What is structured data? • SEO for beginners • Yoast

Structured data is a way of describing your site to make it easier for search engines to understand. And to describe your site to search engines ... Login Cart ChangecurrencyUSD($)EUR(€)GBP(£) Search Navigationmenu Home»SEOblog»TechnicalSEO»Whatisstructureddata? Youmighthaveheardaboutstructureddata,Schema.org,andJSON-LD.Youmighthaveevenheardthatit’sbecomingmoreandmoreimportanttoaddthemtoyoursite.Butwhatdothesetermsmeanexactly?Whatisstructureddata?AndwhatdoesithavetodowithSEO?We’llexplainallofthis,andhowtogetstarted,inthispost! YoastSEOmakesthiseasy OurWordPresspluginandShopifyappbuildastructureddatagraphforeverypostorpageonyoursite.Agraphisacompletepieceofstructureddatathathelpssearchenginesunderstandthecontentsofyourpageorpost.Allyouneedtodoisdecideonthetypeofcontentandourpluginwilldotherest.DotheYoastSEOConfigurationworkouttogetstarted! Whatisstructureddata? Structureddataisawayofdescribingyoursitetomakeiteasierforsearchenginestounderstand.Andtodescribeyoursitetosearchengines,you’llneedavocabularythatpresentscontentinawaythatsearchenginescanunderstand.ThevocabularyusedbythebigsearchenginesiscalledSchema.org,whichchangesyourcontentintocodethattheycaneasilyprocess.Searchenginesreadthecodeanduseittodisplaysearchresultsinaspecificandmuchricherway.Youcaneasilyputthispieceofcodeonyourwebsite. Imagineyouhaveawebsitewithalotofrecipes.Ifyouaddstructureddatatoapagewitharecipe,yourresultinthesearchenginesmightchange.Itwillbemuch“richer”regardingtheothercontentthat’sshown.That’sthereasonwecalltheseresultsrichresultsorrichsnippets.Here’swhatarichresultcanlooklike: Anexampleofarichreciperesultpoweredbystructureddata Besidesthetitle,theURLandthedescriptionofthesearchresult,youcanseehowlongitwilltaketomaketheworld’sbestlasagna.Also,you’llseehowmanycaloriesthelasagnecontains.Youneedtoaddstructureddatatoyourwebpagetogetsucharichsnippet.ThisalsoworksfortheproductsyouofferinyourShopifyonlinestore. Inthefollowingvideo,weexplainwhatstructureddatais: Wanttoknoweverythingaboutstructureddata?TakeourUnderstandingstructureddatatrainingcourse!Inthiscourseweexplainwhatstructureddataisindetailandhowyoucanimproveyourchancesofgettingrichresults.Getaccesstothiscourse,allofourotherSEOcoursesandextrafeaturesinYoastSEObygoingPremium: GototheUnderstandingstructureddataforcourse» Therearelotsofdifferentrichresults Thereareallkindsofstructureddata.It’salwaysacodeformat.Youhavethemforbooks,forreviews,formovies,andforproductsinyouronlinestore,forinstance.Inallcases,itaddsmoredetailstoyoursnippetinthesearchresults.BrowseGoogle’sSearchGallerytoseewhichrichresultsarepoweredbystructureddata. Wehavetomakeonesidenotehere.Unfortunately,Googledoesnotalwayscreatearichsnippetofyourpage,evenifyou’veaddedthestructureddata.Therearenoguarantees.Soallyoucandoisaddittoyourpage,andhopeGooglewillpickitup! Whatdoyoudowithstructureddata? Withstructureddata,youcan“talk”tothesearchengines.Youcantellthesearchengineswhichingredientsthereareinyourrecipe,youcantellthemhowlongthepreparationtimeis,andyoucantellthemhowmanycaloriesthedishwillcontain.YoucantellwhomadeyourShopifyproducts,forwhatpriceyousellthem,andwhatpeoplethoughtofthem.Googlewillbeabletograspallthatinformationinstantlyandcandecidetoshowitinthesearchresults. StructureddataisatoolyoucanusetotellGoogledetailedinformationaboutapageonyourwebsite.Then,Googlecanusethisinformationtocreateinformative,richresults.Andaudienceslovetheserichsnippets. WhatisSchema.org? Thebigsearchengineshavedevelopedaprojectcalled