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In the past few years, the appearance of a website in search results and the user experience have definitely become more important.
Increasingly, a site is being customized visually and in terms of functionality so that users are eager to enter it, interact with it, and return after time to buy products and services again or for a new dose of information.
How to optimize your site with structured data to improve your results?
Structured-data – what are they?
Structured data (structured data, schema) are tags that we can place in the code of a page to better optimize the site. By specifying them, search engine robots can more easily identify the content of a page and display it in a certain way.
What structural data is worth using on a page?
Today there are many structured data that we can implement on our site, and the list of them is constantly growing. You can check the current list at https://schema.org/docs/schemas.html
Some of these are particularly relevant and valuable in terms of user experience and influencing user purchase decisions. These include,
Breadcrumbs
This is an element that provides an easier way to navigate the site. They make it easier for users to understand the site’s layout and navigate to selected sub-pages of the site, located in the path.
“Crumb menus” work especially well for large sites where the category tree is heavily developed. The crumb menu is usually placed at the top of the page, so the user has easy access to it.
By using structured data like breadcrumbs, you can strengthen internal linking on the site, improve indexing and make it easier for users to navigate.
Products
These are tags that allow you to provide and display detailed product information in search results. This solution is mainly used for online stores or comparison shopping sites, and is designed to attract users’ attention and encourage them to buy.
It is worth remembering to update the structured data, especially the Product type on product pages, when our offerings change. This will allow us to provide the most up-to-date data to users who are looking for a particular product.
Reviews and ratings
In the case of e-commerce, this is a definite must have. Potential customers often base their purchasing decision on the opinions of other users, so it’s a good idea to show how a product is rated by them and what they think of it.
With the proper implementation of this type of data, the average ratings, number of ratings and reviews will be displayed to users already at the search results level. This will translate directly into an increase in traffic and conversion rate.
FAQ
To satisfy users’ curiosity, it is worth implementing data like FAQ i.e. Frequently Asked Questions on your site. This is the easiest way to answer consumers’ concerns without having to involve the service department.
From 2019, this type of data is officially supported by Google, which means that, properly implemented, it can affect a website’s position in the search engine.
Preparing the content of the FAQ should be carefully analyzed keywords, what queries related to our product most often appear in the search bar, and if we have access to such data – concerns with which users report to the customer service department.
It is also important to remember that the answers contained in the FAQs should not be too elaborate. They should be based on specific information and not exceed 3-4 sentences.
Article
Not only product pages have dedicated structured data for themselves. If you run a blog, you can’t forget about Article data. Thanks to them, pages with posts can appear in search results in a more attractive way.
Article data allows you to display, among other things, the graphics contained in the article and the site’s logo. In addition, the search engine can place a given article in a carousel with the most important articles.
In addition, properly implemented data helps the search engine better understand and read the page, display the publication date and headline text.
Recipe
An equally interesting structured data type is Recipe. It is used by developers posting recipes on their site.
When the data is properly implemented in the search results, users get information about the preparation time of the dish, ratings and opinions of other users and a photo. This definitely enriches the view of a given recipe in the search results, makes it easier for users to get basic information and encourages them to enter the site.
The recipe’s appearance in the search results is also enhanced.
Formats of structured data
There are various data formats to accommodate structured data. These include JSON-LD, RDF and Microdata.
Deciding to implement structured data the way JSON-LD you need to place the appropriate JavaScript code in the <script> tag in the header or body of the page. This is an easy way that does not overload the page and does not interfere with other functions.
RDF is an extension that allows us to mark with tags which content in the code is structured data. It is placed, like JSON-LD in the head or body section of a page.
Microdata is instead placed in the main code of the page, which in some cases can cause errors in the functioning of the page.
How to verify structured data?
Before implementing structured data, it should be thoroughly verified.
There are several tools with which we can test data, but among the most popular are the free one offered by Google https://search.google.com/test/rich-results and https://validator.schema.org/
They are able to verify the script and the correctness of its implementation on the site.
They operate on a similar principle. You need to enter the URL of the specific page you want to check or the code snippet you want to analyze.
They are able to verify the script and its implementation on the site.
Both tools allow us to check any site, so we can also analyze the activities that our competitors are carrying out and take this into account in our own SEO strategy.
Summary
Structured data undoubtedly provides variety in the way a site is displayed in search results and allows the search engine to better identify the site’s content. Keep in mind that Google decides whether and what data will be shown for a given page. However, it is worth taking care to implement them properly to increase the chances of your site displaying attractively in the search engine.
Despite the lack of direct SEO impact of structured data, it improves a site’s appearance in search results and draws users’ attention, which translates into more traffic and encourages them to make a purchase decision or return to the site.
