Content Management Systems | Gleneden Ridge Design

What are Rich Results?

by GRD Creative | Sep 18, 2023 | Business, Content, Content Management Systems, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Website design & development

Rich snippets – also known as rich results – are search results pulled from schema markup code on your website that provide extra information to your listing when your website appears on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). They are not a Google ranking factor, but can give audiences more information about your services, helping to drive more traffic to your site.

How do rich snippets, rich results, and SERP features differ?

Rich snippets, rich results, and SERPs have similar features but are not exactly the same, which can lead to confusion. Lets look at the differences:

Rich snippets –Google’s official statement is that ‘rich snippets’ are now known as ‘rich results’.
Rich results – According to Google, rich results include text-and-image carousels, images, and other non-textual elements.
SERP features – Provide related information on the user’s search query, such as the reviews, videos, and the knowledge panel.

Types of rich snippets

Google supports different types of rich content within its search results. Here are some of the more common ones:

Review

One of the most common rich snippets, the ‘Review’ snippet adds a yellow star review rating to the search results, with additional information about the reviews. Review snippets can appear for the book, course, event, local business, movie, product, recipe, and software app content types.

Product

Useful if you have an e-commerce website, product snippets provide more information to potential buyers about your products, such as stock level, shipping info, and.

Recipe

Recipe rich snippets show information about the recipe on the page, including ingredients, preparation time, and reviews.

Event

Event snippets are useful if you have ticketed events such as concerts or shows.

A note about FAQ and HowTo snippets

Google announced removal of these snippets in September 2023 to provide a cleaner and more consistent search experience for users.

How to get rich snippets for your web pages

For your website to be eligible for rich snippets, you’ll need to add some code called ‘schema markup’ to your web pages that follows Google’s structured data guidelines.

Some website content management systems either already have it installed, or have plugins or modules available that can add the code for you easily. You can double-check this by running a page through the Google Rich Results Test tool. If no markup is present on the page, the rich results test will display the message ‘No items detected’ and you’ll need to add the code with a plugin module or manually. We’d suggest that if you’re unsure, you get a professional company such as Gleneden Ridge Design to add the code for you.

Here’s how to add the code.

Create the code: As noted above, if you use a popular content management system (CMS) like WordPress, adding schema to your website is as easy as installing a schema plugin such as the ‘All-In-One SEO’ plugin, with which you can deploy the schema very easily without having to write any code yourself.
- If you don’t use one of these CMS systems, you may have to create the code yourself, or talk to a developer to help create and add the code.
- You can use an online service such as the Merkle Schema Markup Generator to create Product schema markup code, and Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper is good too. To generate the code, simply fill out the prompts from the tool.
- When the code’s been created, copy the JSON-LD code; this is the code format Google recommends for schema markup. Remember to only add code for content that’s visible to users and adheres to Google’s guidelines.
Check and validate the markup: When you have the code, you need to check that it’s valid; if not, your page won’t be eligible for rich results.
- If the code has been generated with a plugin or within a CMS, you can check it by:
  - Opening the SEO tool or section on the page that needs checking.
  - Next, go to the Structured data tab.
  - Then click on Validate, and on the Rich Results Test.
  - Clicking this will take you to Google’s Rich Results Test. If it’s valid, you’ll see a green tick. Once you’ve confirmed it’s present and valid, go on to the next section below.
- If you’ve manually added your schema code, you’ll need two checks:
  - Check the code is valid before adding it to your website
  - Check the code is valid after it’s added
  - To see if your code snippet is valid, select ‘Code’ on the Rich Results Test and paste your code snippet in. If it’s valid, you’ll see a green tick appear under the subheadings ‘Detected items.’
Add the code to your website: Once you’ve validated your code, you can add it to the <head> or <body> of your website. Once the code is added, you can run the page URL through the Rich Results Test to double-check it’s valid on-site. This time, select “URL,” and enter a URL you want to test. If it’s valid, you’ll see a green tick.
Monitor marked-up pages for performance: monitoring your marked-up pages is important for several reasons: Websites break easily (even if your code is valid, it can break later on), and code may become invalid (old schema markup may become invalid over time and need updating). You can check and monitor your pages with Google Search Console (GSC), and with the Google Rich Results Test tool.

Conclusion

Rich snippets can get more clicks than the standard links that appear in the SERPs, but it largely depends on the content or your website as to whether it’s actually worth putting in the time and effort to implement it. You don’t need to be good at code to get rich snippets for your website. It does take some work to get going, and even once everything is set up, there’s no guarantee that your snippets will appear, so it needs to be judged on a site-by-site basis. If you have an online store, run events, or publish recipes, you’re more likely to have success with structured data like rich snippets than if you have a website that simply displays your services.

Recommended Content Management Systems (CMS)

What is a CMS?

Before the content management system existed, websites, pages, and posts needed to be created using hand-coded HTML or by using a drag-and-drop program like Adobe Dreamweaver and then uploaded manually to the web server. Pages needed to be edited manually by someone who knew how to create and edit HTML code, which could become complex and cumbersome to manage. Dreamweaver did make the process easier, but you still needed a moderate level of technical knowledge in order to update and publish your pages.

Now, we have Content Management Systems (CMS). A CMS is basically a software program that runs your website; it makes the creation of web pages, the publishing of posts, and the management of content much easier, so that even someone with little or no technical knowledge can create and publish their own website or blog without having to commission a web developer.

With that being said, a CMS-based website can start out simple, and can get more complex as your site grows, so understanding and managing your particular system becomes important so you don’t lose control or web site efficiency. But you can customize as much as you like and make things really complicated if you want to!

