What is Structured Data? And Why Should You Implement It?

Structured data is a standardized way to provide information about a web page. It helps search engines better understand what your content ... MichalPecánekMarketerandcontentwriteratAhrefs.AddictedtoSEO,aviation,fragrances,sushiandtacos.ArticlestatsMonthlytraffic52Linkingwebsites134Tweets50DatafromContentExplorerShowshowmanydifferentwebsitesarelinkingtothispieceofcontent.Asageneralrule,themorewebsiteslinktoyou,thehigheryourankinGoogle.ShowsestimatedmonthlysearchtraffictothisarticleaccordingtoAhrefsdata.Theactualsearchtraffic(asreportedinGoogleAnalytics)isusually3-5timesbigger.ThenumberoftimesthisarticlewassharedonTwitter.SharethisarticleSubscribeforweeklyupdatesEmailSubscriptionSubscribeLeavethisfieldemptyifyou'rehuman:ContentsStructureddataisastandardizedwaytoprovideinformationaboutawebpage.IthelpssearchengineslikeGoogletobetterunderstandwhatyourcontentis about.Butwhat’sinitforyou,andhowdoyouimplementit?Let’sgetinto it!Howstructureddatahelpsyour SEOSchemamarkup,thecornerstoneofstructureddataThethreewaysofstructuringdataStructureddatabeyondyourwebsiteHowstructureddatahelpsyour SEOFirstthingsfirst,structureddataisnotarankingfactor.Itdoesn’tdirectlyhelpyoutorankhigherinGoogle.However,therearemanybenefits.We’llfocusonthefourmostimportantones:GetrichresultsGetintoGoogle’sKnowledgeGraphSupportsemanticsearch Supportyour E-A-T1.GetrichresultsRichresultsarevisually-enhancedsearchresultswithinformationpulledfromrelevantstructureddata.Themostcommontypeofrichresultsarerichsnippets,like these:Thesecanoftenboostclickthroughratesandincreaseorganictraffictoyour pages.2.GetintoGoogle’sKnowledgeGraphGoogle’sKnowledgeGraph isaknowledge-baseofentitiesandtherelationshipsbetweenthem.You,yourbrand,andyourproductscanallbecomeentitiesthatareestablishedandinfluencedbystructureddata.ThemostdirectimplicationofgettingintotheKnowledgeGraphishavingaKnowledgePanelthatprovidesmorebrandvisibilityandauthority:3.SupportsemanticsearchSemanticsearch focusesonthemeaningbehindsearchqueriesinsteadoftraditionalkeywordmatching.It’showGooglemanagestoreturnperfectresultswhenyousearchforsomethingasvagueas this:BecausestructureddatahelpsGoogletobetterunderstandwhatyourpagesareabout,itmayhelpthemshowupformorerelevantsearchqueries.4.Supportyour E-A-TE-A-T standsforexpertise,authoritativeness,andtrust.Thesethreethingsare“whatGooglelooksforinawebpage.”UsingstructureddatafeedsGoogleinformationaboutyourwebsite,itscontent,anditsauthors,andmakesiteasiertoassessyour E-A-T.Schemamarkup,thecornerstoneofstructureddataStructureddataneedstoconformtoaparticularformat.Asisthecaseforanycomputerlanguage,youmustadheretoacorrectsyntaxifyouwantthemachinestocrunchitproperly.Schemamarkup providessuchauniversallyrecognizedformatforstructuringdataonthe Web.IfIwanttotellsearchenginesthatmyfirstnameisMichal,Ineedtolookuphowtoannotateit.Lookingup“name”intheschema.orgvocabulary bringsmetothegivenNameproperty:Youneedtousethisinitsexactforminyourcode.UsingvariationslikeFirstName,firstName,orgiven_name won’twork.Standardizationisthekeytostructureddata,andtheschema.orgvocabularyprovidesit.Take,forexample, anairlineflight:schema.orghasalexicontonotatethetypeofaircraft,thedeparturegate,andevenadescriptionofthemealservice:That’sitforthetheory.Let’stakealookathowallofthisworksonyourwebsite.ThethreewaysofstructuringdataTherearethreemainformatsyoucanusetostructuredataonthe Web.JSON-LDMicrodataRDFaJSON-LDJSON-LDistheformatthatGooglerecommends.It’salsotheeasiesttoimplementbecausethere’snoneedto“tag”HTMLelements,asisthecasewithotherstructureddataformats.Instead,youaddJSON-LDasonebigblockofcodethattellsGoogle,“Hey,herearethemainthingsyoushouldknowaboutthestuffmentionedonthis page.”Here’sanexampleofaverysimpleOrganizationmarkup