SMX West 2020 - Leveraging Structured Data for Maximum Effect

@abbynhamilton
Leveraging Structured
Data & Schema.org
For Maximum Effect

@abbynhamilton
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org/",
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Abby Hamilton",
"jobTitle": "SEO Associate Manager",
"worksFor": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Merkle"
},
"sameAs": [
"https://twitter.com/abbynhamilton",
"https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigailnhamilton/"
]
}
</script>
Abby Hamilton
SEO Associate Manager
Merkle Inc.

@abbynhamilton
Structured data:
information with a high
degree of organization

@abbynhamilton
It looks
confusing...
{
"@context": "http://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://google.com/article"
},
"headline": "Article headline",
"image": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://google.com/thumbnail1.jpg",
"height": 800,
"width": 800
},
"datePublished": "2015-02-05T08:00:00+08:00",
"dateModified": "2015-02-05T09:20:00+08:00",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "John Doe"
},
"publisher": {

@abbynhamilton
But, so is
English.
It can be understood
through tough
thorough thought,
though.

@abbynhamilton
Structured
data formats
information in
a way bots
can easily
understand
<p>Elon Musk ownsTesla
Motors</p>
Structured DataUnstructured Data
ItemType: Person
Name: Elon Musk
Owns:
Organization:Tesla Motors
@alexissanders

@abbynhamilton
Using Schema.org vocabulary
Item type: Event
name: SMX West
startDate: 2018-04-26
endDate: 2018-04-26
Type:
Property:

@abbynhamilton
Implemented with a markup syntax
Structured DataUnstructured Data
< >
JSON-LD
Microdata
Microformats
RDFa
Markup Types
@alexissanders

@abbynhamilton
JSON-LD vs. Microdata
63%
40%
22%
45%
Structured Data JSON-LD Microdata RDFa
Top 100K search queries (by SV)
~21K URLs | ~6.4K Domains
JSON-LD Microdata
What is it?
Embedded
<script> tag
In-line HTML
annotations
Support
@maxxeight @brightedge

@abbynhamilton
Google recommends JSON-LD
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/intro-structured-data

@abbynhamilton

“We don’t use
Schema.org as a quality
factor”
@johnmu
John Mueller
Google

@abbynhamilton
Top 2020 SEO Initiatives
@alexissanders

@abbynhamilton

“Schema helps us
understand the content on
the page”
@methode
Gary Illyes
Google

@abbynhamilton
Structured Data
Powers Rich
Results

@abbynhamilton
Google
Supported
Markups
Article Local Business
Breadcrumb Logo
Book Movie
Carousel Occupation
Course Product
Critic review Q&A
Dataset Recipe
Employer Rating Review snippet
Event Sitelinks searchbox
Fact Check Software App
FAQ Speakable
How-to Subscription content
Job Posting Video
JobTraining

@abbynhamilton
Stand out in the SERP

@abbynhamilton
Rich results = higher CTR (in most cases)
Website Vertical Types Rich Results CTR Overall CTR Difference
#1 E-commerce 6.5% 4.7% + 1.8
#2 E-commerce 3.3% 1.8% + 1.5
#3 E-commerce 3.0% 2.2% + 0.8
#4 E-commerce 2.7% 2.5% + 0.2
#5 E-commerce 2.4% 3.8% - 1.4
#6 E-commerce 2.2% 1.6% + 0.6
#7 Health 4.6% 2.6% + 2.0
#8 Entertainment 3.9% 3.0% + 0.9
#9 Food 3.1% 1.9% + 1.2
#10 Travel 2.7% 2.1% + 0.6

@abbynhamilton
Rich results can impact a number of KPIs
Reviews
+3.6 CTR
E-commerce
How-to
+27% clicks
Food
Article
+16% clicks
Health
Product
+15% revenue
E-commerce
Video
+23% plays
Health
Recipe
+101% sessions
Health

@abbynhamilton
Transparency doesn’t always = traffic
No markup
InStock OutOfStock
4.5%
3.8%
CTR by Item Availability
In Stock  Higher CTR
Out of Stock Snippets  Lower CTR
5 Star Ratings  Higher CTR
Less than 3 Star Ratings  Lower CTR
More Reviews  Higher CTR
>50 Reviews  diminishing returns
@melpetulla @kgblanchette

@abbynhamilton
Strategic
Implemtation
IDENTIFY
VALIDATE
IMPLEMENT
MONITOR
@aleyda

@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Identify

Check for existing markup
HOW TO:
1. Configuration > Spider >
Extraction > Structured Data
2. Check:
 JSON-LD
 Microdata
 RDFa
3. Launch crawl

https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/search-gallery
Explore Google’s search gallery
 
Entertainment
Get Started
Filter by industry Explore features Get more details

Review Google’s guidelines
General
guidelines
+
Feature specific
guidelines

Review Google’s guidelines
Don't mark up
content that is not
visible to readers
of the page

Review item properties (especially required)
Required
Properties
Recommended
Properties

Check what competitors are using
HOW TO:
Download the
Structured Data
Testing Chrome
extension

Implement

https://technicalseo.com/tools/schema-markup-generator/
Schema Markup Generator (beginner)
HOW TO:
1. Select ItemType
2. Fill-in-the-blank
3. Validate

Reverse engineer (intermediate)
HOW TO:
1. Navigate to feature
guide
2. ‘See Markup’
3. Replace values
4. Validate

Schema.org (overachievers)
http://schema.org/
docs/full.html

Select a type & review properties

Pay attention to ‘Expected Type’

Data types = no nesting required
"endDate": "2020-02-05",
"performer": {
"@type": "MusicGroup",
"name": "The Living Street ",
"genre": "Folk Rock"
},

Item Types = NEST
"endDate": "2020-02-05",
"performer": {
"name": "The Living Street ",
"genre": "Folk Rock",
"member": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Edward J. Angelo"
}
},

{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"name": "The Living Street",
"member": {
"@type": "Person",
}
}
</script>
Syntax
Beginning
End
Type
Properties
Type
Properties

{
"member": {
"@type": "Person",
}
}
</script>
Text strings are contained in quotes
“” are not the
same as ""

{
"member": {
"@type": "Person",
}
}
</script>
Comma = more information to come
Don’t add a
comma after
the last
property

VALIDATE

Structured Data Testing Tool

Rich Results Test

MONITOR

Monitor GSC for Errors
Breadcrumb Logo
Dataset Product
Event Q&A page
FAQ Recipe
Fact check Sitelinks searchbox
How-to Video
Job posting
Search Console provides reports for:

Stay up-to-date with changes
Depreciated New Updated

@abbynhamilton
Share these #SMXInsights on your social channels!
• Overall, structured data = higher CTR through rich results
• Make your content stand out in the SERP
• Leveraging tools makes implementation easy
• But mistakes still happen, remember to validate & monitor
• Help search engines understand your content
• Explore marking up additional schema.org item types and properties

@abbynhamilton
SEE YOU AT THE NEXT SMX!
Abby Hamilton
SEO Associate Manager, Merkle Inc.
@abbynhamilton
linkedin.com/in/abigailnhamilton/

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