Do you want to add rich snippets on your WordPress site?

Rich snippets allow you to have custom search listings for special content such as reviews, recipes, events, and more. These search listings will stand out and help get more traffic to your site.

In this article, we’ll show you how to add rich snippets to your WordPress site, step by step.

Why Use Rich Snippets on Your WordPress Site?

Rich snippets use what’s called schema markup to provide extra information about your content to the search engines.

The search engine bots use this data to show additional information about your posts and pages in the search results.

This helps to make your posts and pages stand out more in the search results, which can improve your organic click through rate and help you increase your blog traffic.

It also helps you build authority in your niche, as your site becomes more visible in the search.

Rich snippets are not just for review sites or recipes. You can use rich snippets for events, products, people, video, music, apps, articles, blog posts, and more.

That being said, let’s show you how to add rich snippets to WordPress. Simply use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.

Adding rich snippets in WordPress with a WordPress plugin (Recommended)Adding rich snippets in WordPress by adding code to WordPress

Method 1. Adding Rich Snippets in WordPress Using a WordPress Plugin

The easiest way to add rich snippets to WordPress is by using the AIOSEO plugin. It’s the best WordPress SEO plugin in the market, used by over 3+ million websites. 

It helps you easily optimize your site for search engines without the need to hire an SEO expert. Plus, you can set up rich snippets on your site in a couple of clicks.

Note: You’ll need the pro version of AIOSEO since it includes schema markup functionality and other features like XML sitemaps, a redirection manager, and more. There is a free version of the plugin you can use to get started. 

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the AIOSEO plugin. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll immediately be taken to the AIOSEO setup wizard. You need to click the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button. 

If the setup wizard doesn’t immediately show up, then simply go to All in One SEO » Dashboard.

From here, you can click the ‘Launch the Setup Wizard’ button. This will walk you through the steps of setting up the plugin for your website. 

As you go through the setup wizard, you’ll need to activate the ‘Advanced Rich Snippets + Schema Markups’ addon.

Simply check the box so that it turns blue, then click the ‘Save and Continue’ button.

On the final screen, you need to enter your license key and then click the ‘Connect’ button.

You can find this information under your account page on the AIOSEO website. 

For more details, see our ultimate guide on how to set up AIOSEO for WordPress correctly.

After that, you can go to AIOSEO » Search Appearance in your WordPress admin panel, and then click on the ‘Content Types’ tab.

Then, you can set the schema markup type for your posts and pages.

Simply click the ‘Schema Markup’ menu option, then you can choose the schema type from the drop-down.

You will be able to see different content types that you can create with the plugin. The list includes:

CourseProductRecipeSoftware/AppFAQWeb pageProfileArticle

Clicking on any content type will show you the fields that will be available.

These settings will be the default settings when you add a new blog post. However, you can change these on an individual post basis too.

Below the post schema markup, you can also control the default schema for your pages.

Simply select the ‘Schema Type’ from the drop-down. Then, you’ll have additional options for the schema type you select.

Once you’re finished making changes, click the ‘Save Changes’ button before you leave the page. 

Adding Rich Snippet Information to Your Posts and Pages

Now, you can add schema information to your individual posts and pages, so they’ll display with unique rich snippets in the search results.

To do this, simply open up a blog post and scroll down below the post editor. Here you’ll see a meta box called ‘AIOSEO Settings’.

You need to click the ‘Schema’ tab and then click on the ‘Generate Schema’ button.

This will open up the Schema Catalog. Simply click the ‘Add Schema’ button next to the type of schema you want to add.

Now, there will be different fields available to fill out, based on the option you select. For example, the ‘Software’ schema type includes fields for the name, operating system, price, description, review, and more.

Once you’re finished, click the ‘Add Schema’ button. Don’t forget to click ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ on the post to save your changes as well.

Adding schema markup to individual WordPress pages is similar. You need to open up the page you want to edit and then scroll down to the ‘AIOSEO Settings’ meta box below the page editor.

Then, click the ‘Schema’ menu option, click the ‘Generate Schema’ button, and select your page schema type from the Schema Catalog.

Different options will appear depending on the type of schema you select. 

Just like above, when you’re finished, you need to click the ‘Add Schema’ button and hit ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ on the page to make your changes live. 

Adding rich snippet information won’t make a difference on the front end of your WordPress blog. However, you’ll be giving the search engine bots extra data to display with your posts and pages in the search results. 

Method 2. Adding Rich Snippets by Adding Code to WordPress

Another way to add rich snippets to WordPress is by adding code to WordPress. If you haven’t done this before, then see our guide on how to copy and paste code in WordPress.

Rich snippets or structured data markup can be written into three different vocabularies. These vocabularies are microdata, RDFa, and JSON-LD. You can use any of them on your site. However, most beginners find RDFa to be more beginner friendly.

Here is an example of a user’s about page in WordPress. Normally the text of the page will look something like this:

This can be easily transformed with rich snippets.

If you are familiar with HTML, then you can easily understand the following example:

For each content type, there are some special properties that need to be defined.

Schema.org is the organization that helps maintain the standard for different content types. You will find extensive documentation with examples for each schema content type on their website.

Here is another example of a recipe with rich snippets.

If you are manually adding rich snippets into your WordPress posts, then you will need to manually add HTML to WordPress. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to edit HTML in WordPress code editor.

You may also need to refer to Google’s Developer resource on structured data to understand which properties are required for each content type.

