The Importance of Structured Data for SEO
Also known as schema markup, structured data provides search engines with additional information that can help them better understand web pages and provide their users with improved search results. By adding structured data to your website, you can enjoy the following benefits:
- Higher SEO Rankings: Since structured data will give search engines a more in-depth understanding of your web pages, their chances of ranking higher will significantly increase. Your site will have a competitive advantage over other sites in your industry that have not taken advantage of schema markup.
- Rich Snippets: Structured data can also define and display rich snippets of your web pages in search engine results. Clear and concise rich snippets can lead to higher click through rates and an enhanced user experience.
- Knowledge Graphs: Knowledge graphs are the big blocks of information on the right hand side of Google. These blocks display various details about a certain search result. Structured data can help your knowledge graphs appear.
Types of Structured Data
There are a variety of different types of structured data you can add to your web pages. Some of the most popular ones include:
- Articles: You can use schema markup for tech articles, news articles, and even blog posts.
- Books: If you are trying to sell a book, you can markup up things like the author who wrote it and how many awards it’s won.
- Recipes: Schema can display your recipes with images in an attractive way in search results.
- Products: With schema, your products can appear in search engines with added information like pricing, reviews, and availability.
- Reviews: If your site features reviews, structured data can help them stand out with star ratings.
How to Implement Structured Data
If you are interested in implementing schema markup, you can do so by following these steps:
- Visit the Structured Data Markup Helper by Google.
- Select the type of data you’d like to markup.
- Paste in the URL of the page you’d like to markup.
- Select and highlight the type of elements you would like to be marked up and assign schema tags to them.
- Create the HTML.
- Add the markup to your web page.
- Test your web page with the Structured Data Testing Tool.
Although schema markup is easy to implement, very few websites have taken advantage of it. If you’d like your SEO efforts to pay off and are hoping to grow your business in 2018, implementing schema should be one of your top priorities.
