This is a very simple code that is integrated into your html code. It allows Google to better understand the content of your page and possibly highlight it in the results, typically at the top, which is of course very interesting. It is clear that if you have just created your site with a few pages, you do not have the slightest chance of being retained in the Google results. The fact remains that it is better to enter this data gradually as you go, waiting for the moment when you have several million users per month. But what data exactly?
JSON-LD
There are several codes for structuring data, but Google has officially declared its preference for JSON-LD, so the debate is closed. It should also be noted that it is out of the question to mix different structure codes on the same website.
Here is how Google wants your information to be presented, and as we can see it is hardly complicated, even if it seems cumbersome at first:
<script type=”application/ld+json”>
{ “@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “Organization”,
“url”: “http://www.lafactory.com”,
“name”: “La Factory”,
“contactPoint”: { “@type”: “ContactPoint”,
“telephone”: “+33-123-456-7890”,
“contactType”: “Client service” } }
</script>
There are many other possible entries, allowing you to describe all kinds of things: Books, FAQs, tutorials, job offers, local businesses, videos, home activities and much more… Plus, in many cases snippets can be generated automatically. This is the case for example on www.lafactory.com where we use microdata instead of JSON: fault confessed is half redressed. Our tens of thousands of products are therefore just as many snippets, which we have tested with the Google test platform https://search.google.com/test/rich-results
In addition, as it’s clear that you might be a bit lost, Google offers you on a dedicated link examples of all types of snippets currently available, and god knows how many there are: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/search-gallery
In addition to the millions of visitors that we recommend you to obtain in order to get a place in snippets, displayed, as we remember, at the top of the first page, it is necessary to respect a few basic principles: starting with the on-page SEO optimization that we have mentioned in another article. Additionally, SEMrush did a study showing that almost all text-based snippets range from 40 to 50 words. As for the image accompanying this short paragraph, we recommend an image at least 1200 pixels wide. On lafactory.com we have adopted the HD standard with images that are 1980 pixels wide.
People also ask
When you get an answer to a question, you may have noticed that just below you are offered a list of questions related to the topic of the answer. To hope to appear there, the first thing to do is to offer your content in the form of … question. The answer, remember, should be around 40 to 50 words, ideally linking images and even videos. Finally do not omit the JSON structure which will improve your chances, even if the content offered by Google does not systematically offer it.
Voice search
Google has understood natural language for a few years now: for the search engine, every request is a question and it intends to provide you with the answer, not just a list of websites containing the keywords you entered. Not only does it take into account synonyms, but also the general meaning of the query: for example, search “who was the first man to walk on the moon” and you will get as the first entry a snippet with the names of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as well as the unfairly forgotten Michael Collins, all three depicted in a photo to the right of the text. Voice search does more or less the same thing, but the criteria differ slightly.
If the question and answer are concise, however, we see that they frequently appear in articles over 2000 words, articles under 500 words are not as well represented. Access to the web page should be fast, say no more than 4 seconds, and an SSL certificate should of course have been installed.
Facebook Open Graph
This is the format offered by Facebook to dictate how your site will appear when shared on Facebook. Here is an example of such code:
<meta property=”og:url” content=”http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/arts/international/when-great-minds-dont-think-alike.html” />
<meta property=”og:type” content=”article” />
<meta property=”og:title” content=”When Great Minds Don’t Think Alike” />
<meta property=”og:description” content=”How much does culture influence creative thinking?” />
<meta property=”og:image” content=”http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/02/19/arts/international/19iht-btnumbers19A/19iht-btnumbers19A-facebookJumbo-v2.jpg” />
Title, type of content, image … as we can see nothing complicated. This code is taken by the way from the Facebook page explaining how to optimize your shared content: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/
Finally, to check if your Open Graph content looks good, just use the tool offered by Facebook: https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/
You now know the basics of inserting snippets into your pages.