Recently Google has started issuing manual penalty for websites based on the genuineness of the rich snippet. They are mostly targeting websites with fake and spam looking rich snippet.
Few of the websites have started getting an alert message in their website tools from Google. The displayed message reads:
“Markup on some pages on this site appears to use techniques such as marking up content that is invisible to users, marking up irrelevant or misleading content, and/or other manipulative behavior that violates Google’s Rich Snippet Quality guidelines.”
What are Rich Snippets?
Rich snippets are designed to summarize the content of a page, making it easier for users to understand what the page is about in search results. If website managers are considering in utilizing the rich snippets feature, then the user must evaluate if the information provided will be helpful for the search seekers in choosing among various search results.
Tools to avoid Google’s manual penalty for spam/fake snippets
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Checking for errors/issues in websites
Check out the structured data in the webmaster tools to find out any errors or issues related to the website.
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Rich Snippets testing tool
Please find the rich snippets testing tool here. This tool will help you to check your markup and helps in making sure Google extracts the Structured Data.
Mistakes to be avoided
- Hidden snippets: Hiding website snippets content to visitors is the common mistake. This is what Google potentially considers as spam.
- Snippet data matching the web page: It is better to make sure the Structured Data matches with the web page Content.
- Using correct Nesting: Please follow Google’s guidelines for nesting items while using nested Structured Data.
