Structured data are organized pieces of information in the form of code snippet that helps search engines better understand what the ...
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WhatisstructureddatainSEOandhowitworks?
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Whatisstructureddata?
Structureddataareorganizedpiecesofinformationintheformofcodesnippetthathelpssearchenginesbetterunderstandwhatthewebsite’scontentisabout.Theycanalsoappearasrichresultsonthesearchengineresultpage(SERP).
Therearemanytypesofstructureddatathatcanbeappliedtowebpages(e.g“HowTo”,“Article”,“Event”,oreven“Organization”markup).
Here’sisanexampleofstructureddatamarkupfor“Recipe”asaRichResultintheSERP:
Andhere’showthesestructureddatalooklikeasascriptonawebpage:
Whyisstructureddataimportant?
Structureddataisacriticalpartofon-pageSEOasitcansignificantlyimprovethewebsite’spresenceinsearchresults.
Thereare2mainreasonswhyyoushouldconsiderstructureddataforyourpages:
Ithelpssearchenginestobetterunderstandyourcontent
Itcanimprovethevisibilityandclick-throughrateofyourpages
Let’stakeacloserlookatthebenefitsthatstructureddatacanoffer.
1.Itimprovesrelevancy
TheprimarypurposeofthestructureddataistohelpsearchengineslikeGooglebetterunderstandthecontentonthewebsite.
Generallyspeaking,searchenginesunderstandstructureddatabetterthannormaltext–ithelpswebsitestoconveythemeaningoftheircontenttothesearchenginesmoreefficiently.
Withstructureddata,Googlemighthaveabetterunderstandingofyourpagesandshowtheircontentinthesearchqueriesthataremorerelevantforthem.
OrasJohnMuellerclearlystated:
“Soontheonehand,wedousestructureddatatobetterunderstandtheentitiesonthepageandtofindoutwherethatpageismorerelevant… Sowewilltrytousethattoshowitinmorerelevantsearchresultsthatwouldperhapsbringmoreuserstoyourpagesthatactuallymatchthetopicsofyourpages.”
2.ItboostsCTR
StructureddatacanbedisplayedintheformofrichsnippetswithintheSERPandincreasetheoverallCTR(click-throughrate)ofthewebpage.
Wheneverawebcrawlervisitsapage,italsolooksforanystructureddatathatcanbeusedforthevisuallyenhancedsnippetofthatpageinthesearchresults.
Richresultsarethemainreasonwhywebsiteownerswanttoimplementstructureddatatotheirpages–theyaremuchmoreattractiveandvisuallyappealingasopposedtotheregularsearchsnippets.
PagesthatcanbedisplayedintheformofrichresultscanobtainmuchmoreorganictrafficfromGoogle–justcheckhowtheycanstandoutfromtheordinarysnippetsintheSERP:
Tip:Structureddatacanbealsousedforsocialmedia(e.g.Facebook,Twitter,orInstagram)andotherplatformsaswell!
Socialnetworksusestructureddatatoconstructthesharedobjectintheirfeeds(suchastitle,URL,featuredimage,author,andothers).
MakesurethatyouproperlyimplementstructureddatabyusingOpenGraphandtestthecodesnippetswithcorrectvalidationtools.
Youcanevenimplementstructureddataintotheemailtemplates–emailproviders(e.g.Gmail)usestructureddatatomarkupanddisplayimportantinformationwithintheircontentinamoreenhancedway(e.g.eventreservations,orders,orproductcards).
Formoreinformation,checkoutthedocumentationforstructureddataforGmail.
Isstructureddataarankingsignal?
StructureddatadoesnotserveasarankingfactorforGoogle.
AlthoughstructureddatacanimprovevisibilityintheSERPandboosttheCTRofthepage,itwon’timproverankingpositionsinsearchresults.
Structureddatacanonlyhelpyourpagestobedisplayedinmorerelevantsearchqueries.
