Schema.org – Not just for improving CTR but for SEO too

by Prejushya Kalicharan - 10/17/2012 7303 Views

Schema.org an indispensable SEO factor!

Rich Snippets

Schema.org microdata – helps webmasters to get key sections of a web page attributed, making it easier for search engines to pin-point specific information available in the website without confusion. Schema.org is a semantic markup protocol, possessing its own vocabulary provides websites with top search exposure helping bots to understand and reference, in addition to creating rich snippets.

What did Matt Cutts reveal regarding Schema.org?

GoogleWebmasterHelp Video posted by Matt Cutts exposed the fact that Schema.org is also included a ranking factor in SERPs. Matt was responding to a question as follows –

“I know that rich snippets can increase CTR for my mention on a SERP. But is the use of schema.org code beneficial for my actual positions on the SERPs as well?” - Quincy, Rotterdam

As we are well aware that he never ever responds properly to a particular question *only regarding Google Ranking and SEO*, however he managed not to say a no for that question. Which means, the reply is “YES”. Schema.org capable websites have the chance to rank higher. Again we emphasize on the fact that, having a really bad website lacking proper navigation and content, yet having schema.org microdata set in your web pages will be of no use to your site. Make your site SEO friendly, obeying all webmaster guidelines and social media engagement – then moving to the schema part will be more than beneficial to your site. That’s exactly what Matt suggests, just because Schema.org markup is included doesn't mean that the website is the best or much more relevant compared to any others. Here is his verbatim –

“I’m not going to take it off the table, but for example, it might make sense in some of those specific topic areas, but just because somebody implements schema.org markup, that doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily and automatically a better site, so I wouldn’t count on that giving you a good ranking boost, although it can be a good idea to markup things in a rich structure just because, you know, then different people can slice and dice and find your site more easily if they are doing more digging”

Advantages of microdata inclusion into your website

A web page containing schema.org markup will have greater visibility in SERPs than a page containing equal weight information, but lacks structured data
Surfer feels comfortable when he finds a search result with all those additional information like author or creator, aggregated reviews, ratings, description, images, information about events etc. and the particulars vary with the search term they use
More relevancy in results is possible since this microformat itself shows the search engine the credibility the website content holds
Makes it much easier for search engines to parse the information that appears on a web page
Your site gets the boost that you never imagine since all your good on your business is showcased right before the user who needs the information they are in need of
All search giants have launched this as a single effort and hence webmasters find it easy to add markup, without getting confused with the most relevant and supported markup standards to use

All Search Giants at One Place

This is never new information that Schema.org is a joint effort by Google, Bing and Yahoo. The search giants all rely on structured data for their search engine bots to identify the relevant information, and present the information in the most appealing manner to the user.

Schema.org announcement by Google

Schema.org announcement by Bing

Schema.org announcement by Yahoo

The vocabulary makes the cursor automatically pulled to itself owing to the richness it radiates among other results which lacks the feature. An example is below for the search term “grilled chicken recipe”,

Compare the first two results with the third. Which one would you click through to find the recipe? The first one or equally the second, but never the third one. All these websites were occupying the first of the results page, yet the click through rate varies for each of them. That’s the power of Schema.org!

Category :

SEO News

Tags :

Schema.org, Matt Cutts, microdata, SEO, SEO rank factor, Rich Snippets, microformat

About Prejushya Kalicharan

SEO is a challenging field and I try my best to surpass this challenging environment which is unconditionally filled with opportunities, knowledge building and problem solving. I pursue what I .... more info