Google Confirms Recipe Ranking Factor

Google has recently made changes to its Recipe Schema documentation, offering clearer instructions on the role of images in search results. This update provides webmasters and content creators with a better understanding of how images can influence visibility in both rich results and standard organic listings.

The revised guidance focuses on the image property within structured data, highlighting exactly how it impacts a recipe’s appearance in Google search. It also points users to further resources where they can learn more about how recipe images are ranked in regular search results, not just within rich snippets.

Schema.org Structured Data And Rich Results

Within the SEO and publishing community, the term “organic search results” often refers to what’s commonly known as the “ten blue links”. However, Google more simply labels these as “text results”.

Structured data plays an important role in helping a website’s content qualify for rich results on Google. However, it typically doesn’t impact how well a page performs in the regular text-based search listings.

This idea has been reinforced in Google’s latest update to its Recipe structured data guidelines. The update includes a clear note stating: “Specifying the image property in Recipe markup has no impact on the image chosen for a text result image. To optimise for a text result image, follow the image SEO best practices.”

Essentially, this means that while recipe structured data can affect which images are displayed in rich recipe snippets, it has no effect on the images that appear in Google’s standard text results, also known as organic listings.

Ranking Images In Text Results

Google provides clear documentation on image best practices, encouraging the use of standard HTML elements such as <img> and <picture>. Alongside this, they also advise website owners to utilise an image sitemap, which is specifically designed to help Google discover and index images more effectively.

One important detail to keep in mind is to avoid using blurry images. Google recommends opting for sharp, high-quality visuals, as these are more likely to appear in search results and catch the attention of users.

Although some web developers may intentionally add a slight blur to reduce file size or to create a depth effect between foreground and background elements, Google still advises against this. While they don’t explicitly list it as a ranking factor, their guidance is quite clear on the preference for sharp imagery.

According to Google’s image optimisation recommendations:
“High-quality photos appeal to users more than blurry, unclear images. Also, sharp images are more appealing to users in the result thumbnail and can increase the likelihood of getting traffic from users.”

From personal experience, blurred images rarely perform well in search results. Although my observations are anecdotal, they do seem to reflect Google’s official guidance. It’s reassuring to see that the emphasis on image sharpness aligns with actual performance in search visibility.

Overall, it seems wise to limit or avoid unnecessary blurring in images. Presenting clear, sharp photos not only improves user experience but also enhances the chances of your images being displayed in Google’s search results.