Structured Data Vs. Unstructured Data: How to Make This ...

Structured data is data that fits a predefined model or format. Think about when you pay for something online. You have to fill out a form with your name, ... TheAll-In-OneSEOTool Submit Ihopeyouenjoyreadingthisblogpost. Ifyouwantmyteamtojustdoyourmarketingforyou,clickhere. StructuredDataVs.UnstructuredData:HowtoMakeThisWorkforYourWebsite Blog/StructuredDataVs.UnstructuredData:HowtoMakeThisWorkforYourWebsite Whenyou’restartingawebsite,thefirstthingonyourmindprobablyisn’tstructuredvs.unstructureddataandhowitaffectsyourwebsite. However,thewayyourinformationispresentedisimportant.Understandingthedistinctionandbeingabletousestructureddataonyourpagescanmakeabigdifferencetoyoursuccess. Here’swhatyouneedtoknowaboutstructureddatavs.unstructureddata. KeyDifferencesBetweenStructuredandUnstructuredData Structuredvs.unstructureddataisn’tjustaphenomenoninSEO. It’sadistinctionthataffectseverytypeofdata.Forexample,onyourphone,yourcontactsareaformofstructureddata(thenamesandnumbersarecategorizedintospecificfields),butthephotos(assumingtheyhavenotimeorlocationtags)areconsideredunstructureddata. Definedvs.undefined:Structureddatafitsintopredefinedmodelsandformats,allowingotherapplicationstounderstanditbetter.Unstructureddatadoesnothaveapredefinedmodel.InSEO,themodelweusetointerpretstructureddataisSchema.org,whichenablesallthesearchenginestobetterunderstandthedataofawebpage.Qualitativevs.quantitative:Unstructureddatatendstobequalitative—socialmediainteractions,interviews,images,etc.Structureddataismorequantitative,usingnumbersandpredefinedfields.Differencesinstorage:Unstructureddatacanbeverycomplexandrequirealotofstoragespace(thinkabouttheimagesonyoursite).Thisunstructureddataisnormallyhousedindatalakes,whereasstructureddata,whichismucheasiertostore,ishousedindatawarehouses.Easeofanalysis:Becausestructureddatafitsintopredefinedmodelsandformats,it’smucheasiertoanalyze.InSEO,structureddatasignalstosearchengineswhataspecificpieceofinformationisaboutsoitcanbeeasilyunderstoodandservedtothepublic. WhatIsStructuredData? Structureddataisdatathatfitsapredefinedmodelorformat. Thinkaboutwhenyoupayforsomethingonline.Youhavetofilloutaformwithyourname,contactnumber,address,andcreditcarddetails.Youentereachpieceofinformationintoclearlydefinedfields,andeachpieceofinformationissavedasstructureddata. Thismakesiteasytosearch,analyze,andultimatelypullinformation.Ifyouwanttofindouthowmanycustomershavea630areacode,youcanquicklydothat. Ifthisinformationwasstoredinanunstructuredway,suchasaphotoofaperson’sbusinesscard,thenitwouldbemuchmorechallengingtoanalyzeandgroupthedata. ThesameprinciplesapplytoSEObecauseGoogleandothersearchenginesaretryingtoanalyzeandgroupthedataonyourwebsite. WealreadyknowtheimportanceofstructureforSEOwhenitcomestothingslikenavigation,headings,metadescriptions,andalttexts,butstructureddataintheformofSchema.orgtakesthisastepfurther. Ifyou’renotsurewhetheryou’reusingstructureddataproperly,somehandytoolslikeGoogle’sStructuredDataTesting,SNIPWordPressplugin,orYoastcanhelp. ProsandConsofStructuredData Ifyoulookatasearchengineresultspagetoday,itlooksverydifferentfromwhatitdid10yearsago.Backthen,SERPsweremostlylinksandtexts,buttoday,they’remuchmoreinteractive.They’reabletopullinformationfromwebsitestoofferyoufeatureslikerichsnippets,frequentlyaskedquestions,knowledgegraphs,localresults,andmuchmore. Gettingyourwebsitetofeatureintheserichresultscanbringalotofexposuretoyourwebsite. Toshowthisinformation,Googlehastobeabletounderstandyourdata,andwhenitcomestostructuredvs.unstructureddata,structureddataisthewinner.It’sawayofcommunicatingwiththesearchenginesthatmeansbotsdon’thavetoassignmeaningtoeverysingleword. Thesearchenginecanthenusethisinformationontheresultspages,givingyouextraexposureandattractingvisitorstoyourwebsite. Therearen’treallyanyconstostructureddata.Theonethingthatprobablyputspeopleoffisthefactthatwe’retalkingaboutcode.However,asIalwayspointout,youdon’thavetoknowhowtocodetocreateasuccessfulwebsitetoday.Manyappsandpluginscantakecareofstructureddataforyou,withoutyouhavingtoworryaboutcodingorHTML. WhentoUseStructuredData