Schema markups are very valuable tools for SEO. These lines of code allow search engines to better understand a website’s offerings and can increase web traffic and conversions. They are also great in short-term marketing strategy for event marketing. Recently Google has stated that they prefer the JSON-LD format for schema markups.
What Are Schema & Rich Snippets?
Since 2011, schema markups have become an important part of SEO toolbelts. Schema markups allow companies to provide Google and other search engines with packaged and structured data. Structured data is valuable to Google because it allows them to more effectively provide answers to user queries. This data can cover and be structured for a wide variety of topics including the following:
- Local business information including hours, social media accounts, and prices
- Event information including dates, ticket information, and location
- FAQ information that tells search engines that a specific page on a website answers specific queries
- Review information that highlights specific reviews of a product or service
- Product or Offer information that highlights a temporary sale or the specifications of a specific product
Using schema can greatly improve how a website’s offerings and content are displayed through search engine results. There are three main formats for schema markups including; Microdata, RDFa, & JSON-LD. In 2017 Google stated that they prefer the JSON-LD format.
What is JSON-LD Schema?
As mentioned above there are three popular formats for creating schema markups: Microdata, RDFa, & JSON-LD. Generally, the difference in these formats is how they code information. JSON-LD stands for JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data and it was designed to code using JavaScript. Both RDFa and microdata code through HTML. Because Google has recommended that web developers code schema using the JSON-LD format, that has become the standard. Although this may seem confusing or overwhelming for SEO specialists with less coding experience, there are many online tools that make writing JSON-LD schema easy.
How Do You Create JSON-LD Schema?
To write schema markups, it is recommended that you use a JSON-LD online tool. Luckily, ever since Google stated that they prefer the JSON-LD format, there has been an increase in online schema markup generator tools including this one. Simply identify the type of markup you want to make, fill out the listed fields, generate the schema, and add it your website’s backend. You can also test the schema you have generated using these online tools.
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