The CMS software is installed onto your web server or hosting plan and provides the interface to view your web pages& content in a web browser, and edit them. A content management system can have multiple plugins or modules that allow extended functionality and features, such as web stores, online payments, booking calendars, galleries, sliders, and more.

But this doesn’t mean that Dreamweaver and hand-coding are dead; far from it. Most CMS’s allow some degree of customization and manual coding, and many developers enjoy creating their sites by hand or with Adobe Dreamweaver’s feature-rich programming. It adds a level of customization and individuality otherwise unavailable; but it’s not for everyone.

In Layman’s Terms, How Does a CMS Work?

To go into a bit more detail, the CMS sits above a database on a web server within your hosting plan, and provides the framework with which you manage your site’s pages and content, and then makes those pages and content available to viewers browsing your website. As the user interacts with the website, the CMS pulls the required information from the database and displays it in the user’s web browser.

Editing a website, page, or post in a CMS can be as simple or as complex as an administrator wants, depending on the individual’s level of technical skill and comfort. For instance, with WordPress, you can use the default WordPress editor system to edit your pages and posts, or you can install a more complex editor such as Elementor for more customization options.

Recommended CMS Frameworks

So what are Gleneden Ridge Design’s Content Management Systems of choice? Well, we use a few, depending on individual site specification and circumstance:

WordPress: https://wordpress.org/
Easy to setup and use, manageable from any computer, tablet, or phone, easily customizable, no coding required, the blog is built-in and ready-to-go, and it has tons of free plugins available in the WordPress Plugin Directory. Always a bonus!
Wix: https://www.wix.com/
Wix is an online web site builder that uses templated technology to design and create your website using a drag-and-drop interface. Free hosting and domain names are included with their package, and there are a range of options available, including SEO modules, online stores, email marketing, and contact resource management (CRM). The system is intuitive, extensive, affordable, but as with any template-based model, the system isn’t as flexible or customizable as some other systems, but is ideal for small businesses, non-profits, etc.
DotNetNuke (DNN): https://www.dnnsoftware.com/
A good choice for larger, corporate sites where multiple integrated portals are required (such as web applications or intranets), DNN has great security, speed, stability, and flexibility, with loads of premium modules available from the DNN Store, but you do need a moderate level of technical knowledge to get by, especially with more advanced configurations and options.
HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/
More of an entire marketing solution rather than a CMS, Hubspot is ideal for enterprise and small business use, but the sheer breadth and depth of the system may be overwhelming to some users. It has a range of package options available, from a free (but limited) entry-level package to a full-size enterprise marketing solution, including email management, calls-to-action, web pages, landing pages, contact management, marketing lists, and file management. And there are plenty of add-ons in the HubSpot Marketplace too. It’s a monthly subscription package and lives in the cloud. As such, you have access to all of it’s core features from anywhere, you don’t have to worry about backup or security since Hubspot does all of that for you, and their technical support is second to none. You do pay for all of that, however, since it’s not cheap.

These are our recommended CMS systems, but there are lots more out there. If there is a CMS not listed here that you’d be interested in, then let us know. If you’d like more info on any of these systems, or if you need help with your website, please contact us – we’d be happy to advise and help!

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Content Management Systems: An Outline

by GRD Creative | Sep 22, 2020 | Content Management Systems, Gleneden Ridge Design, Web Site Design

Back in the good old days, websites were built using a bunch of HTML code that created the page. Each page had it’s own set of code, and if updates were needed, the code had to be edited manually. This quickly became complex and cumbersome, and you need a fair amount of technical knowledge to do it well. Not good for the man in the street!

These days, things are a whole lot easier. Now, we have Content Management Systems, or CMS for short. A CMS is basically the software that runs your website and makes the creation and publishing of content easy, so that even someone with little or no technical knowledge can create and develop their own website. Nice!

To go into a bit more detail, the CMS sits between a database on a web server and the users web browser. As the user interacts with the website, the CMS pulls the required information from the database and displays it in the browser. Simple really!

Editing a website or a page in a CMS can be as simple or as complex as an administrator wants, depending on the individual’s level of technical skill and comfort.

So what are the Content Management Systems of choice for Gleneden Ridge Design? Well, we use a few, depending on individual site specification and circumstance:

WordPress: Easy to setup and use, manageable from any computer, tablet, or phone, easily customizable, no coding required, the blog is built-in and ready-to-go, and it has tons of free plugins available in the WordPress Plugin Directory. Always a bonus!
DotNetNuke (DNN): A good choice for larger sites where multiple integrated portals are required (such as web applications or intranets), DNN has great security, speed, stability, and flexibility, with loads of premium modules available from the DNN Store, but you do sometimes need some technical knowledge to get by.
HubSpot: Not so much a CMS; more of an entire marketing solution. Hubspot is ideal for enterprise use; it has a range of payment options available, from a free (but limited) entry-level package to a full-size enterprise marketing solution, including email management, calls-to-action, web pages, landing pages, contact management, marketing lists, and file management. And there are plenty of add-ons in the HubSpot Marketplace too. It’s a monthly subscription package and lives in the cloud. As such, you have access to all of it’s core features from anywhere, you don’t have to worry about backup or security since Hubspot does all of that for you, and their technical support is second to none. You do pay for all of that, however, since it’s not cheap.

Those are the systems that we tend to use, but there are loads more out there. If there is a CMS not listed here that you’d be interested in, then let us know. If you’d like more info on any of these systems, how they are deployed, or how sites are created and managed, please contact us.