Is Your Structured Data Mark-Up Working For Or Against You?
Traditionally, structured data mark-up has been a standard tool for every webmaster when it comes to increasing visibility to search engines. Structured data mark-up is a specific piece of code which “talks” to the search engine, providing valuable data in a format that is easily understood. Using structured data helps to ensure that your content ticks more of the boxes a search engine needs to return highly in results. The specifics of the structured data vary depending on the type of goods or service you are providing, as well as your audience. Very recently, a growing number of webmasters are finding that they are receiving warnings regarding their use of structured data mark-up, even after a significant period of trouble-free use. Luckily, there are a couple of simple strategies you can adopt in order to ensure your structured data mark-up stands out for all the right reasons.
Everything in moderation!
Because structured data mark-up can make such a positive impact on search results, it can be tempting to cram into your website as much as possible. This is a very bad practice which can end up harming your website’s performance. Only use this type of tool for information which is extremely relevant to your site; don’t use it on every page, only those where there is a suitable context. When it comes to ensuring your data achieves results without falling into the category of spam, less is definitely more.
Keep your mark-up in line with your actual content
Given the benefits which a successful mark-up can bring, it may be tempting to exaggerate or even fabricate what’s on your site, substituting content with a suitable structured data mark-up code. Not only does this approach potentially result in traffic which fails to convert because you’re not appealing to the right audience, it can also mean that you are misrepresenting what you are about, which can lead to all sorts of problems. Try to keep your structured data mark-up in line with your site’s actual content; factual and truthful is best. So, for example, if your site contains reviews then it’s entirely appropriate to include that within your structured text; if not, then don’t try to give the impression of having reviews available through mark-up coding.
How relevant is your mark-up?
Each product or service has a slightly different set of information which is going to increase its appeal to a particular audience. Variables may include anything from price ranges through to geographical area, review ratings, dates, stock count, places available or something completely different. Make sure that what you use in your structured data mark-up is as relevant to your target audience as possible. Not only should the contents of a rich snippet appeal to the search engines, it’s also vital that your audience finds exactly what they are looking for.
When used correctly, structured data mark-up can make a real difference to the type of searches you return highly in, potentially leading to increased traffic, conversions and profits. Moderation, integrity and relevance are the key words to remember when working out how best to ensure your mark-up works for, not against, you.
