How to implement structured data and why you should

Just what is structured data? And how will it help your business appear more creative and memorable in search results?

Rich snippets have been around for some time now, as has Google’s knowledge graph, which was added to search engine result pages (SERPs) in 2012. Over the last year, we’ve also now started to see structured data, which is used to implement these different displays of information, become an even greater influence on SERPs, especially Google’s.

On May 17th 2016, Google rolled out a number of changes to how their search engine handles structured data, with the most important changes being the introduction of rich cards. These are a complete restructure of Google’s documentation about structured data, alongside a new report function in Google Search Console for data relating to rich cards.

Before we delve into the technical stuff, let’s take a step back here and clearly define what structured data is and what it can be used to do…

What is structured data?

Structured data refers to information that is organised in such a ways as it can be easily understood and categorised by search engines, to be displayed in creative ways within SERPs.

Structured data is built using a text-based markup that typically uses the schema.org vocabulary, a result of collaboration between Google, Bing, Yahoo! and Yandex. Its aim is to clarify what information their search engines need to be able to understand your content and give the best search results to their users.

Schema.org is made up of three forms of code:

● RDFa

● Microdata

● JSON-LD

The most common being the latter, which stands for JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data. Below is an example of JSON-LD code, which would be used to show contact information for your company in a rich result.

By providing structured data markup on your company’s website, you ensure that your content is eligible to appear in creative ways within search results. Taking Google as an example, your content can appear in one of two categories:

• Rich Results/Cards

• Knowledge Graph Cards

So what are Rich Results and Knowledge Graph Cards?

Let’s now take a look at these forms of structured data categories used by Google.

• Rich Results: Rich results now form the majority of page 1 search results and use schema markup to provide results which can include images, reviews, and answers to queries.

• Rich Cards: Rich cards are a new form of rich snippet released by Google in May 2016. Currently, these only show for things like recipes and movies, but they take up a carousel styling at the top of search results and are aimed more towards mobile users.

• Knowledge Graph: Google’s Knowledge Graph is used both behind the scenes by Google and to present knowledge graph cards within SERPs, providing direct answers about people, places, and objects.

So what can you do to ensure you are making the most of these rich snippets and structured data?

Here are 5 rich result strategies you should be using…

1. Use Schema.org markup on your web pages

Using schema markup may be daunting due to the need for coding skills, but many web developers should be able to set up a system so that marking up your content is as simple as filling in a few fields. This will allow content creators to take on the task and markup content as they produce it. For those using WordPress sites, all you need to do is simply install a schema plugin, which can automatically create these fields for you as you create content.

And with only 20% of businesses currently using schema markups on their website, now is a great time to ensure that you address your company’s needs and get ahead of the rest.

Here are just a couple schema markups that are really useful for businesses.

● News articles: Using schema markup for your articles makes them more likely to appear in the news section within Google results. This is the perfect form of schema to be used by content producers, be it for a company or a personal blog.

● Videos: We all know that videos are a powerful tool to have in your marketing arsenal, and though seen less frequently within SERPs, they can still be found for certain searches. One great way to include video schema markup is with ‘How to?’ posts, ensuring your search results take up more page 1 real estate and help you stand out through the use of video to potential customers.

● Rating/Review: Searches for products and businesses can all be marked up using the ‘rating and review’ schema code, allowing you to show your product ratings and customer reviews within your search result snippets.

2. Research your target search terms

As part of your SEO and content marketing strategies, you’ll conduct keyword research and choose the specific terms that you want to rank for. But what you possibly don’t do, and you really should, is investigate how the search result pages look now for those terms. By doing this you allow yourself the opportunity to identify which competitors rank for such terms, the types of content that rank highest and, most importantly, what forms of structured data seem to work best for your target terms and your audience. This will give you a clear idea of what types of schema you should be implementing on your website going forward.

3. Targeting local customers

If your business sells or provides a service where customers can come to a storefront, then it's key to ensure that you show up in local searches. When Google sees that individuals are looking for nearby results, they will present a map that includes a cluster of local businesses. Now, for those concerned with coding, you’ll be pleased to read that for this form of rich result you won’t need to implement any form of structured data; simply create a business listing in Google and follow the same actions that are recommended for local SEO in general; you can find some great information in thisSmart Insights tutorial to local search.

4. Focus on extensive and not just simple answers

One downfall of rich results is that for simple questions, such as “how to boil an egg”, Google will simply provide an answer in its answer box at the top of SERP. This makes it unlikely that searchers will scroll down and click on an organic result, due to having the answer right there in front of them.

However, ensuring the answer to your customer’s questions should still be a staple of your content strategy, as long as those questions require extensive answers that show off your company’s industry knowledge and expertise.

5. Always pay attention to changes

Rich snippets have been around for a while now but Google and other search engines are always updating and evolving their platforms for users and business alike. So it’s important that you keep up to date with the latest updates in both organic and paid search, so you know exactly what the landscape of the SERPs looks like when an ideal customer searches for one of your targeted terms.

As mentioned earlier, May 2016 saw Google release its rich cards, which are aimed at the ‘swipe right’ mobile users (though they have been rolled out across desktop as well). With the aim of getting a user to swipe right rather than scroll down a page, they massively change the dynamics of how a user interacts with search result pages. Meaning those lower ranking page 1 terms, which had hours of content and SEO work put into them, are not even seen due to not being part of the rich cards carousal.

This is echoed further by a Google paid advertising update released during the writing of this article, which outlines plans for Showcase Shopping Ads. These ads will be presented in a similar fashion to rich cards, taking up prime real estate at the top of SERPs and presenting a searcher with ads targeted at broad term searches such as ‘women’s summer dresses’. In the past, such terms on Google wouldn’t feature any ads but now with the release of Showcase Shopping Ads, organic results for such terms will be pushed further down the page. I have outlined more on bothShowcase Shopping Ads and rich cards in a blog here if you’d like more information.

What’s next?

As search engines, especially Google, begin to place more emphasis on structured data and mobile, it is key that marketers need to understand just how the two work together. We see search engines placing more and more emphasis on mobile users. With mobile device numbers having overtaken desktop users, the future of search results could look to be more heavily focused on swiping right rather than scrolling down. However, staying on top of the current trends to ensure that structured data is used correctly, providing rich results and therefore giving searchers more detail on your business and products, as well as grabbing you a larger part of that page1 real estate, you give yourself the best opportunity to increase click through rate and, in turn, sales.

hanks to Matthew Crehan for sharing his advice and opinions in this post. Matthew is one of Hit Search's internal marketing team. Over the last six years Matthew has built up a wealth of knowledge across the full digital marketing environment, producing athletics podcasts, managing successful crowdfunding campaigns and delivering his clients a strong return on investment, whilst building clients’ brands through the most cost effective online channels possible. You can follow Hit Search on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

Contributer : Smart Insights