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Schema markup and structured data: How to improve search results
In a digital world where visibility in search results is crucial, structured data plays an increasingly important role. By implementing schema markup, you can help search engines better understand the content of your website — and at the same time increase the chances of appearing with attractive snippets such as stars, images, awards, or other rich content directly in Google searches.
In this guide, you'll learn what structured data is, how to properly implement schema markup, and what strategies work best to improve your visibility online.
Structured data is a standardized way to describe content on a web page so that search engines can more easily interpret and present it in search results. Schema.org, a joint initiative of Google, Bing, Yahoo and Yandex, defines a common vocabulary for such data.
When you add schema markup to your source code, you give search engines additional context about your page's content, whether it's products, reviews, events, articles, or businesses. This can cause your website to appear with so-called “rich snippets”, which make the listing more visible and enticing to users.
Although structured data itself does not necessarily affect rankings directly, they do have a major impact on click-through rate (CTR). When your search results stand out with additional information, the chances that users will click on your particular link increases.
In addition, structured data helps search engines index your content more precisely, which can lead to better understanding of the website, stronger authority in search results, and potentially even improved placement in the long run.
To get started with schema markup, you first need to identify the types of content on your site that will benefit the most from it. Typical examples include:
Once you know what you want to mark up, you can implement structured data in several ways. The most commonly used methods are JSON-LD (recommended by Google), Microdata or RDFa. JSON-LD is the easiest to implement because it can be embedded directly into <head>section of the website, without changing the visual content.
There are also several easy-to-use tools that help you generate schema markup automatically, such as Google's Structured Data Markup Helper or schema generators from SEO tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush.
There are many different types of structured data, but some of the most important for better visibility in search results are:
Article (Article Schema):
Used for blog posts and news articles. Can highlight author, date of publication and image in search result.
Product (Product Schema):
Provides information about products such as price, availability and reviews. Essential for online stores.
Business Information (Local Business Schema):
Provides search engines with details about your business, such as opening hours, location and contact information. Important for local SEO.
FAQ (FaqPage Schema):
Used to display frequently asked questions directly in search results. Can improve visibility and take up more space in the search results page.
Event Schedule:
Perfect for promoting concerts, webinars or other events with date, time and place.
By using the right schema types, you can ensure that your website is presented as best as possible to potential customers.
Once you've added structured data to your website, it's important to test that the implementation is working properly. Google offers two useful tools for this:
By using these tools, you can detect and correct errors early, increasing the chance that search engines will interpret and use your data correctly.
With the development of voice search, artificial intelligence and more context-driven search, the importance of structured data will only increase. Search engines are becoming increasingly adept at retrieving and displaying information directly in search results, and businesses that invest in proper structuring will gain a distinct advantage.
Therefore, the work with schema markup should be an integral part of any SEO strategy going forward, especially for Norwegian companies that want to be visible in a competitive digital landscape.
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