Schema markup is a type of microdata that creates enhanced descriptions that Google might use as rich snippets in search results.
Essentially, it’s a shared vocabulary that enables search engines, including Google, to mustand Yandex Better understand what’s on any given web page.
A search engine’s ability to understand a page’s content is integral to its ability to match it to relevant queries.
So is pattern a ranking factor?
Let’s review the evidence.
Disclaimer: Pattern is a ranking factor
In early 2018, Roger Montti wrote renew Google’s “Introduction to Structured Data” resources:
If you’re curious, visit Google’s help resources How structured data works A slight change has taken place again – this is what is being said today:
“Google Search strives to understand what a page is about. You can help us by giving Google clear clues about the meaning of the page by including structured data on the page.”
Now, Google says “you can help us” by using structured data.
The consensus among SEO professionals for a long time is that while patterns are useful, they are not a ranking factor.
However, the aforementioned edits have SEO professionals wondering what has changed in 2017 to warrant updating the text.
Evidence of Schema as a ranking factor
Schema.org explain Why Architecture Matters to Search Engines:
“Your web pages have underlying meanings that people understand when they read them. But search engines have limited understanding of what is discussed on those pages.
You can help search engines and other applications understand better by adding extra tags to the HTML of your web pages (such as “Hey search engine, this information describes this particular movie, place, person, or video” tag) your content and present it in a useful, relevant way. “
A case study published by Google itself shared Architecture Success Stories of Rakuten, after “partnering with Google Search in 2017 to make their structured data more useful”, saw a 2.7x increase in traffic from search engines.
Google also noted a 1.5x increase in time on page.
last one 2020 Experiment Dixon Jones found that over a one-month period, sites that applied the architecture gained twice as much ranking as they dropped.
He also found that content-rich pages benefited more than others.
Evidence against schema as a ranking factor
exist Monty’s articlehe also noted something Gary Illyes said at Pubcon 2017:
“…add structural data to your pages, because during indexing we’ll be able to better understand what your site is about.”
and:
“This will help us understand your pages better and indirectly, in a sense, lead to better rankings because we can rank more easily.”
Illyes is clear here that the ranking advantage of using patterns is indirect.
When Google better understands the entities that appear on the page and what they mean, it makes ranking easier.
Google’s John Mueller reiterates that architecture is not a ranking factor Twitter response A question from 2018, where SD = structured data:
Twitter screenshot, February 2022So simply using pattern tags won’t give you a ranking boost.
The next question is, will usage patterns make your site more technically sound and help rank?
In the 2019 Google Webmaster Central office hours video, Mueller says:
“On the one hand, we do use structured data to better understand entities on a page and to figure out where that page is more relevant. But that doesn’t mean that just because people are doing things the technically correct way on the site, This page is better than the others.
We’re going to try to use it (pattern) to show it (your page) in more relevant search results, which might bring more users to your pages that actually match your page theme.
But that doesn’t mean we’ll show it to more users, or that it’ll rank better. “
So many ideas.
Mueller likens the concept of schema as a ranking factor to the idea of validated HTML as a ranking factor.
None of these factors tell Google that the page has more value to users.
Need more evidence?
In 2020, Google’s search liaison Danny Sullivan said structured data is optional, adding that it has “No effect on web search rankings. “
Architecture as a Ranking Factor: Our Verdict
Schema exactly as Google has in its 2011 Schema.org Release Announcement: It improves the way your website is displayed in major search engines.
Use patterns to:
- Improve the appearance of search results through rich snippets.
- To make you appear in relevant inquiries If Google doesn’t know the relevance of your pages, you probably don’t.
- Increase time on page When you are exposed to more relevant queries and users find more engaging content.
There’s no evidence that Google uses it to determine search rankings, but those are good things.
Anything you can do to help Google better understand why your page is the best answer to a relevant query will definitely help support your SEO goals.
Featured image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Magazine
