Rich results, structured data and Schema: a visual guide to ...

Which of these are Schema powered rich results on Google? Login Cart ChangecurrencyUSD($)EUR(€)GBP(£) Search Navigationmenu Richresults,structureddataandSchema:avisualguidetohelpyouunderstand Arecipetoimpressyourdinnerguests,astep-by-stepguidetochangingyourtire,ortheopeninghoursofthestorearoundthecorner.YoumighthavenoticedthatGoogleissteppingitsgameupwiththewayit’sdisplayingtheresultstoyoursearchqueries.Theseprominentandoftenvisualanswerstoyoursearchqueryarecalledrichresultsandthey’repoweredbyathingcalledSchema. Buthowdosearchenginescreatethesekindsofresults?Whatdoesstructureddatahavetodowithit?And,howdoyougetthemforyourwebsite?Findoutallaboutithere! Tableofcontents Richresults,structureddataandSchema Whatarerichresults?WhichoftheseareSchemapoweredrichresultsonGoogle?SchemavsStructureddatavsRichresultsWhatdoesstructureddatalooklike? Addingstructureddatatoyoursite HowcanIaddstructureddatatomyownsite?ImplementingthecodeyourselfUsingthirdpartytools YoastandSchema SchemainYoastSEOSchemainLocalSEOSchemainWooCommerceSchemainYoastSEOforShopify HowandwhywasSchemainvented? ThehistoryofSchema Richresultscomeindifferentforms.Recipesdisplayedwithanimage,theingredientsneeded,andevenarating.Butalsothefirstfewstepstochangingyourtireortheopeninghoursofthestoreyouwanttovisit.Perhapsyou’llrecognizesomeoftheseexamples: Recipes Oops… Back Welldone! Back Businesslistings Oops… Back Welldone! Back Productswithrating Oops… Back Welldone! Back FAQs Oops… Back Welldone! Back Knowledgegraphs Oops… Back Welldone! Back Whatarerichresults? Asyoucanseefromtheexamplesabove,richresultstendtostandoutfromtheordinarybluelinksyoufindinGoogle.Theyoftenshowimagesorjustthosespecificationsordetailspeoplearelookingfor.Whichalsoexplainswhytheyhaveahigherclick-throughratethanordinary,lessprominentresults.Buthowcanyoumakesureyourcontentshowsupasarichresult?Howdoyougetyourveryownrichresults? Here,we’llexplainhowGooglecreatestheserichresultsandhowyoucanincreaseyourownchancestobefeaturedlikethataswell!Andtoguideyouthroughthisjourney,we’veaskedsomeonespecialtojoinus.Meettheman,themyth:RichSnippet!Hithere!Thename’sRich.I’llbehelpingyoumakesenseofwhatSchemais,whatitdoesandhowyoucangetyourveryownrichresults.Wewilltakeitonestepatatimetomakesureitdoesn’tgetoverwhelming!Okay,let’skickoffourjourneywithafunpopquiztogetthejuicesflowing.Areyouready? WhichoftheseareSchemapoweredrichresultsonGoogle? Breadcrumbs No Yes Oops… Theymightnotlookveryvisual,butbreadcrumbsaredefinitelypoweredbystructureddata! Back Welldone! Theymightnotlookveryvisual,butbreadcrumbsaredefinitelypoweredbystructureddata! Back Homeactivities No Yes Oops… Theseactivitiesareshownwithavideoorimage,andevenevents!ThisisallpossiblethankstoSchema. Back Welldone! Theseactivitiesareshownwithavideoorimage,andevenevents!ThisisallpossiblethankstoSchema. Back Sportsscores No Yes Oops… Theylookquitevisualright?ButsportscoresthatareshownthiswayarenotpoweredbySchema! Back Welldone! Theylookquitevisualright?ButsportscoresthatareshownthiswayarenotpoweredbySchema! Back Jobpostings No Yes Oops… Thedate,traveldistance,salaryandotherinformationyou’reseeingisallpoweredbystructureddata! Back Welldone! Thedate,traveldistance,salaryandotherinformationyou’reseeingisallpoweredbystructureddata! Back