Inotherwords:
There'snogenericrankingboostforSDusage.That'sthesameasfarasIremember.However,SDcanmakeiteasiertounderstandwhatthepageisabout,whichcanmakeiteasiertoshowwhereit'srelevant(improvestargeting,mayberankingfortherightterms).(notnew,imo)
—🐄John🐄(@JohnMu)April2,2018
Inordertocreateandimplementstructureddata,youneedto“speak”inthelanguageofthesearchenginesfirst–whichiscalledschemamarkup.
Whatisschemamarkup(andhowitworks)?
Schemamarkup(alsocalledschema.org)isastandardizedcomputinglanguagethatdescribesthecontentofthewebpageinanorganizedmannerthatisunderstoodbysearchengines.
ItcontainsvocabularythathelpssearchengineslikeGoogleunderstandwhatthewebsiteisactuallyaboutanddisplayitscontentinamoreappealingandefficientwaywithinthesearchresults.
Schema.orgwasdevelopedin2011bythebiggestsearchengines(Google,Bing,andYahoo!)inordertoprovideandsupportauniversalformatforstructureddatathatcanbeusedbyanywebsiteowner.
Schemamarkupisbasedonahierarchicalsystemof2categories–“Types”and“Properties”–theymarkupanddescribesmallpiecesofcontentonthepageinanorganizedmannerthatisunderstandableforGoogle:
EachTypecancontainmoreotherTypes(orsub-types)withPropertiesthatdescribewhattheyare.
Let’stakealookatasimpleexampleofhowourcompanycanbepresentedontheinternetintheformofstructureddata,withoutusingcodingfirst:
Company
-Mangools
-https://mangools.com/
-Logo
-https://mangools.com/mangools-logo-2.png
-Width-700px
-Height-235px
Inthesimpleexampleabove,wedefinedourCompanyasthemainobject/entitythatcanbedescribedbyattributeslikename,homepage,andourlogo–whichcanbefurtherdescribedbysourceanditssize.
Here’showthishierarchyofdatacanbetransferredintotheschemamarkup:
"@type":"Organization",
"url":"https://mangools.com/",
"name":"mangools",
"logo":{
"@type":"ImageObject",
"url":"https://mangools.com/mangools-logo-2.png",
"width":"700px",
"height":"235px"
Note:Itisimportanttounderstandthatschema.orgprovideshundredsof“Types”and“Properties”coveringvarioustopicsanddatathatcanbemarkedupinthecontent(e.g.products,music,videos,organizations,etc.).
IfyouwouldliketocheckthewholelistofTypesandtheirattributes,checkouttheofficiallistofallschemas.
Structureddatacanbeimplementedasmarkupsonyourpagebyusingoneofthe3majorformatswhichGoogleunderstands::
JSON-LD
Microdata
RDFa
Let’stakeaquicklookateachofthem.
JSON-LD
JSON-LD(JavaScriptObjectNotationforLinkedData)isthemostpopularmarkupscriptthatcanbeusedforstructureddata.
ItisalsothemostpreferredversionofstructureddataforGoogle:
Butwhenitcomestostructureddatarecommendations,we'drankjson-ldfirst.
—🐄John🐄(@JohnMu)February3,2020
ThemainadvantageofJSON-LDisthatitcanbeimplementedasablockofcodewithoutmessinguptherestoftheHTMLdocument–simplycopyandpastethescriptinthe
orsectionofyourpage.Thiswillkeepthepagecleanandnicelystructured.
Microdata
Microdataisbasedonasetoftagsthathighlightitemsandvaluesonapageforthestructureddataindividually.
TypesandPropertiesofstructureddataaremarkedviaitemtypeanditempropHTMLattributesthatcanbeplacedonapage.
ThemaindownsideofMicrodataisthateveryentityorattributeofthecontenthastobemarkedindividuallywithintheHTMLbodyofyourpages–asopposedtotheonebigblockofcodethatcanbeimplementedbyJSON-LD.
SometimesitcanbeevendifficultandchaotictomarkupeverysingleitemorpropertyonpagesbyusingMicrodata–especiallyforlargerwebsites.
RDFa
RDFa(ResourceDescriptionFrameworkinAttributes)isanextensiontoHTML5thatcanbeusedformarkingupitemsforstructureddata.
SimilartoMicrodata,RDFamarksuppiecesofcontentwithintheHTMLbodyofthepagebyusingtypeofandpropertyHTMLattributes.
Herearetheexamplesofall3majorformatsthatcanbeusedtomarkupthestructureddata:
JSON-LD
Microdata
RDFa
{
"@context":"http://schema.org",
"@type":"LocalBusiness",
"address":{
"@type":"PostalAddress",
"addressLocality":"SanFrancisco",
"addressRegion":"CA",
"streetAddress":"902Cornerstreet10"
},
"description":"TastypizzalocatedintheheartofSanFrancisco.",
"name":"PizzaExample",
"telephone":"123-456-1111"
}
PizzaExample
TastypizzalocatedintheheartofSanFrancisco.
902Cornerstreet10
SanFrancisco,
CA
Phone:123-456-1111
PizzaExample
TastypizzalocatedintheheartofSanFrancisco.
902Cornerstreet10
SanFrancisco,
CA
Phone:123-456-1111
Tip:ThefollowingtypesofmarkuparenotcommonlyusedbutGooglecanstillparsethem:
Microformats:HTMLtagsthatstructuredataonapagewithintheclassattribute.Completevocabularyisonmicroformats.org
PageDate:Googlecanparsedatesdirectlyfrompagetext.Forbestresults,useISO8601dateformatswithafullyspecifiedyear.
Now,let’stakealookatschemamarkupsthatcanappearasrichresultsintheGoogleSERP.
Whichstructureddatamayresultinarichsnippet?
Googlesupportsvarioustypesofschemamarkupsthatmayappearasanenhancedsearchresults.
HereisalistofcurrentlysupporteditemsthatcanbemarkedupasstructureddataandappearasarichresultintheSERP:
Article
HomeActivities
Practiceproblems
Book
How-to
Product
Breadcrumb
ImageLicense
Q&A
Carousel
JobPosting
Recipe
Course
JobTraining
Reviewsnippet
Dataset
LocalBusiness
SitelinksSearchbox
EmployerRating
Logo
SoftwareApp
Event
Mathsolvers
Speakable
FactCheck
Movie
Subscriptioncontent
FAQ
Estimatedsalary
Video
Keepinmindthough,thatschema.orgcontainsmuchmoreitemsthatcanbemarkeduptoprovidemoreinformationaboutyourcontent–evenifitdoesnotresultintherichsnippet.
Tip:Ifyouwouldliketoexploretherichresultsforthemostpopularsearchengines,besuretocheckout:
Googlesearchgallery
Yandexmarkupservices
MicrosoftBingscenarios
Furtherreading28Googlerichsnippetsyoushouldknowin2022[guide+infographic]
Whydoesthewebpagenotappearasarichresult?
Implementationofstructureddatatoyourpagesdoesnotguaranteethattheywillbedisplayedasarichresult.
SchemamarkupcanindicatethatitscontentmightberelevantandusefultotheusersbutitisuptothesearchenginetodecidewhetherornotitwillbeusedasanenhancedsnippetintheSERP.
EvenGoogleofficiallystated:
“Usingstructureddataenablesafeaturetobepresent,itdoesnotguaranteethatitwillbepresent.”
SearchengineslikeGoogletakeintoaccountmanyvariablessuchastheauthorityandtrustworthinessofthewebsite,history,location,etc.thatcaninfluenceIForWHENtherichresultswillappear:
“…itcanhappenthatweshowalotoftheserichresultsforyourwebsite.Andmaybewe’llscalethembackovertime,maybewe’llscalethatupagainovertime.Itcanalsohappenthatweturnthemoffcompletely”(JohnMueller,SeniorWebmasterTrendsAnalyst).
