For as long as it has existed, search engine optimization has been about getting found in search.
And yet, most people (and even many SEO experts themselves) tend to think about this as a result as one and only strategy: Increasing your site’s organic rankings.
When Google started, this may have been the only method of increasing your organic search traffic. Back then, all you could see in Google SERPs were 10 blue links: The higher one comes, the more it will get clicked.
These days, Google SERPs are completely different: They are visual and interactive.
It is now possible to generate more clicks without investing into a higher Google position.
Let’s see how…
Rich Snippets
Rich snippets are the first that come to mind here.
They are search results that are “enriched” with additional data.
Rich snippets are mostly controlled by the site owner. In other words, Google will enrich a search snippet with the data the site owner chooses to provide.
To provide that additional data, the site owners need to use structured data, preferably Schema.
Google offers a distinctive list of Schema types that they support.