Ranking well in search is crucial for the success of not only websites but also their supporting companies, especially as the world has gone digital. Websites that do not rank on the first page of search rarely get a hit. In fact, 80% of search users never scroll past the first page of a Google search. By incorporating Affinity MicroData and relevant and engaging content on the pages of your website, you can achieve far greater search results. Check out this great article to learn more!

1. February 2014
1 | P a g e
MASTER YOUR SEO WITH MICRODATA
Alexa Aubel, Dynamic Artisans Group, Inc.
Welcome to the Affinity Era
People or things have an affinity for one
another when they share common interests,
ideas, or qualities. As we enter the ‘Affinity
Era’ on the internet, these commonalities are
being applied to the world of search engine
optimization (SEO) as well. Ever notice that
when you carry out a Google search, on the
right side of the screen there are
advertisements for products or other related
material? Or perhaps when you buy a
product online, you are shown similar
products you might also want to purchase.
Both are cases of Affinity Marketing at its
finest. As we continue to make leaps and
bounds in technology, companies and search
engines alike are able to easily utilize past
searches and purchases to predict what
consumers are looking for in the future.
No such connections would be possible
without the implementation of semantic
markup. When implementing content on a
webpage, we generally focus on making sure
that all content, text, video, picture, or other,
is understandable by the viewer. Of course,
this is a very important step to consider in the
content producing process, but a search
engine is not human. It cannot understand
the purpose behind a video or picture. To
make sure that search engines understand
content, we make use of semantic markup.
Semantic markup is the detailed text written
into the background of a webpage that
explains the content of the page in terms the
search engine can understand. This data is
not visible to the viewer, but it allows the
search engine to generate relevant search
results.
(Wolf, 2014)
There are many forms of semantic markup
available to the inquiring individual.
MicroData is the newest form of semantic
markup, having only been implemented in
the last few months, and it combines many of
the best features of other markups into one
model. Because of its impressive
capabilities, it is expected to take the internet
by storm in 2014. In this article we will
proceed to explain in detail the benefits and
importance of MicroData, explore a
successful case study, and conclude by
connecting the dots.
What is MicroData?
The key focus of MicroData markup is
providing more relevant internet content.
MicroData allows search engines to take the
content of a page and determine what
searches it is relevant to. As a result,
companies can use MicroData to attract leads
that are pertinent to their products and
services rather than leads that will not
become buyers. Many forms of markup or
services that claim to improve SEO will
bring people to your website, but because
these visitors are not always in the desired
target market, engagement tends to be low.
By using MicroData, leads that are interested
in the product or service visit the website and
as a result tend to spend a significantly
longer period of time exploring pages and
engaging in website content.
Additionally, the use of MicroData has the
potential to greatly improve the rich snippets
that come up under a search list. When a
search is conducted, a list of sources come up
with a sentence or two of defining
information below each. Sometimes
pictures, video, reviews, links, banners, or

2. February 2014
2 | P a g e
other content may come up under the sources
as well. These types of content are called
rich snippets. As a website gains more
relevance the rich snippets beneath its link in
a search can increase. Because varying
content is more interesting than plain text,
viewers tend to click on links with rich
snippets with more frequency.
It is also important to note that rich snippets
developed by MicroData are being
implemented in more than just search results.
Rich snippets are now being displayed as
“syndicated display content” in mobile
applications, web applications, and emails in
growing numbers. Products like Smart TVs,
PS4, and XBOXONE now display rich
snippet content as well. Consequently,
effective use of MicroData has the potential
to spread your content to even more
technology than just search engines. Most
people are not aware that rich snippets are
spreading this quickly to such varied media,
but the growth will only continue in the
months to come.
Because MicroData is so new, it does not
have a very strong following yet. However,
Google is now looking for MicroData
markup on pages and giving more relevance
to the ones that have it. MicroData use has
become the standard of semantic markup on
the web and other forms are becoming
inadequate. As MicroData continues to take
over the internet, webpages that do not use it
may begin to lose the search engine
optimization companies spend so much time
and money acquiring. The best way to
counteract the loss is to convert to MicroData
markup. Consequently, it makes more sense
to make the change to MicroData now before
too much damage has been done to a
website’s SEO. (Wolf, 2014)
Case Study
To expand upon the importance and
relevance of MicroData, we will explore the
success it has recently brought to a client of
Dynamic Artisans Group, Inc. The data was
collected over just 2 months, and the results
will astound you.
30 days before MicroData implementation
 10 average daily impressions
 Spikes of up to 30 impressions daily
 143 unique visitors
 0% conversion to sale
30 days after MicroData implementation
 282 average daily impressions
 Spikes of up to 600 daily
 1294 unique visitors
 2.31% conversion to sale
In only 30 days, MicroData markup
produced incredible results for the client.
The client’s webpage experienced a 2820%
increase in the number of daily impressions,
a 900% increase in the number of unique
visitors, and a 230% increase in the rate of
conversion to sales. In one month! Imagine
what several months of MicroData use could
do for a website.
Tying it all together
Keeping up with the changes in the World
Wide Web is challenging for even the most
knowledgeable web gurus. However, in a
society where the internet is nearly essential
in every aspect of life, it is important to keep
abreast of changes online. MicroData
markup will continue to grow in relevance
and ultimately take over as the standard for
semantic markup in 2014. As has been
demonstrated, using MicroData can produce
exciting search engine optimization results.
As we traverse the Affinity Era, we need to
do everything in our power to gain more
notice by our consumers and become more
relevant to them. By using MicroData, it is
possible to stay relevant and engage more
consumers than ever before.•