Therearelotsofscenarioswhereitcanbebeneficialtousestructureddataonyourpage. Forexample,youcanuseschemamarkuptohighlightinformationaboutacorporationorperson,providelocalbusinessinformation,includeimportantproductinformation,andaddrecipeinstructions.Googlecanthenusethisinformationinitsresults,allowingyoutoengagepeoplewithdatathatanswerstheirquestions. Someofthemostcommonusesofstructureddatainclude: recipeschemamarkupeventschemamarkupvideoschemamarkuparticleschemamarkupbreadcrumbsschemamarkupproductandofferschemamarkuplocalbusinessschemamarkuppersonschemamarkuporganizationschemamarkup WhatIsUnstructuredData? Unstructureddataisundefineddatathathasnosetformat. Thismakesupthemajorityofdataintheworld,andthechallengeis,whatdoyoudowithit?Modernbusinessesstoresomuchdata,butifunstructureddataishardtoanalyze,thenwhatuseisit? Wearegettingbetteratanalyzingunstructureddatalikeaudio,images,andtextthat’snotbeenorganizedinaspecificway,butit’sstillchallenging.Togetinsightsfromthisdata,weneedadvancedtechnologylikemachinelearningandnaturallanguageprocessing. Thinkabouthowdriverlesscarslearntonavigatetheroads.Theygothroughthousandsofhoursofdrivingfootageusingmachinelearningtopickouthazards.It’scomplicatedstuff! Googleandothersearchengineshavebeenworkingonanalyzingunstructureddataforalongtime,sendingbotstocrawlyourwebsiteandpaintapictureofwhatit’sabout.They’regettingbetteratthisallthetime,butunstructureddataisstillchallenging. ProsandConsofUnstructuredData Therearelotsoftimeswhenweuseunstructureddatabecausethere’snorealneedforittobeanalyzed.Whenyousendanemail,takeapicture,orcreateavoicenote,thefirstthingonyourmindisn’tstructure. WhenitcomestoSEOthough,youalwayshavetohaveoneeyeonstructure,becausewithoutit,Googleisgoingtohaveahardtimeunderstandingwhatyourpageisabout. Howoftendoyoucomeacrossapagethat’scompletelywithoutstructure,suchasapagethat’sjustabigblockoftextwithsomeimagesthrownin?Youprobablydon’tseepageslikethatveryoftenbecausethey’rehardtoindex(aswellasprovideapooruserexperience). Thisiswhyevenifwe’renotusingstructureddataintheformofSchema.org,weareusingsemi-structureintheformofmetadescriptions,H1s,H2s(here’showheadersimpactyourSEO),alttext,andmore. Unstructureddataisconvenientbecausewedon’thavetimetostructureeverypieceofdata,andinmanycases,there’snoneedtodoso.However,inSEO,wedoneedsomelevelofstructure,atleastonapagelevel. WhentoUseUnstructuredData Noteverythingyouputonyourwebsiteisgoingtousestructureddata.Youcan’tmarkupeveryparagraphandassignmeaningtoit;sometimesaparagraphisjustaparagraph,andthat’sfine. Searchenginesdohavetheabilitytounderstandwhatyourtextisabout.Itmightnotlearnasmuchasitdoesthroughstructureddata,butitstillhelpsittoassignvalueandunderstandwhatyourpagesareabout. Thebalanceofstructureddatavs.unstructureddataonyourwebsiteisgoingtoleantowardsunstructured,justbecauseeverythingyouwritedoesn’tneedtofitadefinedmodel.Usethestructureddatatohighlightthemostimportantpartsofyourpage,anddon’tworryaboutmarkingupeverylittledetail. HowtoPrepareYourWebsiteforFutureStructured,Unstructured,andSemi-structuredDataBestPractices