Structured data (managed by SQL) is a term that refers to code in a specific format. It helps search engine crawlers to understand the details of a web page. The code of your website should be marked up properly so that its elements can be made addressable for more effective analysis. The consideration of structured data can convert HTML of a site to something easier to understand. Digital Marketing Boy would like you to implement JSON or XML object in code for search engines to perform more cool things. Search engines have made it clear: 'Rich Results' is the future of search.
A. Schema.org is a collaborative community activity sponsored by Google, Yahoo, Bing and Yandex. The vocabulary on Schema.org is used by webmasters to mark up job postings, reviews and products in detail. Search engines can easily create rich snippet search results if you add schema markup to your HTML. Boost your visibility in the search engine results pages (SERPs) with Schema.org.
B. Structuring Data: Following are the 3 encodings that can be used to structure data on the internet:
RDFa: Resource Description Framework in Attributes (RDFa) is an extension to HTML5 and webmasters can mark up your web pages using the same. RDFa is a W3C recommendation and its tags can easily integrate with the HTML. The first and most important step in RDFa is to define the Schema.org vocabulary (vocab tag) and the webpage type (typeof tag). Use the property attribute for the rest of the web page elements. You should refer examples on Schema.org to study the elements that are defined as types and properties. Some useful resources are Schema.org Data Model for RDFa and W3C RDFa Primer.
JSON-LD: JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data (JSON-LD) is a means of using JSON to encode linked data. This Semantic Web format can be used by developers to mark up their web pages (Refer Schema.org for JSON-LD resources). Most of the JSON-LD code is defined in the page header, thus making the entire code cleaner and easier to read. Your JSON-LD code should be placed within curly braces and be sure that a script block (<script> </script>) contains JSON-LD notation. The outline of the code will be as follows:
@context and @type are used to define the vocabulary and content type respectively. More precise properties are defined inside another set of curly brackets. You will have to use a pair of square brackets (an array structure) if you have got a couple of different sets in a property. You can access the Structured Data Testing Tool (Google) to check your syntax for errors.
Microdata: An easy-to-use markup 'Microdata' is recommended for beginners. In microdata, each element is marked up within the body of a web page and thus the code gets messy. An item is referred by including the 'itemscope' tag in the <div> </div> block. Use the 'itemtype' attribute to define the type of item and 'itemprop' tag labels the properties of an item. Access Structured Data Markup Helper (Google) for easier tagging of your web pages.
C. Why Structured Data is important for SEO?: Proper implementation of structured data can help you to create Rich Snippets (gold stars, reviews, ratings) and this often boosts click-through rate (CTR). Inclusion of Structured Data influences the Knowledge Graph Card of a business or an individual. The strong structured data guides search engines to better understand the context and intent of your web page. This also affects the appearance of your website in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Structured Data is not a ranking factor. Digital Marketing Boy suggests you consider the same for your web pages because it can indirectly lead to better rankings. SEO experts need to understand its usefulness and impact.
FAQ Schema is a specialized markup that contains a list of questions and answers.
Let us run you through the common types of Schema Markup.
Let us explore the benefits of Schema Markup in digital marketing.