STRUCTURE DATA IN WEB DEVELOPMENT

So-called structured data can provide the search engines with additional information about the content on the website. With the help of this, the search engine crawlers can be supported in interpreting and assigning the content to the search queries. This improves the visibility in the following and can push your own ranking. The data can consist, for example, of opening times, address details, videos, pictures, shop items, guides, recipes, articles or knowledge databases. The web development services in Lahore   are the best provider website services. However, it is not always easy for the search engine bot to recognize what type of data is involved.



For example, the codes can be used to precisely tell the crawlers:

·         that a particular file is an image

·         that there is an apple in the picture

·         that the numbers on the contact page are the phone number

·         that other numbers are opening times

·         that the text contains a recipe

·         and much more

The scheme

The structuring of data follows a certain scheme. According to this, the content of the website is also made available to the search engines with on-page SEO. In 2011 the open source project Schema.org was jointly developed by the major search engines Google, Bing, Yahoo and Yandex. The aim of this project is to develop a common labeling method that makes the interpretation of websites better and more resource-efficient. With Schema.org a general dictionary with common vocabulary was finally created, through which online content of various kinds can be categorized. The vocabulary can be viewed by anyone on the Schema.org website.

Markup languages

A language can only be understood if the individual words are correctly linked with one another according to grammatical rules. With Schema.org an extensive and functioning reference work for markups has emerged, but this is only practically usable if the individual variables are also related to one another. In the case of structured data, this can be implemented using the annotations (markup languages). You can choose from JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa. Each one of them is characterized by its own properties and different possibilities.

JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data)

JSON-LD is the youngest but already the most common markup language. This language is supported by the search engine giant Google itself, as some special features (published in the Google Developers Portal) can only be used with JSON-LD. This markup language is also used by Bing and the Chinese search engine Baldu. A particular advantage of this markup language is its independence from the rest of the source code. The code is practically only placed on top of the page code, in that it is placed in the <head> area of ​​an HTML document and is therefore independent of changes, such as the page template.

RDFa

With this markup language, in contrast to the previous one, the structured data is stored decentrally in several sections of the page content and not combined in one block. The existing HTML elements are supplemented with so-called HTML5 extensions and expanded with additional information.

Microdata

Microdata works in a similar way to RDFa. However, this markup language is considered obsolete and will no longer be further developed. However, a few websites continue to use it, as, for example, the Russian search engine Yandex only supports this language in addition to RDFa.

What is structured data for?

In addition to website name, meta description and URL, the search results of the search engines can be supplemented with further parameters, which in the following then result in rich results (also called rich snippets) from snippets. In this case, the snippets are supplemented by the excellent information of the structured data. Since more information encourages more frequent clicks, structured data definitely improves the click rate and this can lead to higher sales in an online shop, for example. Common additions to the snippets are, for example, item prices, ratings, images or even event locations. Enrichments make the search results in the following not only more informative, but also larger in terms of area, which means that they are noticed more quickly on the search results page.

Markups of the types Recipe and Article are particularly useful because search engines often display them in separate boxes at the top of the search results page. Structured data is essential for the spaces in the boxes. Structured data is also necessary for rich results, but is not a guarantee.

Advantages of structured data on mobile devices

If, for example, recipes are provided with images using structured data, they appear in the so-called carousels. The carousels, which were originally only developed for the mobile search area, display information with high-quality images in the upper area of ​​the search results page. The convenience lies in the fact that you can go through the results with a simple swipe.

The rich cards are similar, but they are used more for image-heavy content such as films.

When using carousels for commercial purposes, it should be noted that they are not based on structured data, but only on the basis of paid advertising (SEA).

Technical implementation of structured data

In principle, it must be ensured that certain framework conditions are adhered to. For example, it is important to only mark up unique, self-created content. Furthermore, certain technical aspects are important, for example the crawlers must not be blocked so that the websites can also be indexed by the search engines. The most common mistakes in labeling are listed below.

Error 1: Content that is invisible to the user

Content that is not visible to human users should not be marked. It must be evident in the search engine results where the advertised content can be found on the website. In the case of mobile websites, however, there are exceptions in favor of usability. This means that content can be labeled that is in tabs or toggles, for example, even if it is only displayed when you click it. However, the content must of course be indexable and readable for the crawlers.

Mistake 2: Misleading or inappropriate content

When creating structured data, the correct classification of the awards is of great importance. For example, a shoe in an online shop may not be declared as an outdoor accessory or a package tour may not be declared as a concert event. An imprecise designation of products should also be avoided. The term “essential equipment for the outdoor experience” is not permitted for a tent, for example. A more precise description of the product, model and properties such as size or color is necessary here.

Error 3: Domain-wide labeling of review content that comes from third parties.

In the case of ratings or reviews, this is especially true if they are displayed in a third-party widget that is visible on every subpage of your own domain. For example, an overall rating of the company, which can be seen on all sub-pages via a widget, would be assigned to each individual point. The markup for ratings always marks the main content of a page. Such an approach should be avoided because it is considered misleading and will be rated as spam. In the case of third-party reviews, a link should be used to identify where the reviews come from.

 

Practical tools for labeling with structured data

Valuable tips and explanations are offered on Google Developer Tools, for example, but currently only in English. We also recommend the “Schema Markup Generator (JSON-LD) from Technicalseo.com. With the help of this tool, the code can be easily generated and inserted into your own website using copy-and-paste. With the “test tool for structured data” from Google, already implemented codes, snippets of them and entire URLs can be tested. In addition, the source code of every URL can be checked for structured data in the web browser with the help of a JavaScript bookmark. For this purpose, a new bookmark is created in which the following code is inserted instead of the URL:

javascript:(function(){window.open('https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing tool/u/0/#url='+encodeURIComponent (location.href))}) () ;

Click on the bookmark to open this page in the Google test tool. The plug-ins for various CMS systems are particularly practical. The WordPress plug-in “Schema App Structured Data” is one example of this. This only has to be installed and does its work in the background below. Small difficulties, such as the fact that the language cannot be entered correctly under <href>, can usually be corrected quickly and added to the code.

The future of structured data

Google updates its search algorithm regularly. For example, the speak able content was added as a criterion. This marks sections of text on a website that are best suited for audio playback using speech output and that can be read out on devices. Google Assistant uses the structured speak able data, for example, to answer search queries about current news on intelligent loudspeakers.

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