Using Markup Data

[Laustin1878]

I'm always searching for as much verified information as I can. I'm wondering if anyone has supporting data for a site that was not using any type of markup or schema data compared to one that is now and has seen a boost or decline in rankings or traffic as a result.

My personal opinion is that it certainly won't hurt but it can turn into a fair amount of work and not see a benefit. Plus, I need to show a friend that there is value in it but don't have much support for it. I've been seeing a number of Wordpress themes using it but don't see any immediate "boost" in rankings. I'm not sure if they are using the right markup for local which could be part of it.

I'd also be interested to know if there are certain markup items that you have seen are more beneficial then others. This is probably more based on the type of industry and business model but worth asking.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Luke as I say in my Local SEO training... I don't think markup necessarily boosts rankings. If you just add NAP schema to a site for instance and that's all you do I don't think it will budge.

But when you add all the local hooks I teach, a couple of which are markup, PLUS all the other things in my formula, as you've seen in my examples it usually results in a pretty major increase in rank.

But I don't think the markup itself boosts rank without all the other things.

However what markup does do I think, is increase location trust.

And more importantly helps feed Google data in a certain way that COULD show up in other places. For example (not true now I don't think) but IF Google decided to show data marked up in Schema in the knowledge graph or added some extra search snippet based on marked up data and your client had it, but others did not, then it would be a + for your client.

 

[David Deering]

Well if I might chime in on this topic, I do agree with Linda that adding schemas to your page alone is not going to make it jump in rankings, although as Linda said, certain things can definitely help. BUT with that said, I do think schemas and other markups are very, very important nowadays for websites in terms of SEO value.

SEO is all about helping search engines understand what your website is about and what the particular web page is about. So instead of hoping that Google will understand what the various elements of your page are, you spell it out for them clearly by using markups. So you can essentially tell Google, "THIS is our business' address and THIS is the type of business we are. THIS is who I am. THIS is a video or image and THIS is what it's about. THIS is our company logo. THIS is a testimonial from a customer, and THIS is our cumulative review rating" and so on.

Add in the fact that markups create rich snippets that stand out more in search engine results. That alone leads to more attention and more eyes directed to your search engine listings and as a result, more clicks. And that is a proven fact. So by all means, I say that everyone should take a few minutes to markup their website and new web pages. It's not too difficult and it does have a lot of value now and untold value in the future.

 

[Linda Buquet]

BUT with that said, I do think schemas and other markups are very, very important nowadays for websites in terms of SEO value.

SEO is all about helping search engines understand what your website is about and what the particular web page is about. So instead of hoping that Google will understand what the various elements of your page are, you spell it out for them clearly by using markups. So you can essentially tell Google, "THIS is our business' address and THIS is the type of business we are. THIS is who I am. THIS is a video or image and THIS is what it's about. THIS is our company logo. THIS is a testimonial from a customer, and THIS is our cumulative review rating" and so on.

Add in the fact that markups create rich snippets that stand out more in search engine results. That alone leads to more attention and more eyes directed to your search engine listings and as a result, more clicks. And that is a proven fact. So by all means, I say that everyone should take a few minutes to markup their website and new web pages. It's not too difficult and it does have a lot of value now and untold value in the future.

Thanks David, you spelled it out much better than I did and nailed all points!

Thanks too for the G+ badge ping. I'm going to try to blog it tomorrow and post it here and will of course credit you. Great share!

 

[David Deering]

Thanks, Linda. Anytime. And I really don't deserve credit for anything; that article was all Sonia Winland. I'm not smart enough to write a how-to like that. lol

But speaking of schemas, I think that you should try to use as many as you can on your site, with the exception of the breadcrumb schema. Apparently, there's some coding problem with it, so until the developers get that straightened out, I would recommend using either the data-vocabulary or RDFa breadcrumb markup. Having both schema markups and another type of markup on your page won't cause any problems, as search engines understand both.

 

[Laustin1878]

Thanks for the feedback as always. I'm not a programmer and have been having an argument with a friend for some time now who thinks it's a waste. Essentially, it is a waste if it's the only thing done based on this discussion and recollection of the training.

As noted, I wanted to experiment for my own as I really haven't seen schema in use. I want to be comfortable adding it on my own as the template spells it out nicely for you. My argument was the same as David's, you are telling Google everything instead of letting them try to interpret and guess what the site is about. From that perspective alone, it was worth it in my book.

I plan on tinkering more with it and the other local hooks as I'm getting more comfortable. Awesome advice as expected!

 

[David Deering]

Well, feel free to ask any specific questions and we'll do our best to help you out. But at the very least, I think that every website and web page should include a business location and description schema, a Google author or publisher tag, and a review schema. Those three alone will help get more clicks in search results, so they're definitely not a waste of time.