The role of Structured data in SEO – Fall 2024 – Part2

a man adding schema to his code

Key structured data types to use – Fall 2024

There are a variety of schema types that will be used for various purposes.  Although there are many great tools for creation of these structured data, it always helps if youare familiar with the various types of structured data.

Highlights

Here are the important information discussed in this article:

        • E-commerce Schema Types:
          • Product Schema provides crucial information like price, availability, and reviews, enhancing visibility through rich snippets in SERPs, such as product carousels and review stars.
          • Aggregate Offer Schema allows comparison of prices from multiple vendors, increasing user interaction and sales for marketplace businesses.
        • Informational Schema Types:
          • FAQ Schema surfaces common questions and answers directly in search results, improving user interaction and visibility in voice searches.
          • Question and Answer Schema supports user-generated queries and answers, often used in forums, increasing visibility through Q&A carousels.
        • Events Schema:
          • Used to mark details of physical or virtual events (concerts, webinars), improving visibility in Google’s event-oriented searches. New properties like BroadcastEvent enhance live event presentation.
        • Entity-Based Search:
          • Focuses on how search engines recognize entities (people, places, things) rather than keywords. Schema types like Person, Organization, and SameAs clarify entity relevance and improve indexing in Knowledge Graphs.
        • Speakable Schema:
          • Optimizes content for voice search, enabling devices like Google Assistant to identify parts of a webpage suitable for audio playback.
        • Multimodal Search and Schema:
          • Supports searches using multiple input methods (text, images, voice). Schemas like VideoObject and ImageObject ensure multimedia content is correctly indexed and ranked.
        • Schema Nesting:
          • Helps represent complex relationships within schema, improving rich results by nesting one schema type inside another (e.g., Product within Offer within LocalBusiness).
        • Local SEO Strategies with Schema:
          • Local Business Schema improves visibility by helping search engines understand location, hours, and services. Claiming Google My Business listings and using location-specific content enhance local search rankings.
        • User Experience (UX) and Schema:
          • Schema improves UX by making content more accessible to search engines and users. Schema.org, JSON, and microdata markup help create structured, user-friendly experiences.
        • Technical SEO and Schema:
          • Technical SEO, including schema and mobile optimization, is essential for improving site performance, visibility, and search rankings. Fast loading speeds and a well-structured website enhance user experience.
        • Schema Markup and Metadata:
          • Schema markup and metadata are vital for helping search engines comprehend content context, improving search visibility and user experience.
        • Future of Schema (2025):
          • Schema will become increasingly important, particularly for mobile, voice, and AI-driven search optimization, making it a key strategy for staying competitive.

E-commerce

The Product Schema is essential in business as it provides information on price, availability, and reviews.

This schema affords rich snippets like product carousels and review stars in SERPs, greatly enhancing click-through rates.

Merchant listings (a combination of Product and Offer schema) can be an excellent way for new commercial websites to gain initial visibility and traffic through Google Shopping.

The Aggregate Offer schema is ideal for the marketplace. It allows the representation of various offers from multiple vendors for a single product, thus enabling users to compare prices against their offers.

Informational

FAQ schema allows common questions and answers about the websites to be displayed directly on search results pages.

It is effective for encouraging user interaction, getting succinct answers for conversational queries, and appearing in rich search results and voice searches.

The Question and Answer schema is for pages where users can ask questions, and multiple answers are imparted, commonly found on forums or community-based platforms.

This powers a Q&A carousel that surfaces questions and answers on the SERP, greatly enhancing visibility and CTR for long-tail queries and conversational searches.

Article and WebPage schemas can improve visibility in Google News, Discover, and Top Stories carousels and exposure in voice search. SEO can take advantage of AI-generated content through quality informational content.

Events

Event schema is mainly used to mark details about virtual or physical events such as concerts, conferences, webinars, or local meetups.

Aspects like date, venue, time, ticket availability, and performers are mentioned. This alone is enough to tip the balance and allow control of Google’s event listing, enhancing visibility in Google’s local or event-oriented searches.

The newly supported properties for BroadcastEvent and ScreeningEvent enhance how live events and screenings are presented within the search.

How to use schema

While the below applications aren’t entirely new to SEO, they will gain life and catch the eye of marketers. User behaviors continue to evolve, making schema increasingly critical in conjunction with mobile optimization, among other aspects of current SEO strategies.

Entity-based search

Entity-based search is when search engines favor entities—people, places, things, and concepts—over individual keywords.

Rather than focusing on standalone words and their relationships, search engines now better understand the connections between entities and how they fit into a much broader picture in some instances.

Schemas for Person, Organization, or Place schema can clarify the relevance of an entity, making the way towards indexing the entity in Knowledge Graphs and in entity-based results.

Again, the SameAs schema can help establish that two entities under discussion on a site are the same.

Thus, it can create a relationship between an entity mentioned on a page and an entity discussed on an independent site.

Applying SameAs markup and linking to trusted external sources, such as Wikidata, Wikipedia, or authoritative social media profiles, can strengthen the association and improve recognition and scope in Knowledge Graphs and rich search results.

Speakable for voice search

Speakable schema (in beta at Google) is an essential tool for optimizing content for voice searches. 

It assists search engines in identifying which parts of a webpage are most suitable for audio playback, including devices that use Google Assistant with TTS.

The aim is to deliver concise and precise answers to users’ inquiries in a spoken format. These responses are particularly beneficial for news websites and publishers, as they can highlight important content to be included in voice replies.

Multimodal search

Multimodal search enables users to interact with search engines through various input methods, such as text, images, and voice, sometimes all in one query.

