There are many elements that make up good SEO, not least of all how engaging your content is on the Search Engine Results Page when people enter a search term that brings your business up.
And all of this starts with the Snippet – that critical piece of information that sits just below the title of your search result, which is generated automatically by the Custom Search algorithm (unless you specify otherwise – see below!).
The truth is that unless you’re innovative, and take the time to customise your snippets for your most popular search results, your snippet is likely to be quite similar to those of your competitors – it’s then just a lottery as to which result a browser clicks on…
Getting the basics right
The more descriptive and relevant your snippet is, the more likely it is that people will click on it – that’s a simple fact. Traditionally, your snippets will be generated, in top-down order, from the following elements:
1. your page content
2. the meta description
If, for example, your home page is image-rich, and doesn’t contain enough copy to generate a meaningful snippet, the data is then extracted from the meta description.
What this means is that you need to pay attention to the quality and depth of your page content and/or meta description, and ensure that these are descriptive and catchy enough to set your search result apart.
What else can you do?
You can take things a step further and produce custom snippets that really take your search result to the next level.
This does require some developer work beyond page content and meta descriptions, but it’s really worth the effort!
Some of the things you can customise in your snippet include, for example, a rating/price range/review block (for restaurants and similar businesses).
Other examples of rich snippets can include images, add to cart buttons, author information and more.
Customising snippets requires setting up structured data feeds that override Custom Search defaults to ensure that your rich snippet is displayed in the result.
As mentioned above, it will take some developer input, but it’s not that complex, and can be the difference between getting the click, or just getting lost in the general mix of results.
For more information on customised snippets, click here
For more information on snippets in general click here
There are many elements that need to be considered, configured and measured to ensure you achieve great SEO. For advice, strategisation and implementation, contact Realnet today.