August 8, 2014: In the current age of search, it’s no longer enough to simply slap content up onto a web page and hope for the best. As a good SEO, you want to work with both your users and the search engines to make your content easy for both people and search engines to find. Here’s where familiarity with schema, semantic search, microdata, and rich snippets can help you. You can use them to make for a faster, better experience for you, your users, and the search engines.
In this article, we show you how this applies, using IMDB.com’s mark up of the hit blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy as an example.
Guardians of the Galaxy Screen Capture from IMBD.com – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2015381/
What is Schema?
Schema is a term referring to set of categories used to semantically organize content. It’s part of an initiative by the major search engines, part of the HTML 5 protocol, and consists of a special series of tags called microdata. These machine-readable HTML5 tags are used by the search engines to categorize content and to fill out rich snippets. This provides additional information and clarity to users on the SERP, and while it doesn’t have a mechanically predictable effect on SEO, it provides for a better user experience. This in turn increases click-through rate and helps users get to their content more easily.
As Google and the other search engines develop their algorithms, search is moving beyond simple keyword and phrase matching. Now, search is highly concerned with what a searcher means when he or she searches. An example of this are queries related to White House. A search engine needs to know the category of content for the phrase (U.S. Politics versus, say, real estate) to know that the user is search for the official residence of the U.S. President, as opposed to houses that are painted white. This is called semantic search.
The search term White House can mean this:
By United States Marine Band [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
… or this.
By Johann Jaritz (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0-at (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/at/deed.en) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
What is Semantic Search?
Semantic search is the primary driver of Google’s research and development efforts for search. Whereas prior iterations of the Google search engine focused closely on text and keyword matching, Google’s algorithms now work hard to derive actual meaning from search phrases, based on context, user prior search history, and so forth. Google has been employing cognitive scientists and linguists in its efforts in addition to traditional programmers. The code name for this current effort is Google Hummingbird. For example, semantic search helps Google and other search engines determine that “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a film based on a comic book franchise, and differentiates that between its comics antecedent, an astronomers group, or other things entirely.
What is Microdata?
Microdata tags are a form of HTML which help search engines categorize your content better. These inform the search engine as to the context of the phrase. For example, with the right tags, Google can identify a page from whitehouse.gov as being a page that has to do with the residence of the U.S. President, not simply any house that is white colored. You can find out more about microdata and schemas at http://www.schema.org. Microdata tags are used to identify to Google what category content should be indexed under. For example, this is a piece of code taken from the Guardians of the Galaxy page over at IMDB –
You can see here the specific “itemprop” tags that break down the various categories. You don’t need to handcode these in — there are plug in tools for WordPress such as All In One Schema that can automate the task for you.
Why is microdata important?
Microdata is a term applied to a series of tags described at schema.org. This set of HTML 5 tags tells the major search engines how your content should be categorized, making it easier for Google, Bing and Yandex to spider and index your content. This presumably should make it easier for your content to rank on the SERP. Microdata has a direct SEO impact, since content that is more clearly categorized will rank more highly on the SERP. As part of your development process for content, you should review which schema tags apply to your content as well as your keywords and consider them as an entire semantic whole, along with how your website is laid out, content wise. All of these semantic factors are considered by Google and Bing.
Why should I even bother with this?
As a webmaster or SEO, you want to make the job of the search engines as easy as possible. If it’s easier for one of the search engines to understand and categorize your content, it will be easier for searchers to find it. If it’s easier for searchers to find your content then, you’ll potentially have better SEO and rank higher in the SERP for your pages. Below is an example of Rich Snippet link. Google denies that Rich Snippets have a direct effect on SEO rankings, but rich snippets make your content more easily indexable and more usable.
Below is an example of a SERP entry with rich snippet information present, outlined in red:
Even if the SEO effects are indirect, they’re worth it. Don’t take our word for it – run some A/B tests on sample pages. Share with us the results!
What should I do?
- Fill out your site’s microdata tags. You can do this with a number of WordPress tools, such as the allinoneschema.org tool for rich snippets. You can also perform this manually, but we recommend that you use a tool to make the work quicker.
- Test to make sure that rich snippet info populates, using Google’s rich snippet testing tool. You want to make sure that the Rich Snippet is within Google’s Guidelines.
- Do not abuse Rich Snippets. This prohibited activity includes such things as fake reviews, irrelevant data, or invisible Rich Snippets which are meant to be spidered but not seen by users. Abuse of Rich Snippets can invite a manual penalty.
- Make sure that your content aligns with microdata on site, as well as hashtags and keywords. While microdata tags are do not directly influence rank, use of microdata tags that match hashtag and keywords.
With mastery of Rich Snippets, you can help your users find their relevant content, assist the search engines, and defend the galaxy from evil!
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