Search engines use structured data to better understand the content on a page. Better understanding leads to a potentially stronger relevancy signal and presenting content in distinct areas of a search result. Among other benefits, richer representation in a search result may lead to considerable improvement in CTR (some may say up to 30%). 

There are multiple ways to improve the understanding of the content by search engines. I will be using Google as our search engine authority, however, some of the practices mentioned below are also applicable to others.

JSON-LD

Structured data element(s) can be placed on a page to provide a better and more structured way to describe the content. Few formats for structured data are supported, however, Google recommends using JSON-LD whenever possible. JSON-LD is also supported by Bing.

Featured Snippets

Here are examples of almost all rich features available at Google via JSON-LD. More detailed technical information, and the list of all possible data types supported by Google, are available here. Please note:

• JSON-LD can not have more content than the one visible on a page
• Lots of schema.org tags and attributes are not supported by rich search results (e.g. service). However, you should include schema.org markup on a page to simplify better understanding of the content by Google bot
• COVID-19 is under development, use SpecialAnnouncement to tag for this
• The ID should be stable and unchanging over time. Google Search treats the URL as an opaque string and it does not have to be a working link
• Corporate Contact markup is deprecated. You need to be verified as an official representative of a Google knowledge panel, to suggest a change
• Having data correct is important. We had data suggesting that fixing the errors identified in Search Console may boost your impressions significantly
• JSON-LD may be added via Google Tag Manager . That allows adding/updating the tags without deploying the webpage, however, due to its dynamic nature it may also significantly impact Core Web Vitals score.

While selected automatically by Google, the general guidelines are (SEO 2020):

• Putting target keywords as H2 or H3 headings, followed with clear and concise paragraphs around 40-50 words
• Using images. According to Google’s official guidelines, images should be at least 1200 pixels wide. Using images with different aspect ratios also help.

Here is a simple tool to generate Rich Results JSON-LD tags. Google provides Structured Data Testing Tool (supports all schema.org tags, not only tags supported by rich results) and Google Rich Results Test.

The statistic for the performance of your content in Rich Snippets is available in Search Console, Performance Report / Search Appearance filter.

More SERP features

There are more rich result features available in Google search resuts. A good overview of it can found here. There are a few interesting ones that any content can benefit from.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

The description is here. It looks like it may be a huge win, especially for simple content. However, there is also controversy about the topic. Most notably, AMP letter and an article that goes a bit beyond this letter Fighting Back Against Google Accelerated Mobile Pages . Also, Google is officially including Core Web Vitals as a ranking signal and removing AMP as a requirement to get into the Top Stories section.

People also ask

The description is here. While selected automatically by Google, the general guidelines (SEO 2020):

1. Your desired ranking must be a question type
2. Your answer should be clear and concise, but provide more information than a simple and direct answer. 40-50 words technique 
3. JSON-LD

Voice Search Optimization

An interesting analysis can be found here. This is particularly interesting for Q&A. While selected automatically by Google, the general guidelines are (SEO 2020):

• Short answers in substantial content… Pages with over 2000 words appear more frequently in search results than articles 500 or so words. Within long-form content, include short-form content, in a question and answer format, using short and concise answers, following the 40-50 word rule mentioned earlier.
• Page speed less than 4.6 seconds

And… a bit of offtopic: Open Graph and Twitter Cards

Quite simple, yet powerful tools to get your content ready to be shared over social media. Needless to say, if done properly it also provides more structured information about your content.