What Are Structured Data and What Are They For?

      

When we visit a web page, we, human beings, find it very easy to identify the different parts of what we read, such as the title, the date of publication, the author, the main image, or the users’ assessment (if there ). At a glance, we identify all of them and quickly understand their meaning and purpose.

Yes, we know that search engine robots can’t distinguish every single information from another perfectly. As long as they try, there are still a lot of information gaps. To solve this problem, a labeling format is designed. It is embedded in the HTML language (of the pages) and makes sure identification of any information goes well without disruption. The format is not limited to interpretation by the search engines on web pages. No visual change appears but from the point of view of user experience, it does not seem to have any impact.

However, the fact that search engines can identify what is the purpose of each element of information included in a page means that they can search with results that are more relevant to the interests of users. In fact, the phenomenon is strongly affected by the amount of backlinks a site has. From the point of view of the owner, applying such a SEO report generator can help quite a lot.

Indentifying the purpose of each information element in a page makes it possible to the engines to expand the displayed information. In turn, it will help the users in finding their search needs at best as well as reducing the number of pages they must visit (in searching).

For example, if someone is interested in making a reservation at a hotel in Boston, the following result directly includes the assessment of the clients and price range, so the user can decide if he is interested in entering that page.

However, the following result hardly provides additional information, forcing the user to necessarily enter the page to be informed (or to choose another result with more information and not have to take a bucket ride).

Search results without rich snippets

For your info, since in the Electronic Commerce world, identifying and describing the basic characteristics of products are very important, every web owner should run structured data. They can’t just rely on unorganized data. No matter how many data they have, the search engines will meet some difficulties in identifying if the data are not well structured.

What effects do structured data have?

When introducing a new technology in our web pages, we are always assaulted about its effectiveness and, above all, how it will affect our dynamics and work methodology. In other words, if we will have to spend too much time for promising benefits that may remain in that, in “promising”.

However, this aspect should not concern us, since, first, the effects of structured data in the organic positioning are tangible and testable, and second, with an appropriate choice of tools, we must practically not change the way we work.