Implementing and Validating Structured Data in an SEO Process: Criteria, Resources and Tools – #CrawlingMondays 22nd Episode
When and How to implement Structured Data for SEO benefits? In this Crawling Mondays episode Aleyda goes through the main concepts, criteria and tools to implement and validate structured data execution in an SEO process to maximize results while minimizing errors:
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Video Transcription
Hello there. Welcome to a new edition of Crawling Mondays. In today’s edition I would like to share about structured data. Second, that data provides a mechanism to specify about the meaning of our web content. It is supported by Google bandana. Next they all use key map both or vocabulary for structured that app and that can be used. It can be specified to different Cody’s.
The main ones are micro-data and Jason [inaudible] and Google has confirmed that they prefer the usage of Jason Aldean although they support a date and all the micro-data on our to being also informed last year that they were also supporting Jayson Aldi.
So today I will let, I will share with you after steps to make the most out of structured data to validate, to prioritize tools to implement and facilitate the execution too. Because start doing that. It doesn’t only allow us to specify further to meet and have our content to search changes, but additionally can improve our opportunities to generate certain sort of features to display additional snippets in search results that can even improve also the engagement of our users with our content.
And maximize our visibility in search results do. Additionally, Google has already confirmed that they will start supporting instructor data generated Google assistance actions too. So it will be a [inaudible] type of scenario. I will share much more with you today on how to make the most out of it.
Let’s take all some commerce errors that we see time and time again, whenever we implement structured data at I end up getting this type of issues and and that we can see into Google search console because we haven’t followed the specifications and we are meeting some attributes. We are not specifying the properties with the attributes that are required.
There are fields that are not included that. So it’s important to follow the guidelines on one hand, but also how it should be and shouldn’t be used in general. Because if we go again both quality, right relay related guidelines, we can end up generating manual actions as the one that I’m showing right now.
Right? And we want definitely to avoid that, how to avoid this type of issues while making the most out of it. Right. So for me it’s about pulling a process to identify opportunities to implement, validate and monitor our structure. You don’t have limited resources. It is key that you prioritize your efforts with structured data and you go to Google’s documentation and check if destructor dad that he’s available and he’s supported by Google.
It’s relevant to your content, meaning if this will end up improving your own search results for relevant SERPs for meaningful content for you. If the impact of such results are for not only relevant queries but queries would not treat those volume to really make an effort that will end up impacting as much as possible. Right, and is it possible for you to implement and follow the specified guidelines Baikal so to follow these rules, what I recommend is that you go to Google documentation and a Google developers talk to that gallery.
As you can see there is specify everything which are destructive. That ad that they are supporting the changes over time and that they provide examples. What is the feature availability, the data types and definitions and they provide even examples of key match.
You can verify check if this is buyable for you to implement. If you have this information to include and to schema markup that you will end up generating and if you can’t comply with the rules, then of course you can go and use tools like sun rush, verify. Any syrups that are showing snippets or features are powered by structured data. You can’t even check those words. You are already included and search results where you are. The competitors are already included.
However, the snippet is shown at the moment from your competitors, the one that you can achieve and include also this validation when you are doing a cure research and identify which are the potential additional terms for which your competitors are not yet targeting that you can implement structure data for.
This is how you will be able to prioritize this previous criteria that I shared before in a way that is impactful, that is meaningful and you can allocate the requirements sources within your SEO process, your bigger SEO process because indeed we have usually limited resources and you need to prioritize it and it’s about implementing structured data.
I will highly recommend that you share with your developers the Google called labs for structured data, but also that tools that will generate the good snippets, especially Jason or the ones that you can include in the head or also Google has mentioned that they poured in the body of the HTML, so for example free Jason, all the generators by miracle is one of my favorite ones. As we can see, they support different numbers of structured data types. So for example, I was generating here directly this how to structure data.
They support events, FAQ, June, full stay local business and you just need to add the information like this and they you can just copy paste directly or tests directly what the Google structured that at the all the rich results. There’s also the run ranger structured data generator. As you can see even more types of structured data here for events or do posting for local businesses, for videos, for products, et cetera, and you can again easily call pea or even directly tests.
And I have to say that there is this also very handy tool by goal itself, which is that cool structured data markup helper that will allow you to choose from different types of structured data and go through your content and start selecting, specifying which are the areas of your content that include or show properties of the Cyrus certain data that you are specified.
Now also expansion some plugins for major CMSs that will also highly facilitate the implementation of structured data. So you don’t need to go one by one within your platform, but this functionality will add structured data based on certain criteria. So for example, I really liked this chemo structured data plugin for WordPress. I use it myself for a couple of my websites.
