Popular WordPress plugin Yoast is releasing an update which offers defragmented implementation of Schema.org markup.
What makes this a first-of-its-kind update is that it cleans up the “fragmented mess” created by most Schema implementations
Even the best Schema implementations are not done very well, the company says, as they often provide no context to search engines.
For example, if a page has eight pieces of Schema markup it’s often unclear to search engines how they’re related to each other.
Here’s what error-free Schema markup looks like in Google’s structured data tester when implemented by other tools:
It’s clean, but those are still eight individual items and search engines need will need to figure out how they’re related to each other.
In addition, it’s also not clear to search engines what the main entity is on the page.
Yoast explains how the latest update to its plugin weaves everything together:
“In our implementation, which we’re releasing today, all of the pieces “stitch together”: we form them into a nested structure. Without this nesting, a search engine doesn’t know how all these pieces relate to each other, and what the most important piece on a page is. Our implementation also clearly and explicitly defines the “main thing” on that page. This removes all of the guesswork and adds a lot of context for search engines.”
You can see the difference for yourself by running one of Yoast’s example pages through Google’s structured data testing tool.
Here’s a screenshot of what you’ll see in the testing tool:
In this screenshot, you can see that the main entity of the page is an article. The article is part of a webpage, which is part of a website.
Scrolling further down you’ll see more entities which Google detects as being related to the article, such as images, author, publisher, and more.
What does this mean for SEOs and site owners?
Implementation of Schema markup with Yoast’s plugin can result in:
- Correct info in Google Knowledge Panels.
- Full support for Rich Article Pins on Pinterest.
- Showing up in a News listing or carousel (when combined with the News SEO plugin).
- Higher chance of product snippets in Google Search results (when combined with the WooCommerce SEO plugin).
- Higher chance of good local listing snippets (with the Local SEO plugin).
Yoast SEO 11.0 with Schema.org implementation is available now by upgrading the plugin. And yes, these new features are all available in the free version.
