Let’s start with the basics.

Microformats (or Rich Snippets, as named by Google) are a way of formatting data that’s both human- and computer-readable.

Put another way, they’re a way of formatting content on your web site for easy reading by both visitors and search engines. It’s like putting meta tags in the open for all to see. Search engines trust it because it’s data you’re showing your visitors and love it because it helps them create more relevant and robust results pages.

a sample search result with map and review 

At current writing, there are 9 stable formats, 17 in draft format and a whole bunch in development (see the full list). Some examples include addresses, calendar entries, recipes, reviews and video.

Sample

Here’s a sample hCard entry to specify contact information (name, address, phone, etc).

If you’re familiar with HTML you’ll see that it’s not much additional work to create the address in the hCard format.

<div id=”" class=”vcard”> <a class=”url fn n” href=”http://www.netplusmarketing.com/” _mce_href=”http://www.netplusmarketing.com/”> <span class=”given-name”></span><br /> <span class=”additional-name”></span><br /> <span class=”family-name”></span><br /> </a></p> <div class=”org”>NetPlus</div> <p> <a class=”email” href=”mailto:info@netplusmarketing.com” _mce_href=”mailto:info@netplusmarketing.com”>info@netplusmarketing.com</a></p> <div class=”adr”> <div class=”street-address”>625 W Ridge Pike</div> <p> <span class=”locality”>Conshohocken</span><br /> <span class=”region”>PA</span><br /> <span class=”postal-code”>19428</span><br /> <span class=”country-name”>USA</span> </div> <div class=”tel”>610.897.2380</div> </div> <p>

and here’s how it looks in a browser:

By using the hCard microformat I’m telling search engines “Here’s my address” at the same time I’m telling visitors “Here’s my address.” By using the microformat instead of just inserting the address with any old HTML code, search engines know that’s the official NetPlus address and can do special things such as integrate a map in search results and use the address for local search.

Who uses them?

Google, Bing, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Yelp and many others. There are a lot of big players on that list and there are many specialty sites looking for microformatted content as well.

The point is, if you don’t already offer microformats on your site or blog you better plan to add it soon.

How do they impact SEO?

Microformats impact search in several ways:

• SERPs – Better visibility on a result page. Make that hard-earned first page placement earn the highest clickthrough it can.
• Better data – Microformats tell search engines “here’s some good data for you.”
• More access to data – A user can find your address, reviews, and local events all through data you published via a microformat.

Search engines are continually adding new support for microformats. When food network planned their site redesign they included hRecipe before any search engines started using it. This paid off when Google announced its support of recipe microformats earlier this month.

Tools

If you don’t want to mess around with formatting there are several generators available:

• hCalendar
• hCard
• hReview

And once you have your microformat on your site you can test it with Google’s microformat validator.

Further Reading

• Microformats.org – Specifications, getting started, recent news, code, tools, and several mailing lists.
• Google Webmaster Central – Get the scoop on what Google supports and how to test your code.
• Wikipedia – background, another list of formats, and more examples.