Structure Content for Rich Snippets: Tips for Writers

Structure your content to increase the probability of it being picked by Rich Snippets and Rich Cards. This article contains suggestions for three kinds of content: text, images, and videos.

Text

Rich snippets are extracted from HTML tags, structured format, and normal text.

Text from Ordered Lists

Ordered lists are sandwiched between <ol> tags in HTML. ML Workbench often extracts rich snippets from ordered lists, such as the following one.

Copy

Ordered List Example

<ol>
    <li>
        <p>This is step one.</p>
    </li>
    <li>
        <p>This is step two.</p>
    </li>
    <li>
        <p>This is step three.</p>
    </li>
</ol>

In a long list, the best practice is to convey essential information in the first three-four bullets and keep each bullet to a maximum of 80 characters. When a webpage features multiple ordered lists, then the best practice is to keep the most important information in the first list.

NOTE.

ML Workbench doesn't pick data from unordered lists (<ul>).

Use JSON-LD

JSON-LD is a lightweight data format that is easy for humans to read and write.

Insert Unique Characters in Lists

When a writer is unwilling to or cannot use ordered lists, then the writer can start each new bullet in a list with a unique character, such as a hyphen or a colon.

Avoid MadCap Flare Snippets

In case your writers use MadCap Flare, avoid using the snippets.

Images

The image rich cards are extracted from <img> tag. The <img> tag is used to embed an image in HTML pages. The tag has two attributes:

  • src specifies the path to the image (it is recommended to use the path in HTTPS format)

  • alt specifies an alternate (alt) text for the image

To increase the chances of an image being picked as a Rich Card:

  • Place images near the main heading (H1)

  • Use matching file names (image_name.png) and alt attributes

  • Use similar image titles and alt attributes

  • Write page titles and meta descriptions

  • Compress images using scrset and src attributes

  • Crawl the images to the website XML sitemap

Videos

For videos to get featured in rich cards, the video should be present in the document. The video rich card is extracted from the <iframe> tag. Right now, ML Workbench can display embedded videos from YouTube, but not from other platforms.