Althoughyoucannotdirectlycontroltheappearanceofstructureddatainthesearchresults,somesituationscanpreventGooglefromusingyourschemamarkups:
Misleadingstructureddata–whenthecontentinyourschemamarkupdoesnotrepresenttheactualcontentonthepage.
Incorrectimplementation–structureddataarenotsetupproperlyforthesearchenginestobeabletounderstandanduseitintheformorrichresult.
Hiddencontent–thecontentofthestructureddataisnotpresentonthepageorishiddenfromtheusers.
Violationofguidelines–structureddatadoesnotmeettheofficialGoogleguidelines.
Note:BeawarethatGoogleignoresstructureddataforhomepageseveniftheywereimplementedproperly.
Howtoaddstructureddatatothewebsite?
Implementationofstructureddataisnotarocketsince,althoughitrequiresalittlebitofpracticeandsomelogicalthinking.
Keepinmindthattheprimarypurposeofstructureddataistohelpsearchenginesbetterunderstandwhatthepageisaboutandhowitcouldbeusefultotheusers–notonlyforthesakeofrichresults.
However,itcanbesometimesdifficultandoverwhelmingtodescribeyourpagesviaschemamarkup–especiallywhenitprovidesanendlesslistoftypesandpropertiesthatcandescribeyourwebsite.
Herearethebestpracticesthatyoushouldkeepinmind:
Usethemostspecific,applicabletypesandpropertiespossible
Prioritizepagesthatarealreadyrankinghighinsearchresults(toincreasethelikelihoodthattheywillappearasrichresults)
Supplyfewerbutcompleteandaccuratepropertiesratherthanvagueandbadly-formeddatathatwouldnothelpsearchenginesinanyway
UseJSON-LDformat(ifpossible)
Whenyouimplementthemostimportantschemastoyourwebsite,youcanstarttoaddmoreandmoreinformationfromschema.organdgraduallydescribeyourcontentbetter.
Tip:Ifyouarecompletelynewtotheworldofstructureddata,tryGoogleCodelabanditsshorttutorialtolearnhowstructureddataworks.
Let’stakealookathowtocreateandimplementschemamarkupsforyourpages.
1.Generatemarkup
Whenitcomestocreatingstructureddata,thereareafewoptionsthatyoucanuse.
Youcaneither:
a)Writethescriptmanually
Youcangetsomeinspirationfromschema.organdwriteyourownscript(e.g.inWordPress).
Althoughcreatingyourownschemarequiresalittlebitofexperiencewithcoding,itgivesyouthemostflexibility–youcanmarkupanythingyouwantandcreatethemostcomplexstructureddatawithplentyofinformationforthesearchengines.
Thismethodthoughisthemosttime-consumingandpossiblydangerousifyoudonotknowwhatyouaredoing.
b)Usemarkupgenerators
Therearemanyonlinemarkupgeneratorsthatwillautomaticallycreatestructureddataforyou.Themostpopularmarkupgeneratorsare:
GoogleStructuredDataMarkupHelper–ithelpsyoumarkuppiecesofcontentdirectlyonthewebpage.Simplystarttaggingalltheimportantinformationonthepage,assignthemtotheproperlabels,generatethescript(JSON-LDorMicrodata),andselectDownload.
GoogleDataHighlighter–anonlinetoolinGoogleSearchConsolethatcanhelpyouhighlightandtagdata(names,dates,locations,etc.)thatareimportantfortherichresultacrossyourwholesite.
SchemaMarkupGenerator(JSON-LD)byMerkle –anonlinetoolthatcanhelpyouwithgeneratingschemamarkupforyourpages.Simplyaddallrequiredinformationtothegeneratorandcopythefinalversionofstructureddataforyourcontent.
c)Useschemaplugins
Schemapluginsareanothergreatwayforcreatingstructureddataonyourwebsite.
KeepinmindthoughthatSEOpluginshavetheirlimitations–theyusuallyfocusonschemamarkupsthatareusedonlyforrichresults(notforanyotherdatafromschema.org).
Ontheotherhand,thesepluginscanhelpyougeneratescriptsthatare“good-to-go”andcanbeautomaticallyimplementedtothecodeofyourpages.
