One of the most pressing and relevant topics among web-programmers and owners of Internet resources today is seo-optimization. In order for the site to get on the first pages of Yandex or Google search queries, it is necessary to carry out tremendous work on its creation and promotion.
What is semantic markup for?
You can adapt the resource for an ordinary user using relevant and interesting content. But for the user to be able to find this resource, it is necessary to optimize the site for the search engine. How to do it?
A search robot, unlike a person, cannot recognize what is being discussed on the site without specific hints. He analyzes the content, reveals certain patterns, identifies keywords, but, without human intelligence, he cannot understand the meaning of what is written. To simplify the task for him, programmers invented semantic or micro-markup for Yandex and Google. Just as hypertext shows the machine what and where to place it, semantic markup explains to whom or what the resource is dedicated to. Thanks to this understanding, the site is better ranked among competitors and has a better chance of getting to the first lines of search queries.
Semantic Markup Example
Especially effective micro-marking "Yandex" and Google affects the promotion of commercial sites offering goods and services. The following example will explain it most clearly.
It is necessary to create micro-marking for a business card site for the provision of hairdressing services for dogs. It will look like this:
- itemtype - BarberShop,
- name - hairdresser for dogs.
The first line contains the area of the site, and the second - a specific object. A page with such a script will be higher on the search ladder than a similar page without it, since the search system will consider it more relevant to the term “hairdresser for dogs”, and not just “hairdresser”.
The micro-markup created using Yandex.Webmaster allows you to register many parameters - points of sale, opening hours, contacts, a brief description of the product or service and much more.
Where is semantic markup used?
More and more resources are striving to provide the user with quality processed material. The closer in meaning it will be to the desired, the greater the effectiveness of the site. Therefore, today micro-marking is actively used:
- Commercial sites for the promotion of goods and services.
- Online directories and encyclopedias for the formation of multi-level links between articles.
- Social networks for detailing profiles, events and other content.
Schrema.org single standard
The creation of semantic markup led to the fact that it required a single standard for all search engines. They became micro-marking "Yandex" and Google - schrema.org. It simplifies the process of creating a short description (snippet) that we see when the page is displayed in the search results. Important information about the site can be included in this information to help the user decide whether or not to go to this page.
By the way, the number of elements and dictionaries in schrema is huge, so it can be used for sites of almost any subject.
Open Graph Standard
In addition to the search engines Google and Yandex, micro-marking of goods, services, multimedia and information content is also required for social networks. For them, Facebook came up with a single standard Open Graph. This markup allows you to control how the site will be presented in the news feed of the social network. And today you can create beautiful links with its help not only on Facebook, but also on Google+, VKontakte, Twitter. By the way, Twitter Cards is also used to beautifully display the latter.
What micro-layout to choose?
In fact, when ranking a site, neither Yandex nor Google give any preference to any standard. The classic use case is schrema.org - it is the most complete, modern and actively developing.
Microdistribution Dictionaries
We determined what Yandex micro-marking is. How to make it display the necessary information? For this, a concept such as a micro-markup dictionary is used. This is a set of elements, tags and syntax with which the search engine focuses on something.
Each standard has its own dictionaries and elements. There are several key dictionaries in schema.org with their huge hierarchy and display types. For example, the Thing dictionary allows you to represent information in 3 main properties:
- alternateName - for the alias of the object;
- description - for a text description of the object;
- image - for an image or link to it.
Or the dictionary Good Relations, which will be especially useful for online trading platforms. It allows you to post data on prices, places of acquisition, availability, etc.
FOAF dictionary - micro-marking of contacts "Yandex" and Google. This is a questionnaire that you filled out millions of times on various sites - your name, coordinates, page on social networks, mail, date of birth, etc. This knowledge will help persuade the user to follow the link, offering him something that may interest him. Thus, the site can increase traffic.
For a detailed description of audio and video information - artist, album name, duration - VideoObject micro-marking is used.
There is also a markup for mail messages, allowing the user, without going to another page, to agree to a meeting or leave a comment under the article, for example.
What is a validator?
Any promotion on the Internet requires a thorough and in-depth analysis of effectiveness. You can check Yandex’s micro-markup using a validator - software that recognizes metadata on web pages. Documents of any formats - HTML, XHTML, RSS, XML, in any languages can be verified.
Yandex micro-marking is checked by any validator that supports the formats of Schema.org, microdata HTML, Open Graph, RDF.
How to check Google micro-markup
There are several ways to find out how structured your site’s data in Google searches is. For an experienced user who is fluent in the hidden settings of Google webmasters, the Rich Snippet Tool is available only by reference.
Another way is to install the Seo by Yoast plugin. It is convenient to use and will be available after installation in the top panel of the webmaster.