This capability is primarily powered by AI models that handle many data types simultaneously.

Schemas like VideoObject and ImageObject help ensure that multimedia content is accurately interpreted, indexed, and ranked.

Schema nesting

Schema nesting facilitates the representation of more intricate relationships within schema.

By placing one schema type inside another—for instance, a Product schema within an Offer schema, which is then nested within a LocalBusiness schema—detailed information about product availability, pricing, and location can be conveyed.

This allows search engines to grasp individual data points and their connections, resulting in more contextually rich search results, such as specific local availability and offers linked to particular businesses.

Another illustration could be a Recipe schema nested within a HowTo schema, which is further nested within a Person schema.

This indicates that a specific individual (the author or chef) created the recipe, which includes step-by-step instructions for preparing the dish.

The Person schema would encompass the chef’s name, biography, and social media profiles.

The HowTo schema would outline the cooking process, detailing the steps and materials needed.

Recipe schema outlines essential details such as ingredients, preparation time, and nutritional information.

This structure allows search engines to present rich snippets that clearly and neatly showcase the recipe’s creator, ingredients, and cooking instructions.

The main advantages of schema nesting include:

      • Enhanced contextual understanding and improved rich results.
      • Nesting also provides flexibility to cater to various search intents.
      • It enables search engines to prioritize information based on user queries.

Local SEO and Structured Data

Local SEO Strategies

Local SEO is an important component of digital marketing aimed at helping businesses connect with local customers and boost conversions. This process involves optimizing a website for local search engines, AI search tools, and directories, like Google My Business, Perplexity, and Yelp, to help your business stand out locally.

Structured data markup is essential for local SEO. It assists search engines in understanding a business’s location, operating hours, and services offered. Adding structured data to web pages can improve local search rankings and draw in more visitors.

Key local SEO strategies include:

      • Claiming and optimizing Google My Business listings: Ensure your business information is accurate and comprehensive.
      • Building high-quality local citations: Get your business listed in trustworthy local directories.
      • Creating location-specific content: Produce content that caters to the needs and interests of your local audience.
      • Using location-based keywords: Integrate keywords representing your local area to enhance search relevance.
      • Optimizing your website for mobile devices: Make sure your site is mobile-friendly, as many local searches are performed on mobile devices.

By applying these strategies, businesses can boost their local search visibility, increase website traffic, and ultimately drive more conversions.

User Experience (UX) and SEO

Enhancing UX with Structured Data

UX is a crucial element in SEO, as it helps search engines gauge a website’s relevance and authority. By improving UX with structured data, businesses can elevate their website’s ranking and attract more visitors.

Structured data markup helps search engines and AI search tools better understand a website’s content and context, which can significantly enhance both UX and search engine rankings. Common types of structured data markup include:

      • Schema.org markup: A standardized markup language that aids search engines in grasping a website’s content and context.
      • JSON markup: A lightweight markup language that aids search engines in comprehending a website’s content and context is known as JSON-LD markup.
      • Microdata markup serves a similar purpose, helping search engines understand a website’s content and context.

Incorporating structured data markup into a website can enhance user experience (UX) and boost search engine rankings. Effective methods to improve UX with structured data include:

      • Utilizing Schema.org markup for website content: Leverage Schema.org to offer comprehensive details about your content.
      • Employing JSON markup to outline website content: Use JSON for a lightweight and adaptable markup solution.
      • Integrating microdata markup into website content: Embed structured data directly within your HTML using microdata.
      • Adding structured data to your web content is simplified Using Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper tool.

By adopting these strategies, businesses can improve their UX and search engine rankings, which can lead to increased traffic and conversions on their websites.

Technical SEO and Schema

Technical SEO optimizes a website’s technical elements to improve page ranking in SERPs and AI search results. Mobile optimization is a big part of technical SEO, addressing the growing use of mobile internet and ensuring a smooth user experience. Techniques in technical SEO include refining website structure, content, meta tags, mobile-friendly design, and providing fast loading speeds. Schema, or schema markup, is a piece of code that assists search engines in understanding a website’s content and context. By supplying detailed information such as business hours, reviews, and events, the schema allows search engines to deliver more precise and relevant search results. Implementing technical SEO and Schema is vital for enhancing a website’s performance and search rankings.

Schema Markup and Metadata

Schema markup and metadata are essential in helping search engines and AI search tools to comprehend the content and context of a website. Schema markup adds extra details about a site’s content, such as business hours, reviews, and events, which can improve how search engines present this information in search results. Metadata, which includes title, description, and keyword tags, offers insights into a website’s structure and content. Effectively utilizing schema markup and metadata can enhance visibility and rankings in SERPs, making it easier for users to discover relevant information.

Maximize your search optimization with schema.

Schema is already a vital component of SEO success for both large and small websites. Mobile optimization is critical to addressing the growing use of mobile internet and ensuring a smooth user experience, essential for achieving high search engine rankings. Optimizing search queries, particularly voice search-related ones, boosts relevance and engagement in search results.

With hundreds of schema types, numerous Google SERP features, and the rise of AI and voice search applications, its significance is set to increase in 2025. A well-crafted SEO strategy that adapts to these developments is fundamental for maintaining a competitive advantage.

As all search platforms evolve, thoughtfully and creatively utilizing schema can offer a substantial competitive edge, enabling visibility in current features and preparing for future opportunities.

Dream Warrior Group, a Los Angeles-based web design and digital marketing Company, provides solutions for your online marketing needs. Our expertise includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Posts and marketing, and Google PPC campaigns. Call us now at 818.610.3316 or click here.