At the beginning of June 2011, the three major search engines, Google, Bing and Yahoo!, launched the Schema.org initiative. The collaboration saw the major search engines come together to construct a common set of schemas for structured data markup on webpages. David Rendel Marketing have conducted their own review into the topic.
While the concept of data markup and microdata is nothing new, Google, Bing and Yahoo! working together almost always draws attention from the collective eyes and ears in the search engine optimisation community; this was the case when the rel=\”canonical\” tag was launched in 2009, and it\’s still the case today. This is because the search engines are the platform through which SEO\’s do the majority of their work, and therefore any changes or modifications to their guidelines are always keenly followed by those who take an interest in SEO techniques and news. Microdata has been available to SEO programmers for a couple of years now, but it is still fascinating to monitor the role that this common set of schemas is playing, and will go on to play in organic search optimisation.
What does Microdata do?
There are several aspects of the schema initiative that will be employed by all three major search engines, and its main use should be explored before the hypothetical theories. Their main purpose is to offer visually richer search engine ranking pages to the searcher. This is due to the Rich Snippets of information that are created when structured data markup is implemented. Rich Snippets were introduced in 2009, their purpose being to bring the marked up data to the surface of SERPs. For example, if you own a cookery website, you can list the cook time of recipes directly in the search engine listings, as well as reviews the recipe has received. The intention of Rich Snippets was to cause the user to spend less time on the search engine results and more time on the websites listed. The schema microdata allows for a wider range of Rich Snippets, and they can be applied across Bing and Yahoo! as well as Google.
What role might Microdata Play in the future?
Although this particular initiative is still in a very early stage, there have been certain occurrences within the SEO community that help us anticipate the role it might play in the future. It is still too soon to declare that schema implementation will go on to be a direct ranking signal, but apparent evidence has emerged that this will soon be the case, particularly in relation to Bing. For example, Stefan Weitz, Director of Search at Microsoft recently gave an interview at Stone Temple Consulting. In it he discussed how Microsoft wanted to move away from a web of nouns, to one of verbs, essentially, to progress from a web of descriptions to an internet of actions. Search engines, traditionally, have largely been concerned with the intent of the searcher who entered a query, the new schema microdata now enables search engines to better gage the intent of the site owner. The schema microdata can now be used as a tool by webmasters and SEO programmers clarify the intent of their website. This can be matched with intent of the person conducting the search query to present more relevant results.
This theory seems to be further evidenced by Duane Forrester, the Senior Project Manager of Bing\’s Webmaster Program. In a recent interview he did with Rand Fishkin at seoMoz, he did seem to confirm that the schema markup will be used directly as a ranking signal. Forrester did clarify in a later comment that while the Rich Snippets that markup enables aren\’t themselves going to make a site rank higher – they are still a signal, but just one of over two hundred. Both of these examples have been drawn from the actions of Microsoft employees, so it can\’t be said that the same sentiments are shared by Google and Yahoo!
Does Microdata Have to be implemented?
The Schema microdata does not need to be implemented. There will be no penalisation for websites that don\’t opt to use this form of data markup. This is because implementation is optional and there are other formats that are supported by the search engines, such as RDFa, and the search engines are going to continue supporting these. However, on the Schema.org website it is suggested that switching to their initiative will be beneficial over time because it is supported by all three of the major search engines. Furthermore, they go on to say that they believe that the schemas will prove to be better overtime because they strike a balance between the need to progress as user habits and language evolve, while also promoting simple implementation. However, as using this standard set of microdata is not a necessity; it doesn\’t mean Webmasters need to be scrambling to update their sites.
Will David Rendel Marketing be implementing Schema microdata?
After conducting an initial review of the Schema microdata format, implementation on client websites is imminent where applicable. We felt it was necessary to assess the initial reaction to the Schema microdata before rushing into a system that was not yet proven. We are confident this decision will ensure our dentists get a service that reflects David Rendel Marketing\’s philosophy to embrace advances in search engine optimisation techniques.
Research and Development Analyst, Peter Brown, said, \”Schemas will make life much easier for Webmasters who want to assist search engine robots to learn about their site further. Our review into the initial launch of the Schema.org initiative has enabled our team of expert SEO technicians to fully grasp the format, allowing for a more considered and in-depth approach to the implementation process. While Microdata is not a new concept to SEO professionals, the collaboration of the three main search engines to produce a standard practice always causes the SEO community to take notice.\”
This blog was written over 6 months ago and Internet Marketing and SEO is an always changing industry which means the information within this blog may be out of date. Use caution when using any methods or suggestions within it.