usingJSON-LD: {  "@context":"https://schema.org/",  "@type":"Organization",  "name":"Ahrefs",  "url":"https://ahrefs.com/",  "description":"AhrefsisasoftwarecompanythatdevelopsonlineSEOtoolsandfreeeducationalmaterialsformarketingprofessionals.",  "email":"[email protected]" } Thisscriptcanbeplacedanywhereinthe or sectionofyour HTML.MicrodataUnlikeJSON-LD,wherestructureddataisinonebigdigestibleblock,Microdataissprinkledthroughoutthepagetomarkupcontenton-the-fly.Here’sthesameOrganizationmarkupasabove,butinMicrodataformat: Ahrefs AhrefsisasoftwarecompanythatdevelopsonlineSEOtoolsandfreeeducationalmaterialsformarketingprofessionals. Contactusat:[email protected]

Asyoucansee,youmarkupeverythingasitappearsonthepage.That’sfineforsimplemarkuplikethis,butitcangetverymessyandnear-impossibletomanageforcomplexapplications.SomeSEOpluginsuseMicrodatatogenerateyourschemamarkupanddotheworkforyou,though.RDFaRDFaworkslikeMicrodata.YoumarkupHTMLelementsonthepage,ratherthanprovidingmarkupinonebigblocklikeJSON-LD.It’sprobablytheleast-usedschemasyntax,butyouwillstilloccasionallyencounteritbecauseit’swhatFacebook’sOpenGraphmetatags arebased on.Here’showthatsameOrganizationmarkuplooksusing RFDa: Ahrefs AhrefsisasoftwarecompanythatdevelopsonlineSEOtoolsandfreeeducationalmaterialsformarketingprofessionals. Contactusat:[email protected] So,nothingmuchdifferentfromMicrodata.Buthowdoyouknowthatallofthisisavalidmarkup?TestingyourstructureddataNosanepersonwoulddeploycodewithouttestingitfirst.GotoStructuredDataTestingTool,inputyourcodesnippetorURL,andseeifthemarkupis valid.ThisiswhatIgetwhenItesttheMicrodatasnippet:Unfortunately,Googlewillsoondeprecatethistool,andonlytheRichResultsTesttool willremain.Asyoucantellfromthename,itfocusesonyoureligibilityforrichresults,butlet’shopethatGooglewilleventuallycombinebothtools’functionalities.ClassySchema isagreatalternativetoolas well.BeforeyoustartmarkingupyourcontentStructureddataisn’trocketscience,butittakestimetogetintoit,figureoutwhattoprioritize,andlearnhowtodeployitatscale.ManyCMS’andpluginsoftentakecareofthemostbasicmarkupoutofthebox,butIwanttomakeonething clear:Formostpeople,therearewaymoreimportantSEOtasksthandeployingschemaonyourwebsite.Weexpandontheprioritizationandimplementationinourdedicatedschemamarkuppost,whereyou’lllearneverythingyouneedtoknowabout this.StructureddatabeyondyourwebsiteYoucanbecomeaKnowledgeGraphentitywithouteverdeployingschemamarkup.That’sbecausementionsofyourbrandandproductscanbeanywhereonthe Web.However,don’tstartthinkingthatyouneedaWikipediapagejustbecauseit’softenusedasasourceforKnowledgePanels:Firstofall,therearemanyothersources thatGoogleuses.Second,whileit’scertainlyashortcuttobecomingaKnowledgeGraphentity,gettingaWikipediapage isquiteachallengingprocess.Andlastly,Googleonlystatesthesourceofthedescription,whichmanyKnowledgePanelsdon’teven have.Infact,unlessyouhavehugemediacoverageonWikipediaandWikidata,yourKnowledgePanelwilllikelybemuchsimpler:Thepointhereisthatyoushouldconveyconsistentinformationaboutyouoryourbusinessandlinkitalltogether.So,makesuretounifyallyourcompanyinformationonsocialmedia,othercompanyprofileslikeCrunchbase,andauthoritativewebsitesinyourniche.ThenconnectthedotsusingthesameAs schemaproperty.Weshowhowinourschemaguide.FinalthoughtsStructureddataispowerful,butit’sunlikelytobeanSEOpriorityformostwebsites.Therearejustalmostalwaysmoreimportantthingstofocus on.Thatsaid,implementingbasicschemalikeOrganizationorPersonmarkupisrelativelyquickandstraightforward.Youcanprobablydothatinafewminutes,andyoucanlearnhowinourguidetoschemamarkup.Gotquestions?PingmeonTwitter.CopylinkArticlebyMichalPecánekContributorsMarketerandcontentwriteratAhrefs.AddictedtoSEO,aviation,fragrances,sushiandtacos.ContributorsLikewhatwedo?Comeworkwithus