Google and other search engines like Bing encourage website owners and webmasters to use structured data providing significant benefits to sites that make structured data work right. Some of these benefits include content-specific features and search engine results enhancements. But how does structured data help SEO? Why should you consider having it for your site?
If you are still not using a structured data testing tool for your online project, it is the right time to change your mind and go for structured data. Thus, you will get a whole pack of benefits. Some of these include better positions in search results and some content-specific features such as:
- Advanced search results — design, images, and other visual improvements;
- Rich cards — a search results format based on Rich snippets, which is more suitable for mobile search results;
- Generalized search results — covers user engagement as well as interactive features;
- Knowledge Graph — information about an organization, company, or a brand;
- Breadcrumbs — a navigation chain that helps site visitors understand its structure better;
- Carousel — a set of several search results in the form of a carousel;
- Advanced search results for AMP — stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. For your site to appear in carousels and with advanced search results, you need to include structured data in your online project.
Advanced search results can also increase click-through rates (CTR) and drive additional traffic as they are visually more attractive and provide additional information for search engines. A high CTR can indirectly improve your rankings as it signals popularity with the user.
How to Use Structured Data on My Site?
Using structured data sounds pretty complicated, especially if you do not have Google certifications, but anyone can do it. First, you must get the required code, adapt it to the tech specs of your project, and use the Google Tag Manager.
Even if you cannot write a code yourself, you can always use a plugin. Many structured data markups can also be added to your site by dint of specific plugins. And you don’t need to write any code to get this rich snippet; just use this plugin, fill in some details, and the rest will be done by the solution. There are many plugins to help you use structured data without having to write any code. Some of the most popular ones are All-in-One Schema.org Rich Snippets, WP Rich Snippets, Schema App Structured Data, etc.
Structured Data Validation Tools
Many utilities can help you validate structured data or rich results and improve the way your page appears on SERPs. Structured data validation tools allow you to get an idea of the page content that search engines see:
- the format of the structured data on the page;
- possible bugs;
- potential micro-markup issues.
Some validators can also detect the permalink setting and display information regarding the structure, define taxonomies and custom post types, check data formats that are supported by Google, Bing, and other search engines.
Final Say!
Structured data is one of many SEO tactics that help promote a site in search engines by highlighting specific information. Optimizing your content to create rich SERPs will drive more organic traffic, clicks, and better conversions to your site. Use it wisely!
