Sauce · Fundamentals
Your result can be one blue line, or it can fill half the screen.
Quick answer
A Google result is not always a title and two lines of text. Google can add a site name and icon, a breadcrumb, a date, review stars, a photo, sitelinks, and question drop-downs. Some of these come from your page's code. Some come from your Google Business Profile. Google decides which ones to show for each search, and you cannot force any of them. But a clean page with the right structured data is what makes them possible.
Is your trade still open in your city?We take one client per trade, per city. The call starts with that check, not a pitch.
Book a free assessmentTwo businesses rank next to each other. One shows a plain blue link. The other shows a photo, a star rating, and four sub-links. The second one gets the click.
Google calls the pieces of a result its "visual elements." Most of them are optional. The page that earns more of them takes up more space and pulls more clicks from the same spot on the page.
What a result can be made of
Three layers of a result
Every result has a title link and a URL or breadcrumb. Most have a snippet, the grey text under the title. Google writes the snippet from your page, and it often rewrites the title too. These parts you always get.
Google can add your site name and favicon, a published or updated date, sitelinks to your top pages, an image thumbnail pulled from the page, and drop-down questions when the page has real FAQ content marked up in code. Each one is Google's call, per search.
For a local business, the big one is the panel on the right, built from your Google Business Profile: name, map pin, hours, phone, photos, and review stars. Product and service pages can also show a price range or rating stars when the page has matching structured data.
What you control, and what you do not
This is the part that trips people up. You set the inputs. Google picks the output.
- The title tag, the meta description, and the heading on the page.
- The structured data in the code: review, FAQ, breadcrumb, service, and more.
- Clean URLs that read as a path, so a breadcrumb can form.
- A real, filled-out Google Business Profile with photos and current hours.
- Whether the stars, the FAQ drop-downs, or the sitelinks actually appear.
- Which title it shows, since it often writes its own.
- Which image, if any, it pulls in as a thumbnail.
- How the result looks on a phone versus a desktop.
You cannot turn on a rich result. You can only make a page that qualifies for one, then leave the choice to Google.
The ways local sites miss out
Go deeper
Which element are you after?
Each of these goes deeper on one piece.
Structured data for service pages
The markup behind stars, FAQ drop-downs, and breadcrumbs, explained by type.
See the types › Piece 02Why Google rewrites your title
The title link is the one element you always get, and often do not choose.
See why › Piece 03The meta tags Google actually reads
A short list of tags that shape the snippet, the thumbnail, and more.
See the list ›Check what your results look like now
Search your own pages
In a private window, search site:yourdomain.com. Scroll the list. Note which results show an icon, a breadcrumb, sitelinks, or stars, and which are bare.
Run the Rich Results Test
Paste a page URL into Google's Rich Results Test. It shows which rich result types the page is eligible for, and any errors in the structured data.
Look at your business panel on a phone
Search your business name on a phone. Check the panel for photos, correct hours, the right category, and a review count. Gaps here shrink your largest visual element.
Compare against a rival
Search a term you both target. Put your result next to theirs. The extra elements they hold are the ones worth building toward.
See where you actually show up first.Before you pay us a dollar, we run a free 49-point geo-grid scan of your service area. You keep the results either way.
Get the free scanWhat this does not mean
It does not mean more elements always win. A clean, honest result can beat a cluttered one. The point is to be eligible, then let Google choose.
It does not mean you should fake structured data. Markup that does not match what a visitor sees on the page can get the whole site a manual penalty.
It does not mean the blue link is dead. It is still the base of every result. The extras just decide how much room yours takes up next to it.
Search site:yourdomain.com right now. Count how many of your results show more than a title and a line of text.
What can appear in a Google search result besides the link and text?
Google can add a site name and favicon, a breadcrumb, a date, sitelinks, an image thumbnail, FAQ drop-downs, and review stars. For a local business it can also show a panel built from the Google Business Profile.
Can I force Google to show star ratings on my result?
No. You can add valid review or aggregate-rating structured data that matches visible content on the page, which makes the page eligible. Google still decides whether to show the stars for any given search.
Where does the business panel on the right come from?
It is built from your Google Business Profile: name, category, map location, hours, phone, photos, and reviews. A complete, current profile earns a larger and stronger panel.
Why does my competitor's result have sitelinks and mine does not?
Sitelinks are chosen by Google based on your site structure, internal links, and how people navigate the site. You cannot add them directly, but a clear structure and strong internal linking make them more likely.
Do rich results guarantee a higher ranking?
No. They do not change your position on their own. They make your result take up more space and stand out, which can raise the click-through rate from the spot you already hold.
Sources
- Google Search Central, “Visual Elements gallery”, developers.google.com: the named parts of a search result and where each one comes from.
- Google Search Central, “Explore the search gallery”: the rich result types a page can become eligible for with structured data.
- Google Search Central, “Sitelinks”: sitelinks are generated by Google and cannot be added by hand.
- Google Search Central, “Influencing your title links in search results”: how Google forms the clickable title.
Next step
Find out whether your trade is still open in your city
One client per trade, per city. The call starts with that check, not a pitch.