[Hot] SEO 101: Rich Snippets and Structured Data
The recent news that Google has increased the length of "rich snippets," from 160 to 240 characters on average, inspired a few questions from our social media followers:
1. What is a rich snippet?
2. What is structured data?
Both of these terms, which refer to the what and how, respectively, of search results, should be self evident to SEOs and digital marketers. However, when researching the topic, beginners must content with complex definitions.
One of the top results for the search "what is structured data SEO", a Moz article by Bridget Randolph, admits its own complexity five paragraphs in, urging readers to click to a cheat sheet:
"This all gets pretty confusing, so if you’re feeling less-than-crystal-clear right now, you might want to check out this great glossary cheat sheet from Aaron Bradley."
When researching SEO terms, it's important to discover the best explanation for your knowledge level. Most top results refer to articles written for SEOs. This is certainly the case when Moz appears on the SERP. We think Moz is a wonderful resource. However, the Organic SEO Blog is a good alternative for SEO beginners.
So here is our latest SEO 101, a streamlined definition of rich snippets and structured data.
What is a Rich Snippet?
A "snippet" is the part of a search result the describes the content of a page. In the result below, the "title" of the web page is blue and the "page address" is green. The snippet is the date, "Jun 28, 2017" and the simple description: "Not sure what a rich snippet is? We'll explain it to you in plain English..."
The result above, from Yoast, is not an example of a rich snippet--even though the article is about rich snippets!
A "rich snippet" is an enhanced search engine result; a rich snippet provides more information or context than a simple snippet. Rich snippets are a common for e-commerce sites. In the result below, one of the season's hottest toys from Target (L.O.L. Surprise Dolls), the "enhanced" features include the rating and extra characters:
The advantage of of these "enhanced" features is obvious. On a SERP (search engine results page), rich snippets stand out from regular snippets, and may attract more clicks.
So how do you make sure your website's pages reveal "rich snippets"? You must "mark up" your site with "structured data."
What is Structured Data?
Structured data is a type of code applied to your website that enables search engines to provide a richer representation of your content in search results.
"When you use structured data to mark up content," Google says, "you help Google better understand its context for display in Search, and you achieve better distribution of your content to users from Search."
The "mark up" Google refers to here is a standardized code "vocabulary" developed by the major search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and Bing, to enable a website to add structured data to its pages. All of the structured data vocabulary supported by the major search engines can be found on a joint project called Schema.org.
The benefit of this project is the variety of "content types" supported by the vocabulary. For each type, a webmaster uses a specific mark up to enhance search results. As Google notes:
"A variety of content types qualify to appear in rich results. CreativeWork is a schema.org type definition that applies to qualifying content produced for reading, viewing, listening or other consumption, such as news articles, recipes, and videos. Other content types, such as products and local business listings, belong to the commerce category, which is a custom category we use to describe schema.org types generally intended for retail purposes."
To keep this SEO 101 simple we will end our explanation here. However, as we noted, the web certainly offers a host of more complex articles on structured data. For a more complex take, try Moz. For a streamlined take, similar to our own (with a bit more context), try Yoast.
Structured Data Mark Ups with Stepman's SEO
Stepman's SEO combines traditional marketing methods and organic SEO--with an emphasis on natural website optimization--to design thoughtful, inspiring, and effective social media marketing campaigns. Our SEOs understand how to use structured data to benefit your specific content type. For more information, call today: 215-900-9398.
1. What is a rich snippet?
2. What is structured data?
Both of these terms, which refer to the what and how, respectively, of search results, should be self evident to SEOs and digital marketers. However, when researching the topic, beginners must content with complex definitions.
One of the top results for the search "what is structured data SEO", a Moz article by Bridget Randolph, admits its own complexity five paragraphs in, urging readers to click to a cheat sheet:
"This all gets pretty confusing, so if you’re feeling less-than-crystal-clear right now, you might want to check out this great glossary cheat sheet from Aaron Bradley."
When researching SEO terms, it's important to discover the best explanation for your knowledge level. Most top results refer to articles written for SEOs. This is certainly the case when Moz appears on the SERP. We think Moz is a wonderful resource. However, the Organic SEO Blog is a good alternative for SEO beginners.
So here is our latest SEO 101, a streamlined definition of rich snippets and structured data.
 |
| Structured data helps search engines understand your website's content |
What is a Rich Snippet?
A "snippet" is the part of a search result the describes the content of a page. In the result below, the "title" of the web page is blue and the "page address" is green. The snippet is the date, "Jun 28, 2017" and the simple description: "Not sure what a rich snippet is? We'll explain it to you in plain English..."
 |
| A "snippet" is, simply" a brief description of a web page |
The result above, from Yoast, is not an example of a rich snippet--even though the article is about rich snippets!
A "rich snippet" is an enhanced search engine result; a rich snippet provides more information or context than a simple snippet. Rich snippets are a common for e-commerce sites. In the result below, one of the season's hottest toys from Target (L.O.L. Surprise Dolls), the "enhanced" features include the rating and extra characters:
So how do you make sure your website's pages reveal "rich snippets"? You must "mark up" your site with "structured data."
What is Structured Data?
Structured data is a type of code applied to your website that enables search engines to provide a richer representation of your content in search results.
"When you use structured data to mark up content," Google says, "you help Google better understand its context for display in Search, and you achieve better distribution of your content to users from Search."
The "mark up" Google refers to here is a standardized code "vocabulary" developed by the major search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and Bing, to enable a website to add structured data to its pages. All of the structured data vocabulary supported by the major search engines can be found on a joint project called Schema.org.
The benefit of this project is the variety of "content types" supported by the vocabulary. For each type, a webmaster uses a specific mark up to enhance search results. As Google notes:
"A variety of content types qualify to appear in rich results. CreativeWork is a schema.org type definition that applies to qualifying content produced for reading, viewing, listening or other consumption, such as news articles, recipes, and videos. Other content types, such as products and local business listings, belong to the commerce category, which is a custom category we use to describe schema.org types generally intended for retail purposes."
To keep this SEO 101 simple we will end our explanation here. However, as we noted, the web certainly offers a host of more complex articles on structured data. For a more complex take, try Moz. For a streamlined take, similar to our own (with a bit more context), try Yoast.
Structured Data Mark Ups with Stepman's SEO
Stepman's SEO combines traditional marketing methods and organic SEO--with an emphasis on natural website optimization--to design thoughtful, inspiring, and effective social media marketing campaigns. Our SEOs understand how to use structured data to benefit your specific content type. For more information, call today: 215-900-9398.