
What are rich snippets & how do you use them?
06.11.2019
The term ‘rich snippets’ is often thrown around in conversations about SEO – often with no explanation given. That’s why we’ve written a comprehensive guide to rich snippets, including what they are, why they’re important and how to use them.
Best of all, we wrote it in plain English. Because nobody wants to sit and read a page of jargon.
So, what are rich snippets?
‘Snippet’ is a term used to describe the results you see on search engine results pages (SERPs). With every result, Google displays a short ‘snippet’ of information to tell you a little more about that result, usually comprised of a meta title, a meta description and a URL for the page. The owner of the webpage may have input this information manually, or Google may have to search the page and find the relevant information itself.
Here’s an example of a regular snippet:
A ‘rich snippet’ is essentially a snippet that’s rich in information. Unlike a regular Google search result, a rich snippet includes extra data between the URL and the description – whether that’s a picture, a rating, a price tag or information about availability. This extra information is usually pulled from the structured data in the site’s HTML.
Here’s an example of a rich snippet, taken from the same SERP as the regular snippet:
This extra data isn’t just for the user – it’s also incredibly useful for Google. Because structured data helps search engines understand what a page is actually about, it allows them to display more accurate search results. It gives Google the context it needs to understand the nuances of different results and search terms.
Think of it like this: if you saw the words ‘Shakespeare’s Hamlet’ within a piece of content, you don’t need any context to assume the phrase is referring to the play by William Shakespeare. Your common knowledge and human experiences fill in the gaps for you.
A computer, on the other hand, doesn’t have any context to work with. If the only information it has to work with is ‘Shakespeare’s Hamlet’, It might look up what a ‘hamlet’ is, and deduce that the content is referring to the small village Shakespeare grew up in. But with structured data, you can add information to your page’s HTML that’s specifically designed to give Google this context. For example, you could add data to tell Google “This is about a book”, “this is the book’s author”, and “this is the book’s title”.
Why are rich snippets important for SEO?
Although Google doesn’t use these rich snippets as a ranking factor, they’re still incredibly good for your SEO. Here’s a couple of reasons that using structured data can have a positive impact on your search results.
Better click-through rates
When you’re faced with dozens of search results, anything that makes your page stand out on a SERP is a win. Because rich snippets are more eye-catching than regular search results, they’re a great way to attract a user’s attention and encourage them to click through to your page.
What’s more, they may give the user that little bit of extra information they need to click your result. For example, in the case of the lasagne recipe above, the rich snippet includes the amount of time the recipe will take to make, which could end up being a deciding factor when choosing between the results.
Optimised for voice search
Because rich snippets help Google understand more about your webpage, they’re endlessly helpful for voice search. By building structured data into your site and giving Google the information it needs, your result is much more likely to be coherent and relevant when read aloud by voice assistants.
As the technology behind voice search develops, this structured data is only set to get more important. Google is currently in beta tests to trial using speakable structured data to identify which sections of a web page are best suited to be read aloud, allowing voice assistants to answer topical news queries. The feature is currently only available for users in the US, but Google is set to launch it across other countries once enough publishes have started using it.
How do you use rich snippets?
Google displays rich snippets if you add the relevant structured data to your site, which has to be written in a specific format. When it comes to adding this data to your site’s HTML, it’s a job that’s best left to your developer.
Most websites use Schema for their structured data, which is supported by all major search engines. Although Schema includes guidelines for different structured data formats, it’s always best to use the documentation on Google Developers as your definitive guide, where you’ll be able to find the rules for creating different rich snippets. Google supports structured data in JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa formats, but recommends using JSON-LD whenever possible.
Once your site is set up to allow rich snippets, you can test it using Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool, which shows you all the structured data it finds on your page and flags up any errors or warnings.
Does your site already include structured data?
Our developers always build the relevant structured data into our clients’ Shopify sites, which means their pages are ready and optimised for rich snippets. If your site wasn’t built by us, you can chat to your developer about adding structured data to your website.
