By default most CMS’s will not have the capability of adding rich snippets to pages built in by default, but there are many great opportunities for accomplishing this, with both WordPress and Joomla!. So what is a rich snippet? I’m glad you asked… Basically, a rich snippet will provide additional information about a web page, within the SERP’s (search engine results pages). This information would typically provide information deemed relevant by Google, to a searcher.
So, for example, someone may be performing what we call a “transactional” search, also known as a “Do” search, such as purchasing a Train concert tickets. Results that may appear would potentially show the dates and links for purchase to help expedite the process.
Example of Rich Snippets in SERP’s
The implementation of Google’s Author Rank makes these snippets so much more valuable in terms of content creation. Authorship has been a standard for printed media since the dawn of publishing into physical / digital form. Basically, Google has taken this concept of authorship and has implemented it as a ranking factor for content. This means, by having an author and the associated ‘rel=author’ & ‘rel=me’ tags present, as well as a connection the authors Google+ account, you can become known as an “authoritative” author. As always though, in order for this factor to benefit you positively, you must strive to create unique, relevant content.
Ultimately, some companies who have implemented authorship on their web pages have seen anywhere from a 20% - 30% increase in CTR1. So, the question here is - are you?
