Advantages of rich results for local businesses

21
Aug

Building your company website, and developing your online brand is an important step that every small or local business should consider. Especially as an online presence can increase your customer range, and help to grow your business. But if you really want to make the most of your company online, you need to invest time and effort into Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This will help increase the chances of your company being noticed online, and boost the organic traffic to your website. After all, more traffic means more potential customers. And rich results on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) can make all the difference. Here at Pumpkin Web Design, we are Preston’s leading SEO, web marketing and web design professionals. So we don’t just build high quality, stunning websites, we also provide a range of services to help grow your business potential. As a result, we have produced this guide to the advantages of rich results for local businesses.

Rich results

So what exactly are rich results? Well, rich results appear in the SERP as an answer box or knowledge box in relation to a search query. The answer is pulled from a website page that has accurately, and succinctly answered the question asked by the user. It will be larger than the links below, with a box around, and often accompanied by a relevant image. This draws attention to the result, and it will usually be positioned above the first organic result. In a position known as position 0. That’s why it’s even better than landing the number one spot.

Rich results usually result from blog posts or articles. This is because of the nature of the search query that results in a rich result. Often the query is a direct question about a very specific subject. So while “electricians in Preston” won’t lead to a rich result, “what are the problems of socket shortages” will. This means that additional content you produce, could be shaped to land a rich result.

Landing a rich result

Google’s algorithm is responsible for choosing the rich result, and the rich result can even be a response to Google’s personalization, based on search history and location. So one customer might see a rich result from your website, while another will see a rich result from a competitor. This means that you can’t “game the system”, although you can make sure:

  • your answer is less than 50 words
  • your answer is easy to read aloud- Google assistant is being used more and more frequently and relies on rich results to respond to questions
  • you use the right structured mark up as set out by Google

Advantages of rich results for local businesses

So why should you be aiming for rich results? Well, rich results are infrequently handed out, and hard to get hold of, but they can have a range of advantages if you do manage to snag one. The advantages of rich results for local businesses include:

  • More brand recognition- If your company name is at the top of the search results, boxed off from the others, you can be sure that more people will pay attention to your company name and your branding. And this can allow your brand to grow further.
  • More traffic- If landing in number 1 position directs 33% of the search traffic to your website, you can imagine how this figure will grow when you land above number 1! This means more potential customers, and ultimately, more sales.

For more information, or for professional help with your SEO, web marketing or web design, get in touch with Preston’s experts, here at Pumpkin Web Design.

Pumpkin Web Design Ltd is a small and highly results driven digital agency working for like minded clients in Preston, Chorley, Southport, Blackburn, Burnley, Morecambe,Wigan, Manchester, London, Warrington, Blackpool, Lancaster, Leyland, Lytham St Annes, Bolton, Chester and the UK. Our services include web design, SEO, content marketing, video production, brand design and much more.