If you don’t have access to a development team, you can get in touch with us today. We design, build and manage Shopify stores for global brands, allowing them to focus on what really matters: delivering an exceptional customer experience.

By Chloé Rose Whitmore
Copywriter
The resident copywriter and content queen at Juno. Drinks 13 cups of tea a day and finds dogs' ears calming.
At Juno eCommerce we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. As a result we are transparent in everything we do.
This policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who visit our website, request information or enquire about a product / service from Patchworks.
The policy explains how we use that information, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.
We may change this policy from time to time so please check this page to ensure that you’re happy with any changes.
By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.
Any questions regarding this Policy and our privacy practices should be sent, by email, to: info@junowebdesign.com.
Who are we?
Juno eCommerce
Where to find us
16 Commerce Square, Nottingham, NG1 1HS, United Kingdom
How to contact us in case of a complaint
+44 (0)115 941 8122
info@junowebdesign.com
How to contact us to request access to, or change, any personal data we may hold on you
+44 (0)115 941 8122
info@junowebdesign.com
ICO Registration Details
We are registered as a Data Controller with the Information Controller’s Office (ICO).
Registration Number: ZA376490
How do we collect information from you?
We obtain information about you when you use our website, email us or call us to enquire about our products and services, or if you register to receive one of our newsletters. We also collect information about you when attending industry-specific exhibitions, events and through networking.
We do not react to Do Not Track (DNT) signals, as any details captured are for the sole purpose of enquiring about, or signing up for, the Patchworks Integration Platform as a Service.
What type of information is collected from you?
The personal information other than business information that we collect might include your name, address, email address, IP address, and information regarding what pages are accessed and when.
Like many other websites, https://www.junoecommerce.com/ uses cookies. ‘Cookies’ are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognise you when you visit. They collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns and do not identify you as an individual.
Cookies enable us to provide you with a personalised experience, both online and via other media.
It is possible to switch off cookies by setting your browser preferences. Please refer to your specific browser’s help / settings for more information on how to switch off cookies. Turning cookies off may result in a loss of functionality when using our website.
How we use your personal information
We use personal information about you in connection with the following purposes:
(Please Note: we will never keep paper copies of any of your personal data)
Fulfilling your requests:
to provide you with the information, products and services that you have requested from us
to complete any transaction you are undertaking with us
to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into you and us
to administer any promotion or competition that you enter via our website(s)
to allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so
in the course of processing a job application or enquiry
to meet a legal or statutory obligation.
Marketing:
to provide you with information about other goods and services we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about
to measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising we serve to you and others, and to deliver relevant advertising to you, which may be based on your activity on our website(s) or the website of another Juno eCommerce Company or third parties’ websites
to make suggestions and recommendations to you and other users of our site about goods or services that may interest you or them, which may be based on your activity on our website(s) or the website of another Juno eCommerce Company or third parties’ websites.
If you no longer wish to be contacted for marketing purposes, please email us on info@junowebdesign.com.
Service Improvements and account management:
to ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer
to administer our site and for internal business administration and operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes
to notify you about changes to our service and to send you service emails relating to your account
as part of our efforts to keep our site safe and secure
to manage and operate your account with us
Please Note: We do not use automated decision making tools.
Sharing your personal information
We will not share your information with 3rd parties for marketing purposes.
However, we may pass some information to our third party service providers, agents, subcontractors and other associated organisations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf (for example to process products and to keep you informed).
When we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own direct marketing purposes. Please be reassured that we will not release your information to third parties beyond the Patchworks Network, unless you have requested us to do so, or we are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of prevention of fraud or other crime.
These third parties may include:
Credit reference agencies and other companies for use in credit decisions, for fraud prevention
We may transfer your personal information to a third party as part of a sale of some or all of our business and assets to any third party or as part of any business restructuring or reorganisation, or if we’re under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation or to enforce or apply our terms of use or to protect the rights, property or safety of our staff and customers. However, we will take steps with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected.
