At a time when millions of websites are trying to vie for the first search engine page rank (SERP) for a specific set of keywords, local search SEO has become more important than general SEO. The search engines have also made note of the relevance of local search SEO and they have accordingly amended their protocols that govern and determine the search engine page rankings.
In a given area, which may be a specific county, town, city or a state, hundreds or thousands of businesses in a particular industry would be fighting it out to outdo others with their local search SEO strategies. To get the much needed leverage, all small businesses should endorse the concept of rich snippet and structure data.
Here is an example of a search result with authorship:
Rich snippet is a sneak peek into the factual details of a webpage including that of the author or the company and its whereabouts or credentials. If you search for anything on Google, you would notice among the first page results a few links that have a photo of the author, the name of the author, the publish date of the article or the webpage, the author’s Google+ Circle details and many other facts that offer a quick description of the page or an introduction and specialty of the author. This is what a rich snippet is and it offers structure data which not only helps in local search SEO but it also increases the relevance of the article in regards to the search criteria.
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With increased relevance of a link established by a rich snippet, not only is there a greater possibility of ranking higher but it also converts a viewer to a visitor. Not all web pages or links displayed on the first page results get clicked on by searchers and a rich snippet acts as the ice breaker and facilitator that intrigues and convinces a user to check out the information provided.
The concept of rich snippet should be endorsed and utilized by businesses to gain an edge with local search SEO. The details that can be included in a rich snippet for a business website or an associated webpage or blog are name of the business, address, location or map, description of the business or its products and services, a logo or a photo, an URL to a website or associated webpage and any special offers or promotions that are worth mentioning.
With such details or structure data mentioned in a rich snippet, a company can get a better search engine page rank as well as convert viewers to clickers effectively.
