What is Structured Data, and How Can it Help SEO?

When reading about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you often come across the term Structured Data and have possibly seen it in browser search results. For beginners, if you’re looking to gain more from SEO efforts, you should look at your website’s data, referred to as schema markup.

Read on to gain more insight on the fundamentals of this and how to implement it, as well as its impact on your business’ SEO goals. However, if you seek expert SEO support to optimize your website, AAM Consultants can assist you.

What is structured data?

The meaning of this can appear overwhelming, particularly with expressions like standardized code format, data model, and relational databases. The essential thing to note is that structured data offers search engines extra data about your website through code.

For instance, rather than assuming that your page includes a formula or how-to videos, web crawlers can utilize structured data to affirm that your page incorporates a formula or actual how-to video series. This can help search engines rank your page more correctly in web queries. Although web crawlers can view your data, end users can’t.

A rich snippet will have to be generated by the page markup before somebody can view your structured data. This incorporates additional data valuable to users, just like commodity pricing, ratings, and review numbers. Implementing this data on your page is a lot simpler than you’ll think; free tools, including Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper and Data Testing Tools, are highly beneficial.

Types you can use

There are several structured data types accessible. The commonly known schema markup for SEO comprises:

Product: Display valuable information about your product, such as pricing, ratings, availability, and more.
FAQs: This answers frequently asked questions within search results.
Breadcrumb: Shows page placement in the website hierarchy. For instance, a product page for watches may have a breadcrumb menu like Men > Men watches > Men’s Rolex Watches.
Event: Offers useful event info such as date, location, time, and ticket vendors that enhance your appearance in search resources like Google Maps.
Local business: this type of data helps potential clients find your business and include other details like working hours, business reviews, and others.
Job posting: Improve your posting’s appearance in list items, in addition to sharing data like your business’ logo, reviews, location, and other details.
Video: Supports Google to share your videos by offering your video thumbnail, description, length, and upload date.

Significance

You may want to ask why your business should invest in using structured data. While Google doesn’t perceive this as a critical component for online ranking, it indirectly affects crucial ranking elements. Here’s why you should use structured data to enhance your SEO strategies;

Increase pages click-through rates (CTR)

Like products and FAQs, a few structured data can generate rich snippets. This enhances your page look in search listings by adding information like product pricing, reviews, inventory, or stars. These elements will drive users to your page since they’re more likely to click on the items that appeal to them. As they continue to click, your page’s CTR will increase, which is great for Google metrics. A page with higher CTRs is a relevant indicator to Google to move the page up for more website traffic.

Improve bounce rates

In the current fast-paced age, it can be challenging to keep users on your website. Users will exit your page and return to check on other search results if your page doesn’t provide what they’re looking for. Fortunately, this can provide them precisely what they want, which will prompt them to click and browse your page. The extra help is key to keeping them on the website and improving page dwelling time.

As users continue to grow more confident about your page, you’ll convince them to stay longer. For instance, a user could move from one page to another to find an item that’s difficult to get. However, a product markup can immediately prompt the user you have those items in stock.

Promote search results rank

Page user metrics like bounce rates and CTR are key for SEO ranking since you provide users their needs and expectations. With such an advantage to rank higher in relevant searches, why wouldn’t businesses and agencies implement SEO structured data?

Studies propose that 75% of clients stay on the first page. Also, the best three search items on the primary page get 75% of all clicks. If you want to grow your business online, you should rank well, and that’s where this comes in.

Four easy steps to use structured data for SEO

Select your page

Before you add structured data, you have to determine its beneficial pages. For instance, if you own a how-to guide on making a DIY hanger, you’ll have to use the how-to schema markup on the specific page. Based on your website, you may have just a few or more. Regardless, ensure to keep track of your structured data attempts.

Choose your structured data

Here, you select your structured data. In some instances, you may skip the first two steps.

Open Google’s Markup Helper

You can start coding after compiling your pages and select your structured data. Google’s Data Markup Helper tool can make this process a bit easier.

Test your structured data

As the final step, this is very critical. It can be difficult for Google to understand the extra info when you wrongly format or copy your structured data. When Google isn’t sure about this data, it could reduce your online rankings, affect your organic traffic, and produce the wrong snippet.

5 critical guidelines for using it

To achieve the best-structured data results for your SEO, here are some guidelines to follow;

Utilize structured data when it addresses the key content.
Avoid using any access control strategies, such as noindex, on pages with structured data.
You should apply this to only appropriate content, such as a recipe for “recipes” against recipes for “how-tos”.
Create all data to be visible to the clients, for example, cooking times.
It must be added in JSON-LD, RDFa, or microdata format.

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