What is Structured Data? A Beginner’s Guide


This is what structured data is, how Google uses it for rich results, and why it can help boost traffic.

This is an introduction to Schema.org structured data that explains what structured data is, in plain English. Once you finish reading this you should have a better idea of what structured data is and how it can benefit you.

The goal is to demystify Schema.org structured data.

Definition of Structured Data

In the most general sense, Structured Data is information (data) that is organized (structured). Organized information is basically what structured data is.

A major purpose of structured data is to communicate specific information about a web page so that it becomes eligible to be displayed as a rich result in Google’s search results.

Meaning of “Marking Up” Structured Data

When dealing with structured data you’re going to hear phrases like, “marking up structured data” and “structured data markup.”

“Marking up” structured data means creating the structured data code.

Markup means a computing language. HTML is a markup language.

HTML organizes the web page content that a site visitor sees and the code that helps the browser display that web page (code that the site visitor does not see).

The HTML also contains informational content meant for search engines. That content is called Meta Data.

Structured Data is a Markup Language

Structured data is a markup language, too. Like HTML, structured data communicates content (data) in an organized manner so that search engines can display the content in an attractive manner.

Similar to the meta description element in HTML, structured data is also a form of meta data.

Meta data is information that is not directly seen by site visitors. The content in structured data is seen by search engines.

Structured data makes it easy for search engines to understand what images and content are about and to accurately display that content in the search results.

Examples of the kind of data that is organized by structured data is the name of a product, review content, ratings, and images.

Structured data allows a publisher to label the name of a product, review content, ratings and images for search engines.

With structured data, search engines don’t have to use algorithms to know that something is a product image. Structured data tells them it’s a product image.

An image is labeled as a product image, specific words are labeled as a product review, etc.

Rules Are Necessary For Organizing Information

In order to organize something, one needs rules. When organizing the laundry, we sort the clothes by color.

Sorting by color is an example of a rule for organizing something.

Libraries organize books in alphabetical order by topic. Organization by topic and alphabet is also a rule used to organize.

Similarly, structured data has simple rules for how the information (data) is organized (structured).

Schema.org and Structured Data

The official website for structured data is Schema.org. Schema.org is the organization that creates the rules that are used to organize information that is on publisher websites.

There are two groups in Schema.org that are in charge of developing the structured data protocol, the Steering Group and the larger Community Group.

The community group does the main work of discussing, proposing, creating and updating structured data. The Steering Group, a smaller group, manages the entire process.

Google’s Relation to Structured Data

Google publishes developer pages, support pages, that are about Structured Data. These pages are are focused on describing which structured data publishers should use in order to qualify for rich results in Google’s search result pages (aka SERPs).

Google doesn’t define what structured data is. Google defines which structured data it uses for the purpose of showing different kinds of rich results.

The focus of Google’s developer pages is limited to the context of rich results.

Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller recently remarked that he thought it was a shame that the documentation was limited to the context of rich results.

He suggested that using structured data that does not result in rich results but helps to communicate what the web page is about could be useful.

But he also cautioned that it’s easy to go overboard by marking up information that does not help Google understand what the page is about.

Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/this-is-structured-data/379148/

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