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:
Include Date in Structured Data For Articles
Google recommend using dates directly in the structured data of articles as this makes it easier for Google to extract the correct date.
Google Uses Semantic Markup to Understand Importance of Highlighted Text
Google can use semantic markup such as bold, italics and headings to understand that highlighted words are especially important.
Google Will Only Use Structured Data For Trustworthy, High Quality Sites
Structured data needs to be correctly implemented from a technical perspective and needs to be applied to relevant content, but to display it in search Google also has to judge the site as high quality and trustworthy.
Ensure Ratings Markup Reflects Primary Page Topic & is Based on User Feedback
Google requires that ratings markup refers to the primary topic of the page e.g. a rating on a page about a car model should refer to that specific car model. Also, make sure ratings are something that anyone can submit feedback for and are not handpicked testimonials.
Google Has no Guidelines for Marking Up Physical Objects Beyond Place ID
There isn’t a specific way to markup a physical object outside of Google Place ID. Google no longer uses the geo meta tag or geo sitemap extension. John recommends looking at Schema.org documentation to find relevant markup, as this helps Google understand a page even if it isn’t explicitly used in search.
Serve the Same Content to Crawlers and Users Including Structured Data
While it isn’t an issue to only serve structured data to crawlers and social media sites, it doesn’t have much impact on page speed and it could provide some value for users. For these reasons, John recommends serving the same content across the board to users because there isn’t much to be gained from omitting things like structured data.
Add Markup to Pages if Encountering Difficulties with the Data Highlighter
If issues are encountered adding markup to pages with Data Highlighter in GSC, John recommends adding this markup directly to the page as it would likely be quicker than determining the issue experienced with Data Highlighter.
Structured Data Requires Clean HTML Without Errors
HTML improvements create a problem for markup because structured data needs clean HTML otherwise it can be broken apart.
There is no Inherent SEO Advantage to Having Clean Semantic HTML
Google doesn’t look at HTML5 semantically. Having clean semantic HTML is beneficial for implementing structured markup properly and having a page that works well across different devices but it carries no inherent SEO advantage.
Handpicked Reviews/Testimonials Shouldn’t Have Aggregate Review Markup
You should only include handpicked reviews from Google+, for example, to add to your site as long as they aren’t marked up. Aggregate review markup should reflect the whole set of reviews.