranteed, sites can improve and grow by continually enhancing the quality and relevance of their content.

Featured Image: eamesBot/Shutterstock

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SEO

Google Reveals Two New Web Crawlers

Published

1 day ago

May 18, 2024

Max

Google revealed details of two new crawlers that are optimized for scraping image and video content for “research and development” purposes. Although the documentation doesn’t explicitly say so, it’s presumed that there is no impact in ranking should publishers decide to block the new crawlers.

It should be noted that the data scraped by these crawlers are not explicitly for AI training data, that’s what the Google-Extended crawler is for.

GoogleOther Crawlers

The two new crawlers are versions of Google’s GoogleOther crawler that was launched in April 2023. The original GoogleOther crawler was also designated for use by Google product teams for research and development in what is described as one-off crawls, the description of which offers clues about what the new GoogleOther variants will be used for.

The purpose of the original GoogleOther crawler is officially described as:

“GoogleOther is the generic crawler that may be used by various product teams for fetching publicly accessible content from sites. For example, it may be used for one-off crawls for internal research and development.”

Two GoogleOther Variants

There are two new GoogleOther crawlers:

GoogleOther-Image
GoogleOther-Video

The new variants are for crawling binary data, which is data that’s not text. HTML data is generally referred to as text files, ASCII or Unicode files. If it can be viewed in a text file then it’s a text file/ASCII/Unicode file. Binary files are files that can’t be open in a text viewer app, files like image, audio, and video.

The new GoogleOther variants are for image and video content. Google lists user agent tokens for both of the new crawlers which can be used in a robots.txt for blocking the new crawlers.

1. GoogleOther-Image

User agent tokens:

GoogleOther-Image
GoogleOther

Full user agent string:

GoogleOther-Image/1.0

2. GoogleOther-Video

User agent tokens:

GoogleOther-Video
GoogleOther

Full user agent string:

GoogleOther-Video/1.0

Newly Updated GoogleOther User Agent Strings

Google also updated the GoogleOther user agent strings for the regular GoogleOther crawler. For blocking purposes you can continue using the same user agent token as before (GoogleOther). The new Users Agent Strings are just the data sent to servers to identify the full description of the crawlers, in particular the technology used. In this case the technology used is Chrome, with the model number periodically updated to reflect which version is used (W.X.Y.Z is a Chrome version number placeholder in the example listed below)

The full list of GoogleOther user agent strings:

Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/W.X.Y.Z Mobile Safari/537.36 (compatible; GoogleOther)
Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; GoogleOther) Chrome/W.X.Y.Z Safari/537.36

GoogleOther Family Of Bots

These new bots may from time to time show up in your server logs and this information will help in identifying them as genuine Google crawlers and will help publishers who may want to opt out of having their images and videos scraped for research and development purposes.