Everything You Need To Know About JSON-LD Structured Data
- 21 September, 2020
- Jason Ferry
- Professional SEO Services
One thing that professional SEO service providers make good use of to help boost their clients’ website rankings is structured data. The best professional SEO firms in the industry possess an excellent understanding of how structured data works, allowing them to give better services.
Structured data refers to data that is organised in order to communicate specific information about a web page. This allows the page to be shown as one of the most relevant results in Google search.
Although there are all sorts of ways to communicate structured data, Google prefers to use JSON-LD, which stands for JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data. This is a script that SEO experts can copy and paste into any code or text editor, thus making it easier for them to edit data.
Other forms of structured data can change the HTML of a webpage, but JSON-LD is different. It is completely independent of the HTML and allows SEO experts to place it anywhere in a web page’s code. This means that JSON-LD can be placed at the head section of the webpage, the middle of the content, or even in the footer.
Because of these advantages, it is in the best interests of any webmaster or professional SEO firm to gain a better understanding of JSON-LD structured data. It has two main parts: the structured data Type and the Property.
A Schema structured data contains one or several Types in a JSON-LD script, with each Type having its own Properties. Hence, you can imagine the Type as a specific item, while the Property can be imagined as attributes that describe that item.
As an analogy, think of Type as a person. A person possesses attributes that describe them, such as their address, job status, educational level, and so on. So, by locating the phrase “Structured Data Type”, SEO experts and webmasters can instantly understand what the structured data is all about.
There is a unique way of naming in structured data. Take the following examples:
- CreativeWork
- ArticleBlog
- NewsArticle
- Review
The way SEO agencies and website owners capitalise the first letter of each Types is called PascalCase. It refers to the use of compound words, which are two words joined together with their first letters of each word capitalised.
Because of PascalCase, experts in the industry can instantly know that a word spelt this way – such as NewsArticle – is a structured data Type.
However, a structured data Property is spelt differently. Instead of using the PascalCase, a structured data Property is spelt using camelCase.
The camelCase style refers to writing the first letter of the first word in lower case while capitalising the first letter of the second word when naming compound Properties – which are two words joined together.
However, if the structured data Property is only one word, its first letter should still be written in lowercase. So, for instance, if a compound Property will be written as “articleBody” while a single-word Property will be written as