The Anatomy of a High-Ranking Google Snippet

When you Google search something, you’ll see a list of blue links. These are clickable links and the basic unit of the web. Yet, some entries stand out more than others. These are known as “rich snippets,” taking various forms like featured snippets and knowledge panels. They are crucial to your snippet optimization if click-through rates and organic traffic are important at all to you.

Page Title Tag

The page title is the headline of your snippet in search results. It tells both users and search engines what your page is all about. A compelling, keyword-rich title will in fact greatly improve click-through rates from the SERPs.

Best Practices:

• Keep it under 60 characters in length
• Include your primary keyword
• Write something compelling to the users

URL Structure

Not as visually important, but no less important, your URL structure adds further context and relevance about the page.

Best Practices:

• Use human-readable words rather than a database’s array of numbers
• Incorporate your target keyword
• Remove unnecessary directories and parameters

Meta Description

This provides a summary of what the page is about. It’s your chance to market to people why they should click at all.

Best Practices:

• Keep it under 155–160 characters long
• Use your keyword in describing what’s on the page
• Create something intriguing and persuasive to click

Structured Data and Rich Results

Certain types of content can trigger “rich results” with enhanced listings that can include ratings, prices, FAQs and more. This makes the search engine snippet large and eye-catching.

Best Practices:

• Identify the types of structured data mark-up that are suitable for your content
• Use JSON-LD to write up your text in a way that is easy for development teams to understand
• Use Google-Structured Data Testing Tool to test and debug your work

When you follow the best practices for all parts of a Google snippet right from title to structured data, you have a better chance generating more organic click-throughs.