A Brief Introduction To ‘Rich Results’ And Why You Should Care in – 2020

With the rapidly evolving technology and smart communication devices, the internet has to adapt quickly in order to meet the needs of modern consumers. Google has launched so many updates so far modifying the way people receive search results. These updates are designed to facilitate newly introduced mobile devices and a better user experience.

Google has launched a new testing tool where Google groups all the terms for various types of search results into a single term, ‘Rich Results’. The search engine will be referring rich cards, rich snippets, and enriched results to as Rich Results.

This new testing tool is designed to put emphasis on the structured data types that qualify to be displayed as rich results. With this version, a user can test all data sources, such as RDFa and Microdata, on his pages. Google suggests that ‘Rich Results’ is a more precise manifestation of page’s appearance on search. Moreover, this new tool includes enhanced handling for structured data found on dynamically loaded content.

Currently, the tool only supports a limited number of tests, including movies, courses, recipes, and jobs. However, the company said that it will keep adding support for other rich results in the future. As a marketer or an SEO wizard, there is a lot you can learn about and make good use of the rich result feature.

The Function of Structured Data

Structured data or schema markup is a type of code that facilitates search engines crawl, analyze, and display your content in the search.  It actually communicates to search engines what your data really means. Search engines, without schema markup, find it difficult to determine the nature of your data.

For example, if you want to display your contact information, one simple way is to go ahead and leave the information in the footer. In that case, search engines would have to work hard to determine what your information is all about. On the other hand, if you use schema markup, you will define it for search engines what information is your contact information. The structured data is also used to enable rich results.

Schema markup helps search engines analyze your content with greater ease. It is of paramount significance, so far as your SEO efforts are concerned. Being an SEO expert, you should not only focus on your users, but also consider the way search engines like to crawl and display results.

It is true that not all structured data leads to rich results. However, marking up content with the help of structured data will increase your chances of getting a rich result in SERPs. If properly implemented, schema markup can produce a rich result.

JSON-LD is a Preferred Format 

There are three formats of structured data: JSON-LD, RDFa, and microdata, as mentioned earlier, which are supported by Google. However, JSON-LD (Javascript Object Notation – Linked Data) format is a recommended one. It is a relatively new technique to offer the schema.org data about your content to search engines. The essential function of JSON-LD is to define the information on a page without disturbing what a user sees. Rather than efforts to display information to users while elaborating it to Google, JSON-LD helps separate the information into its own section, making the whole process smoother.

Rich Results Cannot be Guaranteed 

I have discussed this early that implementing the structured data markup on pages is a great technique to generate rich results. However, it is not certain that Google will show them for a site. There could be a number of reasons why this happens. Following are some of the possible factors that may explain for a rich result absence:

• The incorrect implementation of structured data, making it difficult for testing tool to catch the data.
• The content referred to by the structured data might be invisible to the users.
• A page does not meet the standards and comply with guidelines for structured data.
• The structured data could be misleading or not true representation of the content.

The Google algorithm analyzes and generate results depending on its ability to present the best user experience. There are a number of variables that Google and other search engines take into account while generating results for a query. It is the ability of search engines to read users’ intent and determine which feature is more appropriate than another.

Structured Data is Not a Ranking Factor Yet

There are factors that Google treat them as ranking factors such as the quality and relevance of content. However, Google does not take the structured data as a ranking factor and there is no clear sign that the structured data plays any role in boosting ranking. Having said that, there is an important point to be considered that some rich results improve click-through rate (CTR) and drive more traffic.

Google is in Command

It is completely up to Google whether or not it shows your data as rich results. After you apply markup, your site is crawled and indexed by the search engines. Google Search Console provides with a way to check the status. There are many sites that can help you uncover your featured snippets or what information Google is featuring about your site in the SERPs.

Do not use spammy structured data or unethical practices as Google can disable your rich results and initiate a manual plenty. The advisable way is to present the data in an acceptable way adhering to set standards and recommended practices.

Rich results can be very useful in their capacity to provide users with relevant and immediate results or answers. Being an SEO expert, you should thoroughly investigate the way new ideas such as rich results can have an impact on your search marketing endeavors.

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