Structured Data and the New Face of Google SERPs
With over 200 factors playing a part in Google’s algorithm, developing a successful SEO strategy has always been complex. But now, as Google strives to improve the quality of their search results, we’re finding that some of tried and true strategies are falling off the grid and new ones are taking their place.
One example of this is structured data. If you want to stay ahead of the game in search engine optimization, understanding structured data markup and how it influences results is key for building, and keeping, your SEO momentum.
Here’s what you need to know.
What Is Structured Data and How Does It Influence SERPs Today?
Structured data allows search engines to not only crawl your site, but really understand it. It the simplest sense, it’s a way of bridging the communication gap between humans and technology.
Structured data is the additional information that appears next to a website and meta description. It tells search engines more about your business so that it can produce SERPs that are more targeted and relevant user’s search queries.
To understand how important this is, picture a desk that’s overcrowded with sticky notes. Every bit of information on those pieces of paper is important, but it’s too disorganized to make much sense of it. You might get a general idea by glancing at it, but you’ll likely miss some key details because they’re buried beneath the surface.
This is what search engines deal with every day. They need to crawl and pull out the most relevant information about a website, but when it’s a cluttered mess the results aren’t going to be as good as they could be.
Structured data streamlines this process and makes sure your site comes up in the right search results. With a combination of rising competition in the digital marketplace and increased user expectations, SERP features like structured data are more important than ever.
Google’s Knowledge Graph and Its Role in SERPs
So, with the increased importance of structured data for search engine optimization, Google needs a way to take all this information and build it into one cohesive picture. If you’re not already familiar with it, let us introduce you to Google’s knowledge graph.
The knowledge graph is Google’s systematic system of putting everything they know together and creating interconnected results that are more accurate for search queries. Millions of pieces of data are collected about keywords and what the intent is behind those keywords.
The results a way for users to get information about people, places and facts that are interconnected in way that wasn’t possible before.
How does this help your business? You get connected with an audience that more likely to become invested in your brand. Think of Google and the knowledge graph as the ultimate matchmaker looking to connect two people that are perfect for each other but wouldn’t have met otherwise.
What Structured Data Does for Your Business
The entire concept of structured data is too large to narrow down into such a short article, but let’s get straight to the point and talk about what focusing on it does for your business.
Structured data helps search engines better understand your content, but it’s more than that. For example, structure data helps you become an answer to voice searches and appear in rich results for accelerated mobile pages.
The fact is, digital marketing and SEO is changing fast. Optimizing structured data keeps you at the top of the game.
Want to know about why structured data is important for your digital presence? Contact Ola Moana Marketing, for our expert SEO services and let us help you.