Schema.org.OnSchema.orgyoucanfindallthestructureddatamarkupsupportedbythesearchengines.ThismakesSchema.orgalargecollectionofpiecesofcode. YoucanuseSchema.orgtofindthemarkupyouneedforyourparticularpage.Forinstance,ifyousellt-shirtsonyourShopifystore,youcouldshowwhatcolort-shirtsyousellandwhatsizesyouofferinyoursnippet.YoushouldinvestigateSchema.org/Productandfindoutthepossibilities.YoastSEOforShopifyandWooCommerceSEOautomaticallyaddthisforyourproducts. OnSchema.org,youcancopycodeexamples.Aftercopyingit,you’llhavetoadaptthecodetoyourspecificpreferences.YoucanalsouseSEOtoolslikeYoastSEOConfigurationworkoutortheinitialsetupinYoastSEOforShopifytohelpyougetstartedwithstructureddata. Onschema.orgyoufindalltheavailableoptions Schema.orgisataxonomyofcodeformatsthatthelargesearchenginesunderstand.You’llfindexamplesofwhatthecodelookslike.Thereareotherformsaswell.ForinstanceOpenGraph(usedbyFacebook)andTwittercards(usedbyTwitter). ReadourhistoryofSchemaifyou’dliketoknowmoreabouthowthiscametobe.Orcheckoutthedigitalstorywemadeonrichresults,structureddataandSchema. WhatisJSON-LD? JSON-LDisoneofthemarkupsofSchema.org.It’sjustawaytowritecode.OnSchema.org,you’llalsofindothermarkups likeMicrodataorRDFa.AtYoast,we’lladviseyoualwaystouseJSON-LD,becauseitdoesnotbreakyoursiteaseasilyasothermarkupsdo.Plus,it’stheformatthatGoogleprefers.YoastSEOautomaticallyaddslotsofstructureddataJSON-LDtoyoursite.That’snotpossiblewiththeothermarkups. WhyisstructureddataimportantforSEO? StructureddataisimportantforSEObecauseit’llmakeiteasierforGoogletounderstandwhatyourpages,products,andyourwebsiteareabout.Googleneedstofindoutwhatapageisabouttoshowitinthesearchresults.UsingstructureddataisliketalkingtoGoogle,tellingGooglewhatyoursiteisabout.That’llhelpwithyourrankings. Ontopofthat,structureddatawillchangethewayyoursnippet(yoursearchresults)willlooklike.It’llshowmoreinformationtoyourcustomer.Morespecificinformation.Andthiswillincreasethelikelihoodacustomerwillclickonyourresults.Moreclickswilleventuallyleadtoevenhigherrankings!We’reseeingmoreandmorestructureddatapoweredrichresultspopup,soitisimportanttokeepaneyeonthis. Howtousestructureddata? Usingitmaysoundcomplex,buteveryonecandoitaswemadetheessentialpiecesofstructureddataautomaticallyavailableinourplugins.Ifyouwanttoadaptorexpandthese,youmightneedsomedevelopmentskills.Youhavetogetthecorrectcode,you’llhavetoadjustthatcode,andyou’llneedawaytoputitonyoursite. WealreadyhavewrittenalotofpostsaboutSchema.organdJSON-LD,whichwillhelpyoutounderstandmoreaboutthissubject.Inaddition,we’velaunchedafreeStructureddataforbeginnerscoursetogetyoustartedandanUnderstandingstructureddatacoursethathelpsyouunderstandthistopicinevenmoredetail. Nocodehero?Useaplugin! Alotofstructureddatamarkupcanalsobeaddedtoyourwebsiteusingplugins.Asmentioned,YoastSEOautomaticallyaddsthemostimportantdataforyoursite.Youcanevendetermineperpageorarticlewhattypeofcontentisonthere.So,youcandescribetheContactpageonyoursiteasbeingaContactPagetosearchengines.YoucandothisbysimplyselectingthetypeintheSchematabinthemetaboxortheblockeditorsidebar.Inaddition,youcanusethefreeYoastSEOcontentblockstomarkupyourFAQpagesandhow-toarticleswithvalidstructureddata. OurlocalSEOpluginusesstructureddatatoshowyourstore’slocationormultiplelocations,whiletheWooCommerceSEOpluginimprovesthestructureddataofyourproducts.ThesamegoesforourYoastSEOforShopifyappandwediscussthisintheShopifySEOultimateguide. Youdon’thavetowritecodetogetthatrichsnippet,you’lljustuseourWordPresspluginsorShopifyapp,filloutsomedetailsandwe’lldoitforyou.Andtherearemanymorepluginsthat’llhelpyouusestructureddatawithouttheneedtostrugglewithanycode! Readmore:Structureddata:theultimateguide» MariekevandeRakt MariekeistheheadofstrategyatYoastandfounderofYoastSEOacademy.ShelovescomingupwithnewideasandproductstomakeSEOattainableforeveryone,andensureahealthygrowthforYoast! Comingupnext! Event LeicesterDigitalLive,2022 June07,2022 TeamYoastisAttending,SpeakingLeicesterDigitalLive,2022,clickthroughtoseeifwe'llbethere,whowillbethereandmore! Seewhereyoucanfindusnext» SEOwebinar YoastSEOnewswebinar-June28,2022 28June2022 OurSEOexpertJonoAldersonwillkeepyouup-to-dateabouteverythingthathappensintheworldofSEOandWordPress. AllYoastSEOwebinars» 10ResponsestoWhatisstructureddata? Umberto  • 2yearsago Nowitisclearertomewhatschema.orgis.Thanksforyourarticle,veryhelpful! EdwinToonen  • 2yearsago You’rewelcome,Umberto! SimonSoap  • 2yearsago Thanksforsharingthis.Nowgooglecheckwhetheryourwebsitehasstructureddataornot.It’snotarankingfactorbutIthinkstructureddatagivethecrawlerbetterresponse. CamilleCunningham  • 2yearsago Hithere!You’reright,structureddatahelpsGoogleandothersearchenginesunderstandyourpagesbetter.Also,structureddatacanchangethewayyoursearchresultslook,makingyourcontentmoreeligibleforrichresults!Soeventuallyitcandefinitelyhelpyourrankingsandvisibilityinthesearchresults. TaylorMiles  • 2yearsago Thanksforthecontent.Keepupthegoodwork.Itwasveryhelpful CamilleCunningham  • 2yearsago You’rewelcome,Taylor!Gladtohearthatyoufoundithelpful:) StanleyChauke  • 2yearsago GooddayMariekeforthegreatarticle.ThisisveryhelpfulfornewsiteownersespeciallyrunningthewebsiteonWordPress. CamilleCunningham  • 2yearsago HiStanley,thanksforyourcomment!Goodtohearthatyoufoundthisarticlehelpful:) ambermartinmarketing  • 2yearsago YourfreeStructureddatatrainingcoursehashelpedmetounderstandtheimportanceofitforSEO. Thanks,Amber CamilleCunningham  • 2yearsago You’reverywelcome,Amber.Welovehearingthat!Lotsofluckwiththeimplementationandifyouwanttoknowmore,we’vecollectedallourblogpostsonrichresultshere:https://yoast.com/tag/rich-snippets/ Home Aboutus WorkatYoast WerkenbijYoast(NL) Community YoastCon Developerportal Helpcenter Products YoastSEOforShopify YoastSEOforWordPress LocalSEOforWordPress VideoSEOforWordPress NewsSEOforWordPress WooCommerceSEO Otherplatforms SEOblog SEObasics SEOessentials SEOlove SEOnews ShopifySEO YoastSEOacademy LogintoAcademy Allcourses YoastSEOtraining Webinars ZowerktYoastSEO(NLboek)