As a business owner, you understand the importance of getting your website to appear for relevant search queries in order to generate more leads and sales. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving visibility on major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. While SEO can become complex over time, one tactic that often gets overlooked is the use of structured data to boost search visibility.
Structured data helps search engines better understand the content on your pages so they can serve up more relevant results to users. This means when someone performs a query related to what’s on your page, there’s a greater chance it will be displayed prominently in the SERPs (search engine result pages).
Here’s an overview of the role structured data plays in SEO and how it can contribute to greater search visibility—something reputable companies like Nth Degree are experts at.
What exactly is structured data?
Structured data presents a way for webmasters to provide additional information about their content to search engine bots. It’s typically written using HTML markup or JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) format, both of which are easily read by the crawlers that index websites across the web. This extra layer of detail helps identify and differentiate between various elements on each page, such as headings and paragraphs, images, videos and more.
How does structured data benefit SEO?
Using structured data allows search engines to understand what each part of your webpage contains. This helps search algorithms index and serve up relevant results to users based on their query. For example, if your page contains a recipe, adding structured data with the necessary information (cooking time, ingredients list, etc.) ensures your content is more likely to appear in recipes-related searches.
Structured data also provides opportunities for rich snippets and featured snippets in SERPs. Rich snippets are pieces of code that inform search engines about specific types of content so they can display it differently than normal webpages listed in organic results. These can come in many forms, including reviews, images, video thumbnails, etc.—all of which provide more engaging results to searchers looking for specific answers or products online.
Featured snippets are even better because they appear at the top of SERPs, providing an even greater chance of capturing users’ attention and potential click-throughs.
How to implement structured data in your SEO strategy
To take advantage of structured data, you need to create or update your website’s HTML schema markup with the appropriate information. It’s best practice to use Google’s recommended Structured Data Markup Helper, a tool that helps identify which pieces of content need more detail for better understanding by search engine crawlers. This utility takes you through a step-by-step process where you can select specific page elements to be marked up and then generate the code necessary for each item.
It’s also important to stay on top of the latest SEO trends and updates. Google often releases new features and changes its algorithm, so make sure to keep your structured data in line with their guidelines. In addition, review your marked-up content regularly to ensure everything is accurate and updated.
The bottom line
Including structured data into your SEO strategy can help improve search visibility for relevant queries related to your content. With web crawlers having an easier time understanding what’s on each page, you can ensure more relevant results are being served up in SERPs and increase traffic from organic searches as a result.
Structured data also provides opportunities to get featured at the top of SERP listings, giving you even greater exposure to potential customers. Using it is a great way to make sure your content is properly indexed and ranked by search engines, giving you the chance to get more eyeballs on your website.
While it may take some additional effort upfront to create the correct markup, taking this step can pay off in increased visibility, traffic and conversions long-term. Start optimising your SEO with structured data today and reap the rewards!
