In this podcast episode, Rebecca explores Schema and the use of Structured Data. She breaks Schema down into manageable pieces so listeners can understand what Schema is, how it is used by search engines, and why it matters to website owners and bloggers.
What is Schema?
Schema.org is a collaborative, community activity with a mission to create, maintain, and promote schemas for structured data on the Internet, on web pages, in email messages, and beyond. Schema.org provides a collection of shared “vocabularies” webmasters can use to mark up their pages in ways that can be understood by the major search engines: Google, Microsoft, Yandex and Yahoo!
Vocabularies cover entities and relationships between entities and actions. Schema.org vocabulary is segmented into two hierarchies:
- Data – Boolean, date, number, text, time, etc.
- Things – Review, events, podcast, recipe, book, music, comment, and actions
The core schema vocabulary currently consists of 597 Types, 867 Properties, and 114 Enumeration values.
What’s an Example of Schema in Use?
When modeling hotel-related information in web content with schema.org, there are three core components:
- A lodging business – Essentially the place and local business that houses the actual units of the establishment (e.g. hotel rooms). The lodging business can encompass multiple buildings but is in most cases a coherent place.
- An accommodation – These are the actual objects (hotel rooms) that are offered for rental.
- An offer – To let a hotel room (or other forms of accommodations) for a particular amount of money and for a given type of usage (e.g. occupancy), typically further constrained by advance booking requirements and other terms and conditions.
Let’s Try That Again But in Real People Language
What is Structured Data?
Structured data is a standardized format for providing information about a web page and classifying the content on that page. Google uses structured data that it finds on the web to better understand the content of the page, as well as to gather information about the web and the world in general.
Structured data helps Google see web content like a human and less like a machine.
Once Google has this structured data available, it uses it to enable special search result features and enhancements found in the Knowledge Graph and rich snippets.
Example of Structured Data in Use for Google Visitors
Implementing Schema on Popular Website Builders and CMS Solutions
- WordPress – Available via frameworks and plugins
- SquareSpace – Not supported
- Wix – Not supported
- Weebly – Not supported
- HubSpot – Not supported
WordPress Plugins for Schema
- https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/
- https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/local-seo/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/seamless-schema/
- https://schema.press/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-structuring-markup/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/schema/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-schemaorg-rich-snippets/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/schema-app-structured-data-for-schemaorg/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/easyrecipe/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/recipe-schema-markup/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/bigoven-recipes-menus-and-more/
Additional Podcast Resources for Schema
General Information
- http://schema.org/docs/documents.html
- https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/intro-structured-data
- https://www.bing.com/webmaster/help/marking-up-your-site-with-structured-data-3a93e731
- https://torquemag.io/2016/12/schema-markup-wordpress/
Schema Generators
- https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/data-highlighter
- https://www.google.com/webmasters/markup-helper/
- https://hallanalysis.com/json-ld-generator/
Schema Testing Tools
- https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool
- https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/rich-cards
- https://webmaster.yandex.com/tools/microtest/