Structured Data & Schema
Used to mark up elements on a webpage, structured data (or schema) helps search engines further understand the content which is contained on a website. Structured data is also used to generate further rich results and featured snippets within search results. Our SEO Office Hours Notes below cover recommendations for the implementation of structured data / schema, as well as insights from Google.
To learn more about structured data’s impact on SEO, check out our additional resources:
Invalid Structured Data Will Not Affect the Ranking of a Page
Having invalid structured data on a page will not affect the ranking, however, it may prevent the page from appearing as a rich result and impact how visible it is in search. This may, in turn, affect how users interact with the search result listing.
Use Testing Tools To Ensure All Hacked Content is Removed From Your Site
If your site has been hacked and left with virtual pages which are indexed in Google, John recommends using testing tools such as GSC’s URL Inspection tool to understand how Googlebot is crawling these, before performing the necessary steps to remove them from the index.
Google No Longer Support the Webpage Review Structured Markup
Webpage review markup will no longer be shown in Google search results, as reviewing a whole page doesn’t make a lot of sense to them, instead they expect reviews to be for a specific product.
Changes to Review Rich Snippets Limit Available Review Types
The changes made to Review Rich Snippets means Google have limited the support to a certain set of markup types, as well as amending the approach to reviewing your own entity.
You Only Need to Add Author Structured Markup to a Page Once
John would not recommend adding itemprop author schema markup in two different places on a single page as it is difficult to maintain and harder for Google to understand.
Providing a Summary in How-to Structured Markup Is Acceptable
When implementing how-to structured markup, providing a summary explanation of the step should be fine, as far as John is aware.
Use Video File Structured Markup to Tell Google Which Countries a Video is Available In
For videos that are only accessible in certain countries, make sure that the pages they are on are accessible in the HTML for all users, and that the video only plays for users in the right countries. Use video file markup to tell Google which countries the video is available in.
Sitelink Search Boxes Can Take a While To Display in Search Results
Once you have implemented the markup for a sitelink search box it can take some time before it is shown in search results. Unlike rich results which can be displayed quickly after implementation, Google need to be able to see the sitelink search markup has been in place for a while before displaying it. John explained it can sometimes take up to a month before it is shown.
Aggregrate Structured Data Shouldn’t Be Used On Category Pages
The aggregrate rating structured data should only be used for the same type of products, therefore John recommends not using it on category pages.
Avoid Implementing Structured Data Types Just Because Competitors Use Them
Even the most recognisable brands can get things wrong, so avoid copying structured data elements just because your competitor is using them, as you don’t know if they are actually valid or profitable for the competitor site.