Flights No Yes Oops… Althoughyoumayexpectthemtobe,flightsarenotpoweredbystructureddata! Back Welldone! Althoughyoumayexpectthemtobe,flightsarenotpoweredbystructureddata! Back Events No Yes Oops… ShowinganeventlikethisinthesearchresultsisallpossiblethankstoSchema! Back Welldone! ShowinganeventlikethisinthesearchresultsisallpossiblethankstoSchema! Back Movies No Yes Oops… Ratings,adescription,releasedateandotherinformationonthemovie.That’sdefinitelystructureddata! Back Welldone! Ratings,adescription,releasedateandotherinformationonthemovie.That’sdefinitelystructureddata! Back Let’sstartbyansweringthefollowingquestion:howdoesGooglegetallthisinformationoncookingtime,ratings,stocks,etc?Muchoftheinputforthiscomesfromstructureddata.Byaddingstructureddatatoyourpageyou’redescribingyourpageinawaythatmakesiteasiertounderstandforsearchengines.Todoso,youneedtoaddcodeinastandardvocabularyandthat’swhereSchema.orgcomesin.Schemaisthevocabularyusedbythemostcommonsearchenginesanditdescribesthecontentsofyourpagesuchasproducts,reviews,jobpostings,recipes,businesslistingsandsoon.Byusingstructureddata,andpresentingitthroughSchema,yourpagesbecomemorereadableformachinessuchassearchengines.Thisallowsthemtointerpretyourpagesandpresentyourcontentasrichresults. Thisexplainshowstructureddataworksinanutshell.Butthewholethingmaystillfeelabitabstracttoyou.So,let’sbreakitdown.Howdostructureddata,schemaandrichresultstieintogether? Schema Schemaisasharedlanguagecreatedbyseveralbigsearchengines,containingastandardmarkupforstructureddatathesesearchenginesareabletounderstand.OnSchema.org,youcanfindwhatyouneedtodescribeyourpagesandfindexamplesofhowtoaddyourownstructureddatatoapage! Structureddata WhereSchemaisthelanguageinwhichyoupresentyourcontent,structureddataistheactualdatayouprovide.Itdescribesthecontentonyourpageandwhatactionssitevisitorscanperformwiththiscontent.Thisistheinputyougivesearchenginestogetabetterunderstandingofyourpages. Richresults ByprovidingstructureddatausingSchema,searchengineswillknowexactlywhatuserscanfindonyourpage—andwhatitallmeans.Thisallowsthemtopresentyourcontentinamoreprominent,visualwayinthesearchresults.Thesemoreprominentresultsarecalledrichresults,orrichsnippets.  Let’stakeaquicksidesteptodivedeeperintowhatGoogleexactlydoestogetinformationaboutyourpages.Ifyou’refamiliarwithSEO,youmightalreadyknowthatsearchengineslikeGooglefollowlinks.Theyfollowlinkstogetfromonepagetoanother.Andtheydothisbyusingcrawlers,alsoknownasbotsorrobots.Althoughthesearedigital,youcanthinkofthemaslittlecreaturescrawlingalongyourpagestofindoutwhatkindofcontentyouhaveonyourpages. Thesecrawlersvisityoursitefromtimetotimetogetthelatestversionofyourpagesandsavetheseinahugedatabasecalledtheindex.Dependingonthetrafficonyoursiteandthenumberofchangesyoumaketoyourcontent,thesecrawlerscomearoundmoreorlessoften.Googleusesthisindexanddifferentalgorithmstodeterminewhatpagestheywanttoshowwhensomeonetypesinasearchquery. So,whatroledoesstructureddataplayinallthis?AlthoughGoogleisgettingmuchbetteratunderstandingwhatsortsofcontentareoutthere,itcanstillusesomehelpdeterminingwhateveryindividualpagecanoffervisitors.Plus,itwantstolookformeaningontheweb.Byaddingstructureddatatoyourpages,Googleisabletoreadthisdataandunderstandyourcontentevenbetter.ThishelpsGoogledeterminewhatpeoplecanexpecttofindonyourpageandwhichsearchqueriesareagoodfitforyourpage. Areyoustillwithus?Essentially,whatGoogledoesisvisityoursitefromtimetotimetoknowwhatcontentyou’reoffering.Thishelpsthemdecidewhetherornotyou’rethebestresulttoshowwhensomeonesearchesforsomethingonline. Structureddatacanhelpyoubethatbestresultbybeingevenmoredetailedaboutwhatpeoplecanfindonyourpage!Inaddition,youvalidateinyourcodewhatyoudoonyourpages.Now,Googlehasanextrawayofmakingsurethatyouarewhatyousayyouare. Whatdoesstructureddatalooklike? Thisisasimpleexampleofhowyou’ddescribeanarticleonawebpagewithSchemainJSON-LD.Youcanextendthisandgointoasmanydetailsasyoulike—justmakesureit’srelevantforsearchengines.And,veryimportant,makesurethecodeisvalid! { "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Article", "mainEntityOfPage":{ "@type":"WebPage", "@id":"https://yoast.com/" }, "headline":"WordPressSEO:Thedefinitiveguide", "image": "https://yoast.com/wordpress_seo_definitive_guide.png", "datePublished":"2020-02-05T08:00:00+08:00", "dateModified":"2020-02-05T09:20:00+08:00", "author":{ "@type":"Person", "name":"JoostdeValk" }, "publisher":{ "@type":"Organization", "name":"Yoast", "logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject", "url":"https://yoast.com/yoast_logo.png" } } } HowcanIaddstructureddatatomyownsite? We’veexplainedwhatstructureddatais,whatroleSchemaplaysinthisandhowtheycanhelpyougetthoserichresults.Thatbringsustothequestiononeveryone’smind:HowcanIaddstructureddatatomyownsite?Therearetwooptionsyoucanconsider: Implementingthecodeyourself Itispossibletoaddthenecessarycodetotheexistingcodeofyourpage.  However,itisimportantthatyouhaveanunderstandingofdevelopingcodeandknowwhatyou’redoing. Also,remembertokeepupwithchangingSchemarecommendationsandmakethenecessarychangestoyourcode. Usingthirdpartytools Youcanusetools,suchaspluginsorthird-partyservices,thataddstructureddataforyou.Anadvantageisthatyoudon’thavetobeadevelopertodothisandthesetoolswillhelpyoustayuptodate.Itisimportanttonotethatusingathird-partytoolmakesyoulessflexiblewhenitcomestomakingchangesinyourstructureddata. Aswe’regettingtoknoweachotherduringthisjourney,thereissomethingIhavetomention.Yes,structureddataisthewaytogowhenyouwanttostandoutlikeme.Whenyouwanttohaveyourownrichresults.But,althoughusingstructureddatahighlyincreasesyourchancesofbeingshownasarichresult,itisnotaguarantee.Googleultimatelydecideswhetheryougetarichresult.Don’tforget,makesureyourcontentistop-notch!ButIdon’texpectthattobeaproblemwithyou. YoastandSchema SchemainYoastSEOOneofthepluginsthatcangetyousortedwhenitcomestostructureddataisourYoastSEOplugin.Bydefault,ourpluginbuildsafullstructureddatagraphforeverypage(andpost)onyoursite.ThisgraphtellsGooglewhatthedifferentpartsonyourpagemeanandhowtheyfittogether. It’sagreatwayforsearchenginestomakesenseofwebsites.Butthat’snotall: MeetourSchematab Bydefault,ourplugindescribesyourpagesusingWebPageschemaandyourpostsusingArticleschema.Inmostcases,thisissufficient.But,therearealsopageswhereyoumightfeeltheneedtofurtherspecifywhatit’sabout.Forexample,inthecaseofyourContactpageoraNewsarticle.We’veaddedseveralcontenttypesinourSchematab,whereyoucanselecttherightoneusingadropdownmenu! AddstructureddatawithourYoastSEOblocks