How to Add Rich Snippets to WordPress: Step-by-Step Guide For Beginners

When it comes to WordPress rich snippets, there are frequencies of people who have a lot of queries about it. Like what exactly is rich snippet? Even if they know more or less about it, one may not know how to add rich snippets to WordPress. And if you belong to one of those WordPress users then this is probably that one article you were searching for.

So, shall we start by making the concept about rich snippets clearer?

What is WordPress Rich Snippet and Why should it be included on your WordPress Site?

In simple words, a rich snippet is an overview of the overall content in the website. The information usually contains a brief description of what is the content about, rating and reviews. However, additional information about price and the availability of production can also be displayed.Thus, it is the added description or the information provided to the people with the intention to help them with general queries related to the specific subject.

The first and foremost reason for adding rich snippets to websites is to provide the visitors or searcher with information. It is for the better understanding for the search engine about your site so as for better ranking. It helps webmasters to advertise their content to a greater extent. Also persuading visitors to click on their website by providing as much as information as possible.

However, what most people believe is that adding rich snippets has a direct effect on SEO and they directly helps in better rankings. WordPress rich snippets only aid in making you more visible in the search engines.

How to add rich snippets to WordPress?

Well, there are two ways we can add rich snippets. We can either use a plugin or do it manually. The first method I’m going to show is by using a plugin. No, it’s not impossible to maintain rich snippets manually. But it can be very daunting and more specifically complicated at times even for the most profound site owners.

Method 1: Adding Rich Snippets by using Plugin

There are lots of such plugins available, but I suggest you all use All in One Schema.org Rich Snippets.

Firstly, install the plugin. Here, I have installed and activated All in One Schema.org Rich Snippets. Upon the activation, you will see the Rich Snippets menu added to the sidebar of your admin panel. Click on it.

After that, you will lead you to a page where you can see four tabs for Configuration, customization, how to use and FAQs.

Under configuration, you are provided with a list of different content types. The variety of format includes:

• Item review
• Events
• Person
• Product
• Recipe
• Software Application
• Video
• Article
• Service

When you click on these content types, it will display the fields where you are to enter the strings that will be displayed on the frontend. Below is the image of Item Review content type and the fields that will be available for it when a user writes a post or page or any custom post type.After that, you will have to either create a new post or can edit an existing one. For that, go to Posts >> All Posts. You can create or select a current post. Then, right below the post editor, you will see a new section labeled Configure Rich Snippet.Just click on the content type that is most suitable for your post. Next, the fields for that format will be displayed. You need to fill those fields then. Here, I have selected the Item Review content type. No doubt, you can go for the content type that best fits the post you are creating. Also, you need not fill all the given fields. You can only fill the ones that are required by Google for displaying the rich snippets.

Lastly, save your posts. And, that’s all.

Method 2: Adding Rich Snippets Manually

Since, you are adding rich snippets manually, taking references from Google’s Developer guide on structured data can be very helpful. It helps you in understanding which properties can be used for what content types.

Besides, there are three elements that can be said to be the building blocks of structured data markup. Those three primary elements are:

itemscope –  it specifies that the HTML contained in the <div> block is about a particular item,

itemtype – it indicates what kind of item it is.

itemprop – it is the specific property, such as name, URL, review, etc.

Moreover, we can write rich snippets in three languages. They are microdata, RDFa, and JSON-LD.  JSON-LD is the new addition to the vocabulary list that Google favors. Among these vocabularies, RDFa happens to be most beginner friendly.

As I mentioned earlier there are a variety of formats for the rich snippet. They can be used for different content types like a recipe, events, person and many more. But note that there are some specific properties that have to be defined or different content types. You can also refer schema.org for the snippet standards.

here’s an example of a recipe with rich snippets:

<div vocab="http://schema.org/" typeof="Recipe">
<span property="name"> Quickest Pasta Recipe </span>
<img property="image" src="Pasta.jpg" alt="Pasta-italian"/>
<span property="description">pasta is typically a noodle made from an unleavened dough of a durum wheat flour mixed with water or eggs and formed into sheets or various shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. </span>
Prep Time:<meta property="prepTime" content="PT15M">20 minutes
Cook time:<meta property="cookTime" content="PT1H">20 minutes
Yield:<span property="recipeYield">1 plate</span>
Ingredients:
-<span property="recipeIngredient">1 egg, vegetables </span>
Instructions:
<span property="recipeInstructions"> heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Add tomato paste and pasta to the mix. Then, toss the mixture to combine well.
</span>
</div>

Wrapping It All!

All things said rich snippets play a vital role in increasing the traffics to your site. Consequently, leading towards top positions in the search engines. Moreover, it may also increase the click-through rate (CTR). Also, it beneficial for link generation and increasing the sales volume of your product as your site is visible to more people.

Undoubtedly, rich snippets or structured data markup helps in boosting the traffic and presents better results in SERP. But that does not mean it is to be we have to insert it into every single content property. Look out for only the visible content and then mark it up. It will save both your time and effort.Hopefully, this article will help you to add a WordPress rich snippets now and make your site stand out in the crowd.

Did you find this article helpful? Please let me know through your valuable comments. I’d love to hear from you all.

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