Structured Data & Schema
Used to mark up elements on a webpage, structured data (or schema) helps search engines further understand the content which is contained on a website. Structured data is also used to generate further rich results and featured snippets within search results. Our SEO Office Hours Notes below cover recommendations for the implementation of structured data / schema, as well as insights from Google.
To learn more about structured data’s impact on SEO, check out our additional resources:
JSON LD Is the Preferred Format for Structured Markup
JSON LD is the preferred format for structured markup, but Google accepts all other formats so there is no advantage in changing.
Structured Data Testing Tool Doesn’t Render JavaScript
The structured data testing tool doesn’t render JavaScript, so if you are deliving structured markup via JavaScript, you can make the structured data visible on a test page, then use Fetch and Render to confirm it can be processed correctly.
HTML Errors Might Impact User Engagement, Structured Data and Meta Tags
HTML errors don’t directly impact crawling and ranking, but could have an effect on rankings if the page is broken and the user experience is poor, or if the structured data can’t be correctly picked up. If the head section of the page is broken, some of the meta tags might not be seen.
Add Structured Data Markup to Dedicated Pages not Listing Pages
You shouldn’t add structured markup data to pages which contain lists of separate items e..g. listing pages. It should only be applied to pages when they are specific to the one main item on the page.
Aggregate Review Markup Shouldn’t be Used on Pages with Multiple Items
Aggregate review markup should be applied to one specific item, so shouldn’t be used on category pages.
Authorship Markup Doesn’t Need to be Removed
Google don’t use authorship markup at all, but you don’t need to remove it until it’s convenient.
Some Search Console Reports are Sampled
Some search console reports are based on a significant sample of the primary URLs, and won’t include every possible URL. e.g. Structured data and AMP reports.
Structured Markup Doesn’t Affect Rankings
Structured markup data doesn’t affect the rankings, only the rich snippets which are displayed.
Rich Snippets Won’t be Displayed for Low Quality Pages
Structured markup has to be technially correct, and they are accepted from a policy, and also meet quality criteria to be displayed. If you do a site: command for a URL, and can see the markup appearing, but it doesn’t appear for regular searches, it means the markup has been implemented successfully but the page does not meet the quality criteria.
Markup Not Supported by Google has no Impact
You can’t have too much markup, but there is no value for SEO if it’s not a type supported by Google.