Why Rich Snippets for Your Site are Missing

Have you noticed lately that the rich snippets which are supposed to appear alongside search results are missing?

This question was recently put across to John Mueller, an analyst at Google Webmaster Trends. In view of the Twitter response put up by Mueller, there are some pointed lessons to be learned.

Let’s set aside the technical issue first. It may be that your website’s code is messed up in some way that is preventing the rich snippets from appearing with the search results. Take up Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to address this problem. When the technical glitch is sorted, the snippets should show up.

Moving ahead, there is a possibility that your website or its rich snippets are not complying with the policies of Google. Google has some earmarked policies for structured data. You need to revisit them and check up if you are complying with all the requirements. Redress this problem, if there is any, and your site’s rich snippets should be back in action.

Finally, the most pressing and challenging problem comes to light: an issue with the quality of the website. The quality of the website with respect to Google may be affected due to one reason or the other. It could be due to shabby content, overuse of keywords, too many ads or simply link issues.

The smart move is to get a fresh set of experienced eyes to go through the site and improve its quality.