IfwelookattheevolutionoftheSERPs,it’sevidentthatstructureddataplaysamuchbiggerrolethanitusedto. Structureddatamightnotbearankingsignal,butitdoesallowGoogletouseyourdatatofillitsrichfeatures.Theserichfeaturesappearonvirtuallyeveryresultspage,sothey’resomethingthat’sgoingtohaveabigimpactonyourwebsite’svisibility(thedifferencebetweenfeaturingonalocalbusinesspack,ornot,forexample,canbehuge.) Thegoodthingisthatthenatureofstructureddata,withitsclearstructuresandformats,meansbestpracticesaren’tlikelytochangedramaticallywithtime.AllofthesearchenginesworkwithSchema.org,andit’saveryaccessible,collaborative“organization.” Ifandwhenchangesaremade,youcaneasilyfindoutontheSchema.orgwebsiteandadjustyourapproachaccordingly,andofcourse,theappsyouusetohelpyouwithstructureddatawillkeepupdating. Likewise,semi-structuredandunstructureddataarealwaysgoingtoplayapart.Youcan’tstructureeverysinglewordonyourwebsite,soit’saboutfollowingestablishedSEObestpracticesandfocusingonwhatgivesyourvisitorsthebestpossibleuserexperience. HowtoImplementStructuredData Structureddatacanhelpyouorganizeinformationonyourwebsiteandcommunicatemoreefficientlywiththesearchengines,buthowdoyouimplementit? OpenGoogle’sStructuredDataMarkupHelper.Thisisafreetoolthatwillhelpyoucreatethecodeforyourstructureddata.SelectthedatatypeyouwanttouseandaddtheURLforthepage.Thiswillautomaticallycollectanyexistingformatting.Highlightpageelementsandassigntags.Fromthispage,youcanhighlightelementslikeimages,sentences,andparagraphs,andassigntagstothem.CreatetheHTML.Thetoolwillcreateasnippetofcodeforyoutoaddtotheheaderofyourpage.CopytheHTMLandaddittoyourpage.YoucanaddtheHTMLintoyoursourcecodeorCMS.TestyourstructureddatausingSchema.Org’sSchemaMarkupValidator.YoucanenteryourURLortheHTMLcodetotestwhetherthestructureddataisshowingproperly. ThisprocessmakesitsimpletoaddstructuretoyourdataandhelpsGoogleunderstandcrucialdetailsaboutyourpages. StructuredDataFrequentlyAskedQuestions Whataresomestructureddatatestingtools? ThemostsimpletoolisSchema.org’sSchemaMarkupValidator,whichgivesyouaquick,easyanalysisofhowyourpageusesstructureddata.OtheroptionsincludeSchemaApp,Yoast,RankRanger,oraChromeplugin. Whatisastructureddataexample? Agoodexampleofstructureddataistherecipeschemamarkup.Thisallowsyoutoaddingredientsandrecipestepsamongotherinformationthatcanthenbedisplayedinsearchresults. Whatistheuseofstructureddata? Structureddatamakesyourdataeasiertoanalyze.InSEO,thismeanssearchenginescanbetterunderstandwhatyourpageisaboutanduseimportantinformationintheSERPs. IsstructureddatagoodforyourSEO? StructureddatahelpsGoogleunderstandwhatyourpageisabout,whichbenefitsSEO.Itmightnotbearankingfactor,butitdoeshelpGoogleshowyourdatainitsrichresults. Conclusion:StructuredData HowyoustructureinformationisimportantinSEO.Youwanttomakeitaseasyaspossibleforsearchenginestointerpretwhatyou’retalkingabout,andstructureddatacanhelpyoudothis. TheformatthatweusetostructuredatainSEOiscalledschema,andmanytoolscanhelpyouusethis“language”effectively.Ifyoudo,thenyourwebsitewillbeabletoshowinrichresultsthatcancatchtheeyeofsearchersandattractvisitorstoyourwebsite. Structureddatamightbeasmalldetail,butitcanmakeadifferencetothesuccessofyourwebsite. Areyouusingstructureddataonyoursite? SeeHowMyAgencyCanDriveMassiveAmountsofTraffictoYourWebsite SEO-unlockmassiveamountsofSEOtraffic.Seerealresults. ContentMarketing-ourteamcreatesepiccontentthatwillgetshared,getlinks,andattracttraffic. PaidMedia-effectivepaidstrategieswithclearROI. BookaCall Share Doyouwantmoretraffic? Hey,I'mNeilPatel.I'mdeterminedtomakeabusinessgrow.Myonlyquestionis,willitbeyours? Submit AboutNeilPatel Heistheco-founderofNPDigital.TheWallStreetJournalcallshimatopinfluencerontheweb,Forbessaysheisoneofthetop10marketers,andEntrepreneurMagazinesayshecreatedoneofthe100mostbrilliantcompanies.NeilisaNewYorkTimesbestsellingauthorandwasrecognizedasatop100entrepreneurundertheageof30byPresidentObamaanda top100entrepreneurundertheageof35by theUnitedNations. 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