Higher Search Engine Visibility Through RDFa Rich Snippets

Today’s businesses compete aggressively for top placement in popular search engines. In fact, some marketing professionals view search engines as modern versions of telephone directories. While many SEO companies help entrepreneurs improve their rankings, the best providers offer advanced services that grant a distinct advantage over the competition.

While most marketing professionals focus exclusively on achieving higher rankings, new voices call for additional techniques that improve the look and feel of search engine listings. For example, Google recently debuted algorithms that support RDFa rich snippets.

Since this type of technology is technically an application of the semantic web, users and businesses alike benefit as web spiders now have the ability to determine the intent of some pieces of on-page web content.

What Are RDFa Rich Snippets?

In a technical sense, the RDFa standard is a convertible specification that can be used to display structured data on a website. Essentially, this type of semantic markup communicates with the web crawlers of search engines. Without technologies like RDFa rich snippets, search engine algorithms can not distinguish between the meanings of different types of on-page content.

How Do RDFa Rich Snippets Increase a Site’s Visibility in Search Engines?

By incorporating RDFa rich snippets, Google improves the user experience for web surfers. Most people encounter these new features during routine queries. For example, detailed contact information can be found in the annotations beneath some listings. Other companies use this technology to list events or the locations of brick-and-mortar stores.

Also, consumers appreciate the opportunity to rate and review their experiences with various companies. When an e-commerce storefront provides transparent user reviews with a low barrier of entry, the company in question gains credibility with first-time shoppers. RDFa rich snippets, microdata, and microformats can be placed in a site’s design to encourage search engines to demonstrate user ratings beneath listings.

When you choose to hire a specialist to place RDFa rich snippets structured data in your website’s design, you gain more control over the way in which your website appears in search engines. This allows you to enhance your listings with additional features that stand out in comparison to competing results. Many businesses have noticed a significant increase in traffic after taking advantage of this technology.