Structured Data
Structured data is a very useful tool that allows us to tell search engine crawlers more about our website. By coding a site with structured data, we can tell the search engine what we are talking about whether it is a place, person, event, etc. Even the best content can still confuse spiders because they don’t read the same way as humans do. Also, we know that spiders are unable to read videos and images. We help spiders know exactly what know exactly what they are looking at by using structured data. Here is a brief article explaining more about structured data and how to use it on your website.
There are several types of structured data, but the three big search engines (Google, Yahoo! and Bing) have all come up with a form called schema.org which they all read. This is basically a universal language that allows use to tell major spiders what exactly our page is about. Schema.org has a library of markups that you can use on your page. They tell you exactly how to use markup and have a searchable directory that helps find the type of markup you need.
Google also provides a structured data tool which allows you to upload your code or simply enter your URL to add markup to your code. When you are finished, it creates the new code with markup for you.
Once you have markup added to your site, it is a great idea to test it to make sure it is doing the work that you want it to do. Google also provides a markup testing tool that allows you to see which rich snippets your markup will generate.
Structured data is a great tool that is solving the continual problem of search engines reading your web pages correctly.
