Favicon

Control-ability:

Certain

SERP element level of influence

A favicon (short for "favorite icon") is a small, iconic image that represents a website or a web page. In addition to being show next to each SERP result, favicons are also shown in browser windows, and bookmarked URLs. To set a favicon, simply add an HTML tag to the <head> of a webpage. Example:

Although Google makes the claim that there is no guarantee of a user-declared favicon being shown next to your SERP result, It's understood in the SEO community that this is a near certainly control-able element.

Site Name

Control-ability:

High

SERP element level of influence

There are 2 primary ways SEOs can influence their website's site name.

The most influential way is to add a 'WebSite' schema markup type to your webpages, and set the 'name' attribute to the desired site name, and 'alternativeName' to either a string (1 value), or an array of strings (seen below) for Google to consider as alternatives.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "WebSite",
    "name": "{{your-site-name}}",
    "alternateName": [
        "{{site-name-alternative1}}",
        "{{site-name-alternative2}}",
        "{{site-name-alternative3}}"
    ],
    "url": "https://www.example.com/"
}
</script>

The second way is to be sure both the title tags and the meta og:site_name tags for all webpages (seen below). Note the content in the title tag should not be used as a suggestion to Google as to the website's name, but Google may consider words and phrases in this tag when deciding on a site name. The meta og:site_name tag should however be used to indicate to Google the desired site name.

<title>{{your-site-name}}</title> 
<meta property="og:site_name" content="{{your-site-name}}">

URL

https://www.linkedin.com > jakelabate

Control-ability:

High

SERP element level of influence

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Resource Links

Google Search Docs

Title

Jake Labate - SEO Growth Consultant

Control-ability:

Moderate

SERP element level of influence

Resource Links

Google Search Docs

Date

Oct 14th 2023

Control-ability:

Moderate

SERP element level of influence

Google's info on controlling dates mentions 2 primary ways users can influence this SERP element. The first way is to simple include the relevant date on a webpage.

<html>
  <head>
    <title>Analyzing Google Search traffic drops</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>
      Posted Tuesday, July 20, 2021
    </p>
    <p>
      Suppose you open Search Console and find out that your Google Search traffic dropped. What should you do?
    </p>
  </body>
</html>

The second way is include time-type key-value pairs in approriate structure data items.

<script type="application/ld+json">
    {
      "@context": "https://schema.org",
      "@type": "NewsArticle",
      "headline": "Analyzing Google Search traffic drops",
      "datePublished": "2021-07-20T08:00:00+08:00",
      "dateModified": "2021-07-20T09:20:00+08:00"
    }
</script>

Note, Google says the date portions are required, while the time portions are optional.

Snippet

I'm an independent SEO growth consultant for SMBs. I grow small and mid-sized businesses through building foundational (long-term) digital SEO ...

Control-ability:

Moderate

SERP element level of influence

Google says there are 2 primary ways website owners can control the shown snippet for their webpages. The first way is to directly set a meta description tag.

<meta name="description" content="Get everything you need to sew your next garment. Open Monday-Friday 8-5pm, located in the Fashion District.">

The second way is to provide Google as much information as possible (following structured data guidelines) to allow Google to pull the information they deem most relevant. Keep in mind, Google rewrites about half of all snippets (from the suggested meta description).

Rating

Control-ability:

Moderate

SERP element level of influence

Getting a star rating in SERP is relatively simple. Implement either an AggregateRating, or Review schema type. Google's guide on review snippets is very extensive. Of course, the more detailed information you provide in the schema, the better.

<script type="application/ld+json">
    {
      "@context": "https://schema.org/",
      "@type": "AggregateRating",
      "itemReviewed": {
        "@type": "Restaurant",
        "name": "Legal Seafood",
      },
      "ratingValue": "88",
      "bestRating": "100",
      "ratingCount": "20"
    }
</script>

Sitelinks

Posts

About

Experience

Control-ability:

Moderate

SERP element level of influence

Google says this feature is automated, and is at the sole discretion of Google. However, many SEOs believe they have been successful in utilizing the SiteNavigationElement:

<nav itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/SiteNavigationElement">
  <h2>Product Categories</h2>
  <ul>
    <li><a href="/category/electronics" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Electronics</span></a></li>
    <li><a href="/category/clothing" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Clothing</span></a></li>
    <li><a href="/category/home" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Home & Garden</span></a></li>
    <li><a href="/category/books" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Books</span></a></li>
  </ul>
</nav>

However, Google suggests the following:

Make sure that the text you use as your page titles and in your headings is informative, relevant, and compact.
Create a logical site structure that is easy for users to navigate, and make sure you link to your important pages from other relevant pages.
Ensure that your internal links' anchor text is concise and relevant to the page they're pointing to.
Avoid repetitions in your content.