What is Structured Data? A Beginner’s Guide

Structured Data in its simplest sense is an organized way of communicating information. It helps in becoming a rich result in Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP)

What is a rich result?

Rich Results are those results that highlight the key information of a website. They help the search engine understand what information the page is carrying. They also help in boosting your website’s traffic. It helps in making Google display our website before the traditional search result and on the first page. They are rich results because they are more understandable for Google and provide relevant information to the users.

They capture the audience’s attention more as they look catchy and provide more relevant information. They work well with Voice Search as well as help read out the snippet from our content, which looks more catchy to the user. A rich result is beneficial because it has these benefits but also provides technical benefits that help rank better and look good to Google’s algorithm.

Why should you use structured data on your website?

Structure data has become a crucial part of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This means Structured Data helps pages rank better in SERP or Search Engine Results Pages. This helps boost traffic for your website and more lead conversions. It also shows an increment in the company’s credibility.

These search results can help improve your click-through rate (CTR) because they are appealing to the audience and provide additional and relevant information to searchers. Improved CTR directly results in improved rankings.

Why do we hear phrases like Markup with Structured Data?

Markup means a computing language, like HTML. HTML helps in arranging information on a website with codes, something the visitor can’t see. When we say “Marking up structured data” it means creating a structured data code.

When can we start seeing our Structured Data?

Most of the time even if mentioned in the markup language one cannot see their structured data, as it won’t happen until Google recrawls the website. It all depends on Google if it finds the information relevant to show it; even if we enable structured data it doesn’t guarantee that it will be shown. The Google algorithm tailors the search result according to what it thinks users will understand best.

What are the features of Structured Data?

• Rich Search Results
• Rich Cards
• Enriched Search Results
• Carousels
• Featured Snippets

How to Add Structured Data to Your Website

1. Open Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper
2. Select your data type and enter the URL: Make sure your Website Tab is open, and choose the type of data you want to like in the HTML markup. Plug the webpage URL/HTML code and click “Start Tagging.”
3. Assign data tags and highlight the page elements: When the tool panel loads, see the webpage on the left side and data items to your right. Highlight different elements of your webpage and assign data tags such as name, author, and date published. There is a tool that will suggest different data tags for different types of data. Once you assign the data tags, you’ll see information pop up under “My Data Tags” on the right side. If you missed a tag, you can add it by clicking on “Add Missing Tags”.
4. Create the HTML: Once you have finished tagging and assigning data. Click Create HTML in the upper right-hand corner.
5. Add the schema markup to your page: On the right side, the tool automatically produces the script as JSON-LD markup. Click “Download” to download the script as an HTML file. Publish your markup by clicking on “Publish” and paste the new HTML markup into the CMS or source code of your web page. Click “Finish” in the top right corner.
6. Test your markup by using Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool: Open up Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool. Enter the URL of the page you want to test, or you can enter the HTML code. Click “Run Test” to begin.
7. Fix if any issues: This tool will show you your HTML markup on the left side and the markup analysis on the right. If necessary, edit any errors directly in the tool panel before “publishing” the test HTML markup.

Frequently Asked Questions