The third way - on the Google Developers website in the toolbar, select “Other resources”, click on the “Tool for checking structured data” button and specify the html page that you want to check. When the robot calculates the given script, you will receive a detailed report with errors, if any, and explanations for them.
How to check Yandex micro-markup
With this search engine, everything is somewhat simpler. The Yandex microdistributor validator is located in the webmasters tools in the “My Sites” tab. Here you need to click the “Check markup” button and enter the site URL, and the validator will begin to calculate errors. After a few minutes, you will receive one of three possible answers:
- Microdistribution not detected.
- There are mistakes.
- Micro-marking is fully compliant.
In what cases does information about incorrect markup appear?
Yandex.Webmaster, a micro-marking validator, displays an error message in two situations:
- When it does not recognize the markup.
- When micro-marking does not meet the standard.
In any case, the program will give a detail of the error by which you can judge which mandatory fields in the markup were omitted or which attribute was omitted.
It may still display a message - "the page cannot be loaded." It indicates a server error or a page that does not exist.
If the Yandex microdistribution is performed with an unknown error or you don’t know how to fix it, you can always ask for help from Yandex.Webmaster.
After validation is complete, a new markup will appear within 2 weeks.
How does micro-layout affect site ranking?
You marked your resource in accordance with all the rules, and the Yandex micro-marking validator showed that everything was done without errors. How many points will your site climb the search ladder?
Semantic markup only indirectly affects relevance, and you cannot name the exact number of positions to which it will raise the site. However, micro-marking is one of the key factors affecting the user's attention. An interesting and attractive snippet will lead a greater number of visitors, and the position of the site will grow. The rest will depend on the fullness and relevance of the resource.
The benefits of micro-marking
In addition to the visibility of the resource, micro-layout significantly increases the weight and quality of the site among competitors. It is worth highlighting the following advantages of markup:
- It increases confidence on the part of search engines, it is easier for a search robot to highlight the main elements of a page, which means it becomes easier for them to index us. If you describe this process in a very simplified way, we can say that the search engine is pleased that we open the heart of the site, our internal secrets, and its trust in us is increasing.
- In the eyes of the consumer, sites with snippets look not only more noticeable, but also better. Accordingly, such resources are often clicked on, which means that the CTR in the issuance or clickability increases.
- The owner has a unique opportunity to show information that will be noticed even if the user has not visited the site.
- Snippet information can always be changed, and this will not affect the position of the resource in the list.
But, of course, with seo-promotion you should not focus only on the development of micro-marking. It is imperative to have useful and unique content, but not only. There are many other factors affecting the increase of the site in the ranking of search engines "Yandex" and Google.
Other ways to promote the site
Internal promotion, which includes the micro-marking of Yandex and Google, has several directions:
- the use of keywords in the domain and site headers;
- the presence of keywords on the page itself, their uniform distribution throughout the text, the location in the subheadings, tags;
- correct error-free HTML markup (checked using the Yandex Webmaster tools);
- the presence of megatags (keywords, description, etc.) that indicate to the search engine the essence of the page;
- linking - that is, links to other pages of the site;
- simple structure of the site that allows you to click on the main page;
- catchy and intuitive design;
- work with social networks, the ability to recommend the information you like to others;
- site map availability;
- unique, interesting and regularly updated content useful and relevant for the reader;
- Optimized CMS for fast and error-free page loading.
In addition to internal promotion, work should be carried out with external factors. The web programmer should regularly monitor whether links to the site are displayed on other resources, how weighty and authoritative this link mass is (this process is determined using thematic and weighted citation indices). One of the methods of external citation is also the placement of advertising banners of the resource.
According to recent studies, one of the most effective ways to promote is to discuss or mention a site on social networks. The search engine sees the active movement of this information and perceives it as relevant and in demand, thereby increasing the rating of the resource.
For online stores, it is efficient to use comments and customer reviews, both on the site itself and on thematic forums, portals with reviews, etc.
Instead of a conclusion
Network promotion is a complex multifaceted process that requires intensive work on various external and internal factors. This is not to say that any of the above methods is absolutely correct, and it is he who will lead your site to the top. It’s possible to get to the top lines of search queries only when you work on all aspects of SEO promotion in a complex way, in particular, micro-markup should be a huge part.
It is very important to convey to the search engine that you are trying by all means to simplify its selection and do this not only for the sake of a high rating, but also for the convenience of the user, more precisely, first of all, so that a person finds this information on the network.
Yandex and Google are directly interested in the user getting the necessary information, which means that the more loyal your resource is, the greater its chances of taking a place in the top.
It doesn’t matter what kind of markup you use - OpenGraph, schrema.org or any other, the main thing is that it is done without errors and highlights the key points of the resource pages. Check it regularly with the validator, conduct a deep analysis of each side of your activity, and then you will have excellent results!