What is structured data
Structured data is a standardized way of conveying information. You essentially place your information into a kind of framework. This framework is the same across the entire internet. This uniformity gives search engines the chance to process the information in the SERP.
For example, you have frequently asked questions. By providing these as structured data, Google can pick them up and display them in the results. That’s why structured data is important for AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). Think of recipes too: what are the steps to follow and the ingredients? We can pour a lot of information into one fixed format.
How does structured data work
Google uses structured data to better understand the content of a page. You provide structured data itself in the JSON-LD format (recommended). Additionally, you can receive special displays with the help of structured data.
Structured data is an extra functionality for pages. It is not intended for you to create empty pages that only contain structured data.
Structured data example:
It looks very technical, but there is definitely a lot of structure in it.
How do you add structured data to your website?
As you can see in the example above, structured data is wrapped in a special <script> tag. You include that in the <head> tag of your website. That quickly sounds very technical. However, depending on the technology you use to build your website, you can add this with a plugin. If you work in pure HTML, you probably know how and where the <head> tag is located.
You can also easily implement structured data via Google Tag Manager. No experience with Tag Manager? No problem. We’ll explain exactly what Google Tag Manager is and how to use it.
How do you add structured data in WordPress?
In WordPress, you can also work with the Javascript implementation. Although with most SEO plugins you can also add structured data without technical knowledge. That makes implementation easier and much more interesting for entrepreneurs with limited knowledge.
The importance of structured data
Structured data brings uniformity. This enables you to talk directly to Google. Since the content on every website across the entire internet is the same. This way, Google can perfectly deduce what your page is about.
This allows you to come across as more relevant and thus score more and higher in Google. Additionally, you make it easier for visitors to find the right information. And that happens to be Google’s mission.
Does structured data have an impact on SEO?
There is no direct correlation between adding structured data and higher positions in Google. However, your result does stand out more. As a result, your CTR increases and you can rise a few positions over time.
Types of structured data
There are many different types of structured data. Each type has unique properties.
Article
A news, sports, or blog article. You can provide extra details such as the author, date of publication, titles, and images. With this extra data, you stand a chance of being included in the “Top stories” section on the SERP.
Book
Extra information that helps searchers buy a specific book. Think of the author, name of the book, and a URL with extra information.
Breadcrumbs
These handy little elements help with navigation within your website. You can also use breadcrumbs to give more structure to your appearance in the SERP.
Add breadcrumbs as structured data and as a visible element. It’s a handy tool for your visitors to navigate through your website.
Carousel
In a carousel, you can bundle multiple recipes, courses, restaurants, or movies. They then appear bundled in the search engines. This allows you to draw extra attention to different elements.
A practical example is, for instance, an overview of various pasta recipes. You can then quickly show the different recipes in one carousel.
Course
This type of structured data gives immediate access to the title, instructor, and a small description of the course. Directly in the SERP. This helps your visitor quickly navigate to the right course.
Event
With event structured data, you make your event available in the events overview. You can easily add your concert, event, festival, or exhibition. You can include details such as location, name, date, description, status, price, organizer, artists, and an extra image.
Fact check
A quick display of whether a claim is right or wrong. This helps people quickly get an answer to a question like “is the earth flat?”. The fact check comes in handy here as you can quickly show that this is not true.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) must use
You can now also easily include frequently asked questions in the search engines. Visitors can then view your questions and answers immediately in the search engine. Very useful on your FAQ page, but certainly not to be forgotten in blog articles.
How-to
This handy form of structured data shows visitors a step-by-step explanation for performing a task. You can include text, images, and even videos to help your visitor get started quickly.
Job posting
An open vacancy can get extra visibility with a job posting. This gives you a chance to appear in “Google for Jobs”. Here too, you can include a lot of relevant information such as a description, your company, the job location, position, salary, …
Local business must use
Probably the most useful type in this list. This type allows you to display relevant information about your local business. When we implement this type correctly, we quickly see improvements in local searches.
SEO for small businesses is a handy tool, especially if customers need to visit physically. Also, don’t forget to fully set up your Google Business Profile for even more visibility.
Logo
The logo of your organization. A small feature that makes your logo more visible.
Movie
Shows an image, name, review, director, and the date the movie was made. This way, visitors get to see the most important information about your movie right from the search engine.
Have multiple movies? Use this in combination with a Carousel.
Product structured data for your webshop
This is an important one, especially for webshops. Thanks to this type, you show the most important product information directly in the search engine. You can display the name, reviews, brand, description, image, stock, and even discounts in the search engines.
It’s important for webshops to set this data correctly for every product. In WordPress, you can have this happen automatically with an SEO plugin.
Question & Answer (Q&A)
The name speaks for itself. You can quickly show questions with corresponding answers. This always concerns one question with one corresponding answer. Quick and easy for you and your visitor.
Recipe
A recipe contains a lot of information. By structuring this information well, we can also stand out in Google. You can add details such as an image, name, duration, ingredients, and even videos to help your visitor further.
This type of structured data offers many possibilities and can contain a lot of information. Have multiple recipes? Then this type is extra interesting in combination with a carousel.
Review
Google reviews are very important. This structured data brings that information extra to the attention. You get to see a number of stars next to your search result in the SERP.
Video
The last type contains information about a video. With this, you can divide videos into chapters, make it possible to watch the video, and live stream it. An interesting feature if you often work with videos. Discover why structured data is also an important part of your video SEO.
Generate structured data easily & quickly
Use our generator. That way, you can be sure you don’t make mistakes, include all data, and your website qualifies for rich results.
Where do you add which structured data?
It’s important to see structured data as a supplement to existing content. It makes it easier for search engines to display already existing content clearly.
You can therefore add multiple types of structured data to one page. For example, you can often combine breadcrumbs with an article type.
Just make sure you choose the right type for the right job. This contributes to a user-friendly whole. That will certainly benefit your SEO.
Structured data generator
Since structured data is quite technical, we have developed an application for this that allows you to generate the right structured data in just a few clicks. This way, you can be sure you don’t place errors on your website.
Checking your structured data
To be really sure, it’s best to have your page & structured data checked by Google itself. With the rich results test, big G itself checks if your website qualifies. Enter your URL or code directly into the tool and click “Test URL”.