Controlling your information that we hold
If we do not have a business relationship with you, then you have a choice about whether or not you wish to receive information from us.
We will not contact you for marketing purposes by email, phone or text message unless you have given your prior consent. We will not contact you for marketing purposes by post if you have indicated that you do not wish to be contacted.
You can change your marketing preferences at any time by contacting us on info@junowebdesign.com
You have the right to ask us not to process your personal information for marketing purposes.
You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by checking or unchecking certain boxes on the forms we use to collect your data. You can also exercise the right at any time by contacting us on info@junowebdesign.com.
How you can access and update your information
The accuracy of your information is important to us. If you change email address, or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please email us on info@junowebdesign.com.
You have the right to ask for a copy of the non-business personal information Patchworks holds about you.
If you wish to raise a complaint regarding how we have handled your personal data, please email info@junowebdesign.com in the first instance and the Patchworks Team will investigate and report back to you.
If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data not in accordance with the law you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Keeping your information safe
When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely. Any personal information is encrypted and protected via SSL and secure data storage. When you are on a secure page, a lock icon will appear on the bottom of web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer.
We may store your personal information on Google and Amazon’s Clouds and in our Portal, CRM, Messaging, Accounting, Support and Email Service Provider software.
To read the detailed specification of how the third parties we work with keep your data safe, please click on each of the relevant links below:
https://cloud.google.com/security/compliance
https://www.digitalocean.com/security/
https://aws.amazon.com/security/
https://www.hubspot.com/security
https://slack.com/security
https://www.xero.com/accounting-software/security
https://www.atlassian.com/trust/security/
https://mailchimp.com/about/security/
https://www.elastic.co/legal/privacy-statement
In addition to the security and compliance policies documented above, Patchworks have GDPR compliant contractual agreements and / or Data Processing Agreements in place with each of our data processing sub-contractors.
Non-sensitive details (your email address etc.) are transmitted normally over the Internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your information, we make our best efforts to ensure its security on our systems. Where we have given (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.
We will hold your data for no longer than we need it for, or if you have advised you wish us to delete it or we have a legal reason such as tax purposes. We aim to keep your data no longer than 5 years in all other cases.
You can request a copy of our retention schedule by emailing
info@junowebdesign.com.
Patchworks agree to the individual redress principle, which requires that individuals have a right to pursue legally enforceable rights against Data Collectors and Processors who fail to adhere to the law. This principle requires not only that individuals have enforceable rights against data users, but also that individuals have recourse to courts or a government agency to investigate and / or prosecute non-compliance by Data Controllers and / or Processors.
Should a data breach occur, every person whose data we control will be notified within 7 business days.
Keeping children safe
We are concerned to protect the privacy of children aged 18 or under. If you are aged 18 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian’s permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.
If we learn that we have collected the personal information of a child under the relevant minimum age without parental consent, we will take steps to delete the information as soon as possible. Parents who believe that their child has submitted personal information to us and would like to have it deleted may contact us on info@junowebdesign.com.
Profiling
We may analyse your personal information to create a profile of your interests and preferences so that we can contact you with information relevant to you. We may make use of additional information about you when it is available from external sources to help us do this effectively. We may also use your personal information to detect and reduce fraud and credit risk.
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.
In addition, if you linked to our website from a third party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third party site.
Transferring your information outside of the European Union
We operate internationally. As part of the services offered to you by Juno eCommerce, the information which you provide to us may be transferred to countries outside the European Union (“EU”).
By way of example, this may happen if any of our servers are from time to time located in a country outside of the EU. These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. If we transfer your information outside of the EU in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this Policy.
If you use our services while you are outside the EU, your information may be transferred outside the EU in order to provide you with those services.
We keep this Policy under regular review.
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