Technical SEO Insights: Leveraging Rich Results, Aggregator Units, and Refinement Chips for Mountain Huts in Austria!

Recently, Google tested a new carousel rich result for certain types of entities, such as local businesses, products, and events. Although still in beta and subject to change, this feature promises to revolutionize the way these entities are presented in search results, giving users richer and more engaging information.

At WordLift, we are passionate about optimizing websites to enhance visibility and engagement through advanced search features. We are thrilled to share that we had the opportunity to test Google’s new feature on one of our client’s websites in the travel industry. This experience allowed us to explore the potential of the feature in real-world scenarios, providing us with valuable insights and feedback.

As filtering occurs on Google’s SERP, we can see a boost in brand visibility, which is a positive outcome. However, we also foresee a potential decrease in clicks. This insight is not only relevant for travel sites but also for e-commerce. As with many AI-driven new features, we need to get accustomed to catering to the user’s needs using structured data without looking at clicks as the only success metric.

In this article, we delve into the implementation of rich results, aggregator units, and refinement chips, specifically promoting mountain pastures and lodges in a region designated for mountain bikers. By leveraging these advanced search features, we aim to improve these picturesque locations’ online presence and engagement, making them more accessible and attractive to adventure enthusiasts.

Project Overview

Client Objective:

Our client, SalzburgerLand Tourismus, is dedicated to promoting the breathtaking alps and mountain pastures of Salzburg, making them more accessible and discoverable for mountain bikers. SalzburgerLand Tourismus, a key player in the tourism industry, recognized the need to improve the visibility of these scenic spots to attract more visitors and provide an unforgettable experience.

In our collaboration, we wanted to harness the power of Google Search’s rich results, aggregator units, and refining chips to create an engaging user experience. By doing so, we sought to improve search visibility and ensure that mountain bikers could easily find and explore Salzburg’s hidden gems.

This case study delves into the strategies and techniques employed to achieve these goals, highlighting the innovative use of SEO and structured data to improve discoverability. Specifically, we showcase how we implemented the new Google carousel to enhance search visibility.

By understanding the context and challenges SalzburgerLand Tourismus faces, readers will be able to better appreciate the impact of these efforts. The success and achievement of making Salzburgland a top destination for mountain bikers will be evident.

Implementation Steps:

1. Structured Data Integration:

We utilized the schema.org vocabulary to mark up the content on the client’s site. This included:

• Using the ItemList schema to list multiple alms.
• Embedding LocalBusiness schema for each alm with detailed attributes such as name, image, URL, address, and geo-coordinates.
• Ensuring the markup aligns with Google’s guidelines for carousels and rich results.

2. Data Quality Management:

Partnering with Feratel, a leader in data infrastructure for tourist destinations, we ensured the accuracy and completeness of the data. Additionally, we refined the data using the Google Places API to enhance location accuracy.

3. Rendering Optimization:

Given the data-rich nature of the pages, we implemented pagination to ensure optimal crawlability by search engines. This approach allows the crawler to access all entities without overwhelming the page load.

Example of Implemented Markup

Below is an extract of the JSON-LD structured data used:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "ItemList",
  "itemListElement": [
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 1,
      "item": {
        "@type": "LocalBusiness",
        "name": "Geisl-Hochalm 1.904 m am Wildkogel",
        "image": ["https://resc.deskline.net/images/SBG/1/213a1b48-49fe-41a9-89a1-b15bca369b7e/55/Geisl_Hochalm.jpg"],
        "url": "https://www.salzburgerland.com/de/almsommer-mountainbike-almen-liste/pois/SBG/8e55e58a-e287-42e4-a0e8-a4da3530debf/geisl-hochalm-1-904-m-am-wildkogel",
        "address": {
          "@type": "PostalAddress",
          "addressLocality": "Bramberg",
          "addressCountry": "Österreich"
        },
        "geo": {
          "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
          "latitude": "47.295939",
          "longitude": "12.2931"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 2,
      "item": {
        "@type": "LocalBusiness",
        "name": "Hölzlahneralm 1.583 m",
        "image": ["https://resc.deskline.net/images/SBG/1/bf8e61fb-f564-4bd7-9cfb-4f5b17fb6bf7/55/Hölzlahneralm.jpg"],
        "url": "https://www.salzburgerland.com/de/almsommer-mountainbike-almen-liste/pois/SBG/85dd5eac-62a9-46e1-857b-3e5a698a5c7f/hölzlahneralm-1-583-m",
        "address": {
          "@type": "PostalAddress",
          "addressLocality": "Krimml-Hochkrimml",
          "addressCountry": "Österreich"
        },
        "geo": {
          "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
          "latitude": "47.1797",
          "longitude": "12.181783"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Featured Results on the SERP

Here is an example of the rich results and the carousel we achieve.

Challenges and Solutions

Data Quality:

• Challenge: Ensuring the accuracy and completeness of data from third-party providers.
• Solution: Partnering with Feratel and refining data using Google Maps API.

Rendering and Crawlability:

• Challenge: Handling large amounts of data without compromising page performance.
• Solution: Implementing pagination and ensuring that the markup is accessible to search engine crawlers.

Engagement Metrics:

• Observation: Early data shows significant impressions and good positioning for key queries, though clicks are low. This is expected as the filtering/selection is directly happening on Google SERP and can be applied to different Search Features where the interaction happens on Google.

Anticipation: With the mountain biking and hiking season getting to its peak, we expect an increase in engagement and more solid data by the end of September.

Future Steps

• Expand Data Integration: Import and map additional entities related to the beautiful region of Salzburgerland.
• Improve rendering: Adding pagination will help both users and Google’s crawler consume the content at best
• Monitor and Optimize: Continuously track performance metrics to refine and enhance the SEO strategy.
• User Experience Enhancement: Ensure that the site provides a seamless experience for users seeking information on mountain biking alms in the Salzburgland region.

By implementing these advanced search features and structured data, we aim to provide a rich, informative, and engaging experience for users while significantly boosting our client’s search visibility and user engagement.

For more detailed guidance on implementing similar features, visit Google Search Experiences and Structured Data for Carousels.