In this episode we discuss:
How to implement schema to get rich results in the SERPs
Ways to leverage reviews to sell more on Google
How to use your logo to improve ranking
And we find out if is okay to have a mix of http and https content
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Ross: 00:00 If you're having SERP problems I feel bad for you, son.
Ross: 00:02 I got 99 problems but a bad link ain't one.
Ross: 00:05 Welcome to Canonical Chronicle, episode 50,000,902.
Ross: 00:08 Let's get into it.
Jay-Z: 00:12 If you're having girl problems I feel bad for you, son.
Jay-Z: 00:14 I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one.
Ross: 00:17 So, have you ever inherited a site and looked at the markup and
Ross: 00:20 thought that your five year old cousin's crayon drawing is probably better?
Speaker 3: 00:24 Everyone knows what this image is supposed to represent.
Ross: 00:28 Well, guess what? In a recent Ask Google Webmasters video,
Ross: 00:32 John Mueller confirmed that your Markup needs to be in line
Ross: 00:36 with the guides on the Google developer website.
John Mueller: 00:39 In order to be eligible to be shown as a rich result,
Ross: 00:43 you need to make sure that the page uses the right structured data and
Ross: 00:47 that it complies with the appropriate policies on our site.
Ross: 00:50 In particular, he said, it's fine to use structured data properties that aren't listed,
Ross: 00:55 but the list on the Google Developers site is officially
Ross: 00:57 what is supported when it comes to rich snippets.
Ross: 01:01 In particular, the snippets that are supported for rich results are Article,
Ross: 01:05 Book, Breadcrumb, Carousel, Corporate Contact, Critic Review, Dataset,
Ross: 01:09 Employer aggregate rating, Event, Fact Check, FAQ, How to,
Ross: 01:12 Job Posting, Job Training, Livestream, Local business listing, Logo, Movie, Occupation,
Ross: 01:16 Product, Q&A, Recipe, Review Snippet, Sitelinks search-box, Software App, Speakable
Ross: 01:20 Subscription and paywall content, Video.
Ross: 01:24 So there you have it.
Ross: 01:24 If you want those traffic-stealing, SERP-polluting rich snippets
Ross: 01:29 so you can get a slightly higher ranking but no actual clicks on your site,
Ross: 01:34 then use the official ones on the Google site. I'm only joking,
Ross: 01:38 but if you don't have the official markup on your site then don't worry about it.
Ross: 01:43 John says that we still use it to understand the content of the page,
Ross: 01:47 which will help them rank the page for the later queries.
Ross: 01:50 In our experience at Type A Media, we like to just mark everything up within an inch of its life,
Ross: 01:55 in particular using the same as feature nested inside our structured data to really join up
Ross: 02:01 the dots for Google so nothing is left to chance. When I buy something online,
Ross: 02:06 I always look at the reviews.
Ross: 02:09 Here's a great example of a review that recently really sold the product to me.
Ross: 02:13 "This product works a treat, and I've used it everywhere they tell me not to,
Ross: 02:17 but I've learned the hard way that the hairs on your arse are an integral part of a silent fart."
Ross: 02:24 So now that Google is enhancing the product reviews with user-generated images,
Ross: 02:28 if you're a retailer, you're going to really want to pay close attention to this.
Ross: 02:33 So, if you want to take advantage of the new scheme, there are a couple
Ross: 02:36 of things you're going to need to do. Number one, add updated schema to your existing reviews email.
Ross: 02:44 So once you have the reviewer images schema added,
Ross: 02:47 then you need to actually apply to their product rating program.
Ross: 02:51 You can do that by clicking on the link that's on the screen right now, and go fill their form out.
Ross: 02:57 One thing to know: it's only available in USA at the moment,
Ross: 03:00 but it is likely to roll out in more countries soon.
Ross: 03:01 If you're an SEO and have recently looked at a mobile SERP, you were probably like,
Speaker 5: 03:12 "AHHH. NO, AH, NO!"
Ross: 03:12 ...Because when you look at a mobile result,
Ross: 03:14 it's impossible to differentiate because of all those icons they've added.
Ross: 03:19 Well, guess what? An SEO on Reddit spotted they're testing the exact same thing on desktop,
Ross: 03:26 but this time they're completely removing the URL and just showing the site name and the logo.
Ross: 03:33 Now a lot of SEO say this is a bit of a security concern because a phishing and things like that,
Ross: 03:37 but the thing is, I'm a brand guy.
Ross: 03:39 I actually think this might help with SERP differentiation and help click through there.
Ross: 03:44 Because if you get the right marketing mix showing the logo and
Ross: 03:47 the brand then it might actually increase click-through.
Ross: 03:50 Here's the thing: if someone's already heard of you and knows your logo,
Ross: 03:53 then it's highly likely they're going to click on you instead of some other
Ross: 03:56 random blue link.
Ross: 03:58 Have you ever audited a site and found that the last SEO's approach to HTTPS security was like,
Ross: 04:09 Well, guess what?
Ross: 04:10 Having mixed content on the page is no longer just a bad user expedience,
Ross: 04:15 it's quite a bad ranking factor. At the moment,
Ross: 04:18 Chrome will load the page if it's got mixed content.
Ross: 04:20 However, a recent announcement from Chrome says that,
Ross: 04:23 "We will start blocking pages with mixed content."
Ross: 04:27 So if you've got a link to a non-secure page on a secure page,
Ross: 04:31 the browser is just not going to show it.
Ross: 04:33 So many of you might be asking, "Well, what's mixed content?"
Ross: 04:36 Mixed content is non-secure content on a secure page.
Ross: 04:40 And according to Google's official documentation,
Ross: 04:43 mixed content degrades the security and user experience of your HTTPS site.
Ross: 04:48 So not only is it going to damage your rankings,
Ross: 04:51 it's now going to show a physical error in the browser like this.
Ross: 04:57 And if that doesn't kill your conversion rate and make users runaway screaming,
Ross: 05:02 I don't know what will.
Ross: 05:03 Thank you very much for watching this week's Canonical Chronicle.
Ross: 05:06 We do hope you've liked it. Please do leave a comment down below and follow us on social.
Ross: 05:10 And until next time, we will see you later.