1.
@abbynhamilton
Leveraging Structured
Data & Schema.org
For Maximum Effect

2.
@abbynhamilton
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org/",
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Abby Hamilton",
"jobTitle": "SEO Associate Manager",
"worksFor": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Merkle"
},
"sameAs": [
"https://twitter.com/abbynhamilton",
"https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigailnhamilton/"
]
}
</script>
Abby Hamilton
SEO Associate Manager
Merkle Inc.

3.
@abbynhamilton
Structured data:
information with a high
degree of organization

4.
@abbynhamilton
It looks
confusing...
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "http://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://google.com/article"
},
"headline": "Article headline",
"image": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://google.com/thumbnail1.jpg",
"height": 800,
"width": 800
},
"datePublished": "2015-02-05T08:00:00+08:00",
"dateModified": "2015-02-05T09:20:00+08:00",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "John Doe"
},
"publisher": {

5.
@abbynhamilton
But, so is
English.
It can be understood
through tough
thorough thought,
though.

6.
@abbynhamilton
Structured
data formats
information in
a way bots
can easily
understand
<p>Elon Musk ownsTesla
Motors</p>
Structured DataUnstructured Data
ItemType: Person
Name: Elon Musk
Owns:
Organization:Tesla Motors
@alexissanders

7.
@abbynhamilton
Using Schema.org vocabulary
Item type: Event
name: SMX West
startDate: 2018-04-26
endDate: 2018-04-26
Type:
Property:

8.
@abbynhamilton
Implemented with a markup syntax
Structured DataUnstructured Data
< >
JSON-LD
Microdata
Microformats
RDFa
Markup Types
@alexissanders

9.
@abbynhamilton
JSON-LD vs. Microdata
63%
40%
22%
45%
Structured Data JSON-LD Microdata RDFa
Top 100K search queries (by SV)
~21K URLs | ~6.4K Domains
JSON-LD Microdata
What is it?
Embedded
<script> tag
In-line HTML
annotations
Support
@maxxeight @brightedge

10.
@abbynhamilton
Google recommends JSON-LD
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/intro-structured-data

11.
@abbynhamilton

“We don’t use
Schema.org as a quality
factor”
@johnmu
John Mueller
Google

12.
@abbynhamilton
Top 2020 SEO Initiatives
@alexissanders

13.
@abbynhamilton

“Schema helps us
understand the content on
the page”
@methode
Gary Illyes
Google

14.
@abbynhamilton
Structured Data
Powers Rich
Results

15.
@abbynhamilton
Google
Supported
Markups
Article Local Business
Breadcrumb Logo
Book Movie
Carousel Occupation
Course Product
Critic review Q&A
Dataset Recipe
Employer Rating Review snippet
Event Sitelinks searchbox
Fact Check Software App
FAQ Speakable
How-to Subscription content
Job Posting Video
JobTraining

16.
@abbynhamilton
Stand out in the SERP

17.
@abbynhamilton
Rich results = higher CTR (in most cases)
Website Vertical Types Rich Results CTR Overall CTR Difference
#1 E-commerce 6.5% 4.7% + 1.8
#2 E-commerce 3.3% 1.8% + 1.5
#3 E-commerce 3.0% 2.2% + 0.8
#4 E-commerce 2.7% 2.5% + 0.2
#5 E-commerce 2.4% 3.8% - 1.4
#6 E-commerce 2.2% 1.6% + 0.6
#7 Health 4.6% 2.6% + 2.0
#8 Entertainment 3.9% 3.0% + 0.9
#9 Food 3.1% 1.9% + 1.2
#10 Travel 2.7% 2.1% + 0.6

18.
@abbynhamilton
Rich results can impact a number of KPIs
Reviews
+3.6 CTR
E-commerce
How-to
+27% clicks
Food
Article
+16% clicks
Health
Product
+15% revenue
E-commerce
Video
+23% plays
Health
Recipe
+101% sessions
Health

19.
@abbynhamilton
Transparency doesn’t always = traffic
No markup
InStock OutOfStock
4.5%
3.8%
CTR by Item Availability
In Stock  Higher CTR
Out of Stock Snippets  Lower CTR
5 Star Ratings  Higher CTR
Less than 3 Star Ratings  Lower CTR
More Reviews  Higher CTR
>50 Reviews  diminishing returns
@melpetulla @kgblanchette

20.
@abbynhamilton
Strategic
Implemtation
IDENTIFY
VALIDATE
IMPLEMENT
MONITOR
@aleyda

21.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Identify

22.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Check for existing markup
HOW TO:
1. Configuration > Spider >
Extraction > Structured Data
2. Check:
 JSON-LD
 Microdata
 RDFa
3. Launch crawl

23.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/search-gallery
Explore Google’s search gallery
 
Entertainment
Get Started
Filter by industry Explore features Get more details

24.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Review Google’s guidelines
General
guidelines
+
Feature specific
guidelines

25.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Review Google’s guidelines
Don't mark up
content that is not
visible to readers
of the page

26.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Review item properties (especially required)
Required
Properties
Recommended
Properties

27.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Check what competitors are using
HOW TO:
Download the
Structured Data
Testing Chrome
extension

28.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Implement

29.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
https://technicalseo.com/tools/schema-markup-generator/
Schema Markup Generator (beginner)
HOW TO:
1. Select ItemType
2. Fill-in-the-blank
3. Validate

30.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Reverse engineer (intermediate)
HOW TO:
1. Navigate to feature
guide
2. ‘See Markup’
3. Replace values
4. Validate

31.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Schema.org (overachievers)
http://schema.org/
docs/full.html

32.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Select a type & review properties

33.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Pay attention to ‘Expected Type’

34.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Data types = no nesting required
"endDate": "2020-02-05",
"performer": {
"@type": "MusicGroup",
"name": "The Living Street ",
"genre": "Folk Rock"
},

35.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Item Types = NEST
"endDate": "2020-02-05",
"performer": {
"@type": "MusicGroup",
"name": "The Living Street ",
"genre": "Folk Rock",
"member": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Edward J. Angelo"
}
},

36.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "MusicGroup",
"name": "The Living Street",
"genre": "Folk Rock",
"member": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Edward J. Angelo"
}
}
</script>
Syntax
Beginning
End
Type
Properties
Type
Properties

37.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "MusicGroup",
"name": "The Living Street",
"genre": "Folk Rock",
"member": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Edward J. Angelo"
}
}
</script>
Text strings are contained in quotes
“” are not the
same as ""

38.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "MusicGroup",
"name": "The Living Street",
"genre": "Folk Rock",
"member": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Edward J. Angelo"
}
}
</script>
Comma = more information to come
Don’t add a
comma after
the last
property

39.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
VALIDATE

40.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Structured Data Testing Tool

41.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Rich Results Test

42.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
MONITOR

43.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Monitor GSC for Errors
Breadcrumb Logo
Dataset Product
Event Q&A page
FAQ Recipe
Fact check Sitelinks searchbox
How-to Video
Job posting
Search Console provides reports for:

44.
@abbynhamilton@abbynhamilton#SMX
Stay up-to-date with changes
Depreciated New Updated

45.
@abbynhamilton
Share these #SMXInsights on your social channels!
• Overall, structured data = higher CTR through rich results
• Make your content stand out in the SERP
• Leveraging tools makes implementation easy
• But mistakes still happen, remember to validate & monitor
• Help search engines understand your content
• Explore marking up additional schema.org item types and properties

46.
@abbynhamilton
SEE YOU AT THE NEXT SMX!
Abby Hamilton
SEO Associate Manager, Merkle Inc.
@abbynhamilton
linkedin.com/in/abigailnhamilton/