Testing Your Rich Snippets and Schema Markup

If you’re adding rich snippets manually, then you’ll want to make sure you’ve added the structured data to your WordPress website properly.

To check your rich snippets, simply head over to the Google Structured Data Testing Tool. Then, there are two different tests you can run to test your structured data.

First, click the ‘Go to the Rich Results Test’ button. This will see what rich results can be generated for your page.

Then, enter your page or post URL into the box.

Next, click the ‘Test URL’ button.

This will automatically generate a report to see which rich results features can appear when that page or post is listed in the search results.

It will give you any errors or warnings, so you can improve your structured data. You can click the drop-down arrow next to any warning, and you’ll get detailed instructions on how to fix it.

Next, you can test your schema markup by going back to the Google Structured Data Testing Tools page.

Then, click the ‘Go to the Schema Markup Validator’ button.

Next, enter your URL or code snippet into the ‘Test your structured data’ popup.

Then, click the ‘Run Test’ button.

The tool will automatically analyze your code to see if there are any errors.

You’ll want to see 0 errors on the right-hand side of the page.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use rich snippets on your WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on how to choose the best domain name registrar and our expert picks of the best AI chatbots software for your website. 

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Beginner’s Guide: How to Use Rich Snippets in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

Do you want to add arrow-key keyboard navigation on your website?

Keyboard navigation can make your website more user-friendly. It will allow your visitors to move from post to post using these arrow keys. However, WordPress does not offer these navigation features by default.

In this article, we will show you how to add arrow-key keyboard navigation in WordPress. 

Why Add Arrow-key Keyboard Navigation in WordPress

Adding keyboard navigation to your WordPress website allows users to easily browse blog posts on your website. Users are able to view the next and previous blog posts by clicking on the right and left arrow keys on their keyboards.

This feature comes in handy when you want users to easily browse posts in sequential order, For instance, if you’re using blog posts to publish chapters of a book, portfolio items, historical events, or more.

Adding arrow-key keyboard navigation can be a great way to improve user experience on your WordPress blog as it will encourage users to explore your site more.

With that being said, let’s see how to add arrow-key keyboard navigation in WordPress using a plugin.

Method 1. Adding Arrow-Key Keyboard Navigation Using a Code Snippet (Recommended)

You can add arrow-keys navigation on your WordPress blog by adding code to your WordPress theme’s functions.php file. However, adding custom code to WordPress core files can be risky as a tiny mistake can break your site.

That is why we always recommend using WPCode. It is the easiest and safest code snippet plugin available.

By adding this code to your website, your users will be able to switch between different pages and posts on your site using the arrow keys on their keyboards.

First, you need to install and activate the free WPCode plugin. For details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, head over to Code Snippets » Add Snippet in your WordPress admin dashboard. Click the ‘Add New’ button to go to the ‘Add Snippet’ page.

Once there, find the ‘Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet)’ option.

Simply hover your mouse over it and then click the ‘Use snippet’ button.

Once you’re on the ‘Create Custom Snippet’ page, start by typing a name for your code snippet.

Then, simply select ‘Universal Snippet’ as the ‘Code Type’ from the dropdown menu in the right-hand corner.

Next, simply copy and paste the following code into the ‘Code Preview.

This snippet will enable arrow-key navigation on your website.

After that, scroll down to the ‘Insertion’ box to choose the location of the code snippet.

In the dropdown menu beside ‘Location,’ simply choose ‘Site Wide Footer.’

Then, you’ll have to choose an ‘Insert Method.’ To run the snippet everywhere on your website, select the ‘Auto Insert’ option.

If you want arrow-keys navigation only on certain pages, then choose the ‘Shortcode’ option. Once you save the code snippet, a shortcode will appear here for you to copy/paste.

Next, simply go back to the top of the page and toggle the switch from ‘Inactive’ to ‘Active’.

Then all you have to do is click on the ‘Save Snippet’ button.

That’s it! You’ve successfully added the arrow-key navigation on your website.

Method 2. Adding Arrow-Key Keyboard Navigation Using The Arrow Keys Navigation Plugin

If you do not want to add code to your website, then you can use the Arrow Keys Navigation plugin.

This plugin enables you to navigate through the previous and next posts on your site using the right and left arrow keys on your keyboard.

So the first thing you need to do is install and activate the Arrow keys Navigation plugin.

For more details, see our step to step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Since it is a very simple plugin, it requires no additional configuration. Once you’ve activated the plugin, you can now switch to different posts on your site using the arrow keys.

Keep in mind that this plugin only allows you to switch between different posts on your website, so you won’t be able to use arrow keys to move from one page to another.

For example, you cannot switch from your ‘Home’ page to your ‘Contact Us’ page using arrow keys.

After you’ve activated the plugin, you can add a message or popup on your website that tells the users that they can now navigate through various blog posts by simply using the arrow keys to move from one post to the next.

Arrow-Key Navigation for WordPress Slider and Image Galleries

The above two solutions will allow users to navigate your blog posts with arrow keys, however sometimes you may want to add other functionalities like allowing users to move images with arrow keys, or perhaps move your slider with arrow keys.

In these cases, you will need to use a WordPress gallery plugin, and / or a WordPress slider plugin. Most popular slider and gallery plugins come built-in with arrow key navigation features.

We hope this article helped you learn how to add arrow-key keyboard navigation in WordPress. You may also want to see our top pick of the best WordPress plugins. If you’re interested, you can also go through our guide on how to add special characters in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Add Arrow-key Keyboard Navigation in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.