Structured data is a code that you can add to pages on your site to describe content in a readable way to search engines. Thanks to this, search engines will understand the content of websites better. Search engines can use the information obtained in this way to display content in the search results in a useful (and attractive) way. This, in turn, can help you attract the right customers to your company.
Image showing the search result enriched with stars from the review using ordered data
For example, if you have an online store and add tags to a specific product page, you can help us understand that the site has a bike, its price and customer feedback. This information may appear in fragments in the search results displayed in response to specific queries. We call them “results with extended elements”. Now you will have more info right here.
We can use ordered data tags not only in the context of results with extended elements, but also to display relevant results in other formats. For example, if you have a stationary store, the opening hours will allow potential customers to find you exactly when they need it, and check whether your store is open or closed at the time of search.
Search result on Google ice cream stores, enhanced with enhanced elements using ordered data
You can mark many elements related to your business:
- Products that you sell;
- company location;
- videos about your products or company;
- opening hours;
- event lists;
- culinary recipes;
- Company logo and other elements.
A full list of supported content types on our developer site
To describe content, we recommend using ordered data with any of the supported notation tags. You can add tags to the HTML of your pages or use tools such as Data Marker 23 and Data Tag Assistant 24 (for more information, see Best practices).
Best practices
Check the tags using the results test for extended items
Once you’ve marked your content, you can use the result test for extended elements 25 to ensure that there are no implementation errors. You can enter the URL where the content is located, or copy the specific HTML code containing the tags.
What to avoid:
Avoid using invalid tags.
Use the Data Highlighter
If you want to try out structured data tags without making changes to your website’s source code, you can use the free tool called Data Marker integrated with Search Console, which supports a subset of content types.
To prepare the markup code for copying and pasting on your website, use the Data Markup Assistant.
What to avoid:
Do not change the source code of the site if you are unsure about the implementation of the tags.
Track the position of pages with markers in the rankings
Various reports on the status of results with enhanced elements in Search Console show how many pages with a particular type of tag we have detected on the site, how many times they have appeared in the search results and how many times users clicked them in the last 90 days. Reports also contain information about any errors we have detected.