Ourpluginoffersseveralstructureddatablocksthatincreaseyourchancesofgettingaclickablerichresult.YoucanuseourHow-toblocktoeasilycreatehow-toarticles,theFAQblocktobuildFAQpages,andaddbreadcrumbstoyourpageswiththeBreadcrumbsblock.Byusingtheseblocksyoucanmakesureyou’replacingthiscontent—whileYoastSEOautomaticallygeneratesthecorrectstructureddatainthebackground.Rightnow,wehavethreestructureddatablocks,buttherearemoreontheway! Learneverythingaboutstructureddata Webelievethateveryoneshouldhaveanequalchanceinthesearchresults.That’swhywe’vecreatedaStructureddataforbeginnerstrainingcourse,whichiscompletelyfreeofcharge!Butthat’snotall.WealsorecentlylaunchedanewUnderstandingstructuredatacourse,thatwillhelpyouexplorethistopicinevenmoredepth.GetaccesstothisnewcourseandallofourothercourseswithasubscriptiontoYoastSEOPremium. SchemainLocalSEO Whenyourunalocalbusiness,localSEOcanhelpyoubecomeoneofthetopsearchresultsinyourarea.OurLocalSEOpluginhelpsyoubymakingsureyoursiteisoutputtingtherightlocalbusinessmarkup.Forexample,youcandescribeyourcontactinformationwiththeaddressblockwhichalsoaddsvalidstructureddatatoyourpage.Or,youcanusetheGoogleMapsstructureddatablocktoaddapropermaptoyoursite.Thishelpsyouaddthisinformationessentialtoyourusers,whileautomaticallyaddingstructureddatatoyourpageinawaythatGooglewillunderstand. SchemainWooCommerce Ifyou’reworkingonanecommercesite,ourWooCommerceSEOplugincanalsohelpyoutacklethisstructureddata.ThisplugintakesthestandardSchemathatproductpagesputoutandbuildsaproductgraphthatmakessensetoGoogle.Thiswayyoucanincreaseyourchancesofyourproductsbeingshowndirectlyinthesearchresults,includingpriceandall. SchemainYoastSEOforShopify MoreandmoreusersareusingShopifytobuildtheironlinestores.ShopifydoesoutputabitofstructureddataandsomethemesinShopifyaswell,butmostofitisonlyforproductsandisnotthatsophisticated.YoastSEOforShopifyautomaticallyoutputstheSchematohigheryourchanceofrichresultsshowingyourrating,stock,images,socialprofiles,organizationname,andlogo.Allout-of-the-box. HowandwhywasSchemainvented? ThehistoryofSchemadatesbacktothecreationoftheweb,backin1989.Inthatyear,TimBerners-LeewroteaproposalforaweboflinkstopreventlossofinformationatCERN. Theideaofanopenwebwasbornandthisweboflinkseventuallygrewtoanextensiveandcomplexnetworkusedbypeopleallovertheworld–theworldwideweb. Whilethewebbecamebigger,Berners-Leeintroducedtheconceptofasemanticweb.Awebonwhichmachinesareabletoreadandunderstandalltheinformationthatcanbefoundonline–andtoconnectthisknowledge. Schemaeventuallycameintoexistenceasabuildingblockforthesemanticweb,asthisisagreattoolinmakinginformationunderstandableandreadableformachinessuchassearchengines. Structureddatahasbeenaroundforyears,butwebelievethebestisyettocome!Wanttocontinuereading?CheckoutourultimateguidetostructureddatawithSchema.org. ThatwasaquickjourneyintotheworldofSchema Wehopeyouenjoyedthisstoryandlearnedabitaboutthewhyandhowofstructureddata.Beforewego,RichSnippetwouldliketohavethelastword–asalways:Asyou’venoticedstructureddataisquitethething!It’salmostascoolasmyshirt,right?Nah,justkidding.Structureddatahelpssearchenginesmakesenseoftheworldandthathelpsthemmakethesearchresultslookmoreappealing.Theserichresultshelpusersquicklyfindwhattheyarelookingfor.Also,thesecanhelpyougettheclicksyouneed–or,youmightsimplyviewthemasavalidationofthehardworkyouaredoing.Whateveryourstrategyis,keepitup!