So for example, in this case for why my web truck drop, I have the how to structure data and I just need to specify for which type of page or post I want the option to be included here equal or not equal to this page here. And so for example, in this particular page we can see how after I add the information at the bottom, I have the how to structure data that I can enable this table and I can directly fill the information directly here, right?
So this really nice for smaller websites, those websites that use WordPress and also more sophisticated type of solution for enterprise level websites, like for example schema app here, it’s amazing. It provides you full support for all of the stricter data types, allows you to easily edit an ad. As you can see here in a very easy to use interface to add all the different structured data attributes that are, requires the properties to be you directly.
The educational lead to test with rule to clone the items and also provides many more functionalities to integrate the structured data that you have specified with any platform. So after we make sure that we have implemented a structure that I follow is Google best practices, both functional specific implementation, best practices as well as quality best practices. We need to definitely verify that the code is the right one before releasing any changes.
And we want to do it. So first for the major structure data types that we have used across the much more important than pages of our website. And for that we can even copy paste just a snippet of code of Jason Aleve for example here, the scrape and the goal structure data rich Russell test select here, which is the gold bar that we want to use for the test.
See if it is eligible for rich results or not and which are the fields that are nice, any attribute dice be miss that is required or if it is optional or not, where he is in the decode if we want to change it directly, even here, really facilitating the implementation with the major pages. And then of course we want to run a full crawl in our tests on before release and and then a hoard on other one after releasing but also before releasing it.
And for that we can use screen frog. It provides structured data validations for that. We need to select the structured data extraction here. We want to Bali data and structure stays on all the data, our DFA and we want to validate against schema requirements and Google sedation. Also we can select it here and then we should go to structured that app.
Tap here to see which are the pages triggering errors or not, if not any warnings, all of the types that have been identify if these are the correct ones that we want to be implementing on showing and go through the errors that are being Trieger here in the structured data. Detailed stab below, right, so we can see if there’s any miss share that is required that yes, it is regarded, I am not as specifying it, I not included it, right? Or if this item that I for which I am using microbiota for the breadcrumb, right, that I am not adding it as I should to comply with the specification rules.
Right. And I can go and tool should lie this. All the errors are being shown before releasing and of course I want to call again after releasing to make sure that everything complies. The Google specification and schema after realism is also quite Kevin to still see a few hours. Even if you have gone through all of the process before, so you want to go to the Google search console enhancements report, who does he want to request a girl and after that you will start to see the different structured data that you haven’t implemented.
For example, in this guy for breadcrumbs and FAQ and and see if there are any warnings or errors that are being shown there that you hadn’t identified before and start fixing them by seeing here which are the ones triggering actual errors on and see which are the fields and go specifically. It will show us the specific pages that are suffering from these issues.
You can select the recommended page and the page will be shown directly there in the sidebar that would the code snippet with the issue, the structured data you should directly and then when you work around, when when you fix that you can also click the validate fix option here and see the evolution over time will not only inform us about the issue with structured data but allow us also to validate the fix. You will be able to see here that evolution over time, which are the views that have passed already, the validation which are the ones still pending.
And then also I will highly recommend for you to use tools like I’m thinking a little warden here in which you can specify custom elements that you can use to monitor, to monitor a structure that app. For example here I have used certain ex-pat here to extract the Breck prom structured data or the outer ring rental that I have in these pages, the FAQ ones, the article ones and and be alert that whenever it is changed because again we never know when the changes on the website that my effect or negatively influenced the way that you’re structured that app is implemented.
You are alert that whenever the issues happens before you even see them in the Google search consult and of course Google also allow us to monitor rich Russell’s directly in the Google search console. I have to say that this monitoring though is still very raw for a generic.
I prefer to see the specific snippets that are generated by sparker data for that. Tools. Like for example, SEO, wanting to run ranger are amazing for this. And you can see, for example, if you are included at some point event with your videos, what the video would tell now for example, because you’re using the structured data for your video in your own, in your own website pages, right?
And again, like this with SEO monitor too, which is another tool that I, that I use to monitor disruptive data effects with that snippets are for which my website is being shown. So as you can see, S about one hand helping the search engines to better understand our content. Also improving our website search results.
This belly in general, right? Not, not necessarily influencing directly our rankings, but just the way our pages are display. And also we’ll still let you plan seeing the engagement that we get from our users. So it should be a win, win, win type of scenario. Thank you very much. And of course, if you have any comments or any questions, you can leave them here below. Thank you very much. Bye bye.