Google Adds to Your SEO Options

The listing internet users see in Google search results is what they use to decide whether they want to look at your page or not.  The search listings have always been a title and description of what your site offers.  Now Google has changed the way you can list your site, which means you can add more SEO techniques to what the users see.  It is also more helpful to the consumer.  Now when your site is listed you can customise the listing to show star ratings, product images, prices, business addresses, and more. 

For example if you have a site where you sell wedding cakes, you will want to use local customisation efforts as well as the new customisation of the listing.  You can show 1 to 5 stars, how many reviews your site has, the cost of your products, as well as the title and description you normally do.  Throughout these options you can add keywords that interest the consumer. 

Google is calling these “Rich Snippets” in which an extraction of information is taken from the index pages to create special tags.  From this you get a new code for text in microformats or RDFa.  It may seem complicated, but once you actually get into the programme it is not much more difficult than HTML text.  With these new options there has not been a standard set up yet for which format will be better. 

It should be explained that the index is something you can create.  In other words, you have the option of writing data out to tell the search engine what you want to be posted in the listing.  By using codes such as <div class=””> you can tell the search engine what you want.  You just type between the quotes.  For example if you want a review you would say <div class= “hreview”>.  This tells the search engine that you want the number of reviews to appear in the results.  It also gives a place for the consumer to click on to see those reviews.  In this way you are enhancing your ability to get traffic to your site. 

The type of business you have will determine what additional information you want seen by the consumer, and thus the search engine.  For restaurants you might have reviews, location, price, etc. where as for products you are selling you might have photos, reviews, and other options.