Google’s Rich Results Test is out of beta, but how does this impact digital marketers?
Google announced this month, that their Rich Results Test is officially out of beta – meaning it supports all of Google Search rich result features and none of it’s features are in testing mode. The tool originally launched in December 2017, which was an upgrade for Google’s structured data tool.
Now that the new and improved tool is out of beta – what exactly does this mean for digital marketing agencies and advertisers? It means that the Rich Results Test is going to allow users to easily test their site. It also means that Google are now recommending that users use this tool alone – and not the Structured data tool. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with the tool or Rich Results – I’ll explain a bit more about it all below:
What are Rich Results?
Rich results are experiences on Google search engines that can offer users more than just a blue text link and a short description. For example, they might include images, carousels, news articles, resources, or even videos and other non-textual elements.
So, now you know that when you see results like this – they are rich results that are supported by structured data. Structured data is a way for businesses and site owners to provide information to Google for search purposes. It’s a standardised format for providing relevant information about a page and helping Google to better understand the content on a site. It’s main purpose is to serve users search results in a more organised, categorised and clear way.
Google recommend using the Rich Results Test going forward
Although the Structured Data Testing tool is still available for the time being, Google have suggested that users stick to using the rich Results Test going forward. Here are the reasons they say it will serve users better:
- It shows which Search feature enhancements are valid for the markup you are providing
- It handles dynamically loaded structured data markup more effectively
- It renders both mobile and desktop versions of a result
- It is fully aligned with Search Console reports
How do rich results impact search engine marketing results?
Over time, ranking higher using structured data for rich results can start to improve your click-through rate and your SEO performance. But how do rich snippets directly lead to more clicks?
- They’re more informative
- They’re more visually appealing and exciting for search engine users
- Users tend to trust these results because they can include things like reviews, final products and extra resources
If you haven’t been taking advantage of rich results – we recommend taking some time to research them and think about how you can use them to drive more valuable traffic to your site. Feel free to contact our digital agency here.