How does Structured Data Relate to Google Rich Snippets?

Structured Data influences when rich snippets show up in the Google SERP but just how much influence does schema data have? Before we get into the meat of the question, it’s worth firstly exploring each concept on its own.

What is Structured or Schema Data?

Structured data and schema data are both used interchangeably but effectively mean the same thing. Structured data is a way for the search engines to better understand the world wide web. Google, Bing, Yahoo and Yandex have all come together to support this project. There are many different forms of structured data, and the detail behind each can be found at schema.org A full hierarchy of schema data can be found here. The core vocabulary of structured data all fits within one overarching vocabulary type, and that’s known as a thing. Every other type of schema fits under a thing.

What is a Rich Snippet?

A rich snippet is a valuable piece of real estate found on the Google search results page. It’s often a table of information answering a specific question that a user has asked within the Google search box? The beauty of a rich snippet is that the question is answered directly within the SERP. Most of the time the user doesn’t even need to visit an external website as the answer is presented on the search results page. The best thing about a rich snippet is that your click-through rate to the actual website goes through the roof. A user is much more likely to click on a rich snippet due to the massive amount of real estate they take up on the page.

Only specific schema content types qualify for a rich snippet. CreativeWork is a schema.org type definition that is capable of generating a rich snippet. Some qualifying content types include articles, local businesses, music, recipes, reviews, TV and movies, and videos.

How Do You Mark Up Your Web Content?

The Google Structured Data testing tool is a great place to start. You can run your website through this tool to check whether the structured data you are using on your site is working correctly. But realistically, before you start using this tool, it helps to understand the basics of schema data. Google is one of the best places to learn more about rich snippets and structured data. They are now saying that J-SON LD is their preferred choice for Structured Data. There are a few options available. Another popular choice is Microdata. Try this website learn the basics of structured data from Google.

Structured data is a necessary element to include in the coding of your website if you want to generate a rich snippet in the Google SERP. It’s often not the only aspect but is an important ingredient needed to generate a rich snippet for your website. Make sure you use the appropriate schema.org type definition as only certain types of scheme data quality for a rich snippet. To learn more, you can take a look at the basics of structured data link above.

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