HereareafewpopularschemapluginsforWordPress:
YoastSEO–asimplepluginthatusesJSON-LDformatforschemamarkup.Youcanaddvariousstructureddatatoyourpagessuchassitename,images,logo,profiles,etc.
YoastWooCommerceSEO–anotherpopularpluginfromYoastthatisfocusedone-commercewebsites.Itcanaddimportantstructureddataforallyourproductpagesinordertobeeligibleforrichresultssuchasprices,reviews,etc.
SchemaApp–AdvancedpluginforstructureddatainWordPressthathasalsoapaidversion.Itprovidesalotofgreatschemamarkupsthatcanbeusedforrichresults.
Note:TherearealsomanyothergreatWordPresspluginsthatcanhelpyouimplementstructureddatatoyourwebsite–checkoutwordpress.organdfindtheonesthatwillsuityouthebest.
FurtherreadingWordPressSEO:Adetailedstep-by-stepwalkthroughforbeginners
2.Testyourstructureddata
Youshouldalwaystestyourschemamarkupsbeforeimplementingthemonyourwebsite.
Notonlyitisimportanttocheckifthereareanyerrorsbutalsotoactuallyseehowthestructureddatawouldlooklikeintheformofrichresult.
Thereareafewtestingtoolsthatcanhelpyouvalidateyourscriptsbeforepublishingthem:
RichResultTest–anofficialtoolfromGooglefortestingyourstructureddata.Withthistool,youcanseewhichrichresultscanbeobtainedwithyourschemamarkupsandhowitwouldlooklikeasasnippet.
YoucaneitherinsertjustthescripttotestitseparatelyorcopyandpastetheURLtotestschemamarkupsonthegivenpage.
SchemaMarkupValidator –anothertoolfromGoogle(previouslyknownasStructuredDataTestingTool)iscapabletovalidatealltypesofstructureddatafromschema.org–notonlythosethatwouldbeusedasrichresults. SimilartotheRichResultTesttool,youcaneithercopyandpasteacodesnippetortheURLandseewhetherthereareanyerrorsinyourstructureddatamarkup.
URLInspectionTool–apopulartoolintheGoogleSearchConsolethatcanhelpyoufindstructureddataerrors.
Withthistestingtool,youcanseethenumberofitemsandtheirdescriptionsthatweremarkedupinyourschemaaswellasanyinformationaboutrichresultsthatcouldbefoundonyourpages.
FurtherreadingGoogleSearchConsole:AsimpleguideforSEObeginners
3.Implementmarkuptoyourwebsite
Deployingpreparedstructureddataisaprettystraightforwardprocess.
Ifyouareusingplugins(suchasYoastSEO)orCMSthatsupportsstructureddata,youdonothavetodoanything–thetoolswillimplementstructureddataautomaticallyforyou.
However,thesetoolsoftenlackflexibilityordonotcoverallmarkupsthatyouwouldliketouse.Duetothisfact,youmighttryotheroptions:
Addthescriptsmanually –IfyoucreatedschemamarkupsinJSON-LDformat,simplycopyandpastethecodesnippetsdirectlyintotheorofyourHTML.
UseGoogleTagManager–thisplatformcanhelpyousetupstructureddataforyourpageswithoutactuallyinsertingthemintothecode.
SimplycreateanewCustomHTMLtag,pasteyourcodesnippetandpublishit.
Ifyouvalidatedstructureddatabeforeimplementation,youshouldnothaveanyproblems.
Tip:YoucanuseourMangoolsSEOextensionandseewhatstructuredataareyourcompetitorsusing!
Checkoutwhichcodeformattheypreferaswellasallschemamarkupsontheirpages.
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DanielPolacek
I'vebeenacontentwriterandSEOfanboysincehighschool.IprefertocreateeasyanddigestiblepiecesofcontentaboutsearchengineoptimizationthatwouldhelpmarketingenthusiaststobetterunderstandhowGoogleworks.Also,Ilikepizza.
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