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The first search result is a web page that is apparently built with structured data as it shows not only the title, URL, and meta description of the page, but also the image, the star rating, the number of reviews, and how long does the recipe take to finish - this kind of data is called rich snippets.
Having a rich snippet in search results will make your website stand out among your competitors, thanks to structured data.
Also, rich snippets are not the only visual advantage that structured data can bring for your website - there are rich cards, knowledge graphs, and a host carousel, which we’ll talk about later.
What are the Different Formats of Structured Data in SEO?
You see, there are three different major formats of structured data in SEO that you can use on your website - JSON-LD, Microdata, and RDFa.JSON-LD
JSON-LD is commonly used in the web page header and is widely recommended as it is one of the markups of Schema.org - a semantic vocabulary of microdata, also known as tags that you can add to your web page’s HTML to improve the way the page is represented in the SERPs. JSON-LD is also the most preferred structured data format by Google because it does not easily break a website, unlike other markups.Microdata
Microdata utilizes the “itemprop” and “itemtype” HTML attributes to highlight relevant values and items on your web page.RDFa
RDFa, on the other hand, utilizes the “property” and “typeof” HTML attributes when highlighting essential values and items on your web page. Now, remember that the different formats of structured data in SEO may be utilizing different HTML attributes. Still, any format is used to tell the search engines what the critical elements of your web page are to understand better what the page is all about. So, it depends on you and your web and SEO team which format to implement on your website.What Web Page Items Do We Need to Markup with Structured Data?
There are heaps of valuable information and items in each of your web page that needs some marking up. However, it can be a bit overwhelming. So, we recommend that you check the list in Schema.org, which shows all of the items that can be marked up when creating a web page’s structured data for SEO. But the most common items that are supported by the search engines, especially Google, are the following:- Event
- Article
- Product listing
- Local business
- Movie & Television Show
- Music
- Video
- Recipe
- Critic Review
How Does Structured Data Affect SEO?
The search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, prefer to display web pages built with structured data in the SERPs. So, utilizing structured data affects your SEO positively by getting content-specific features and search result enhancements for your website, such as:Securing a Knowledge Graph
Knowledge graphs are essential if you want to increase the visibility of your business or personal brand. Google shows information in the graph based on the structured data applied to your website. So, you can edit the info easily if you want to improve the things that appear on the right-hand side of the SERP.
Rich Cards
Besides having rich snippets, you can also take advantage of getting “rich cards” if you implement structured data for SEO on your website. They look like this:
Carousel Results
Now, if your website has various content that all fit into one query, the SERPs will include your web pages in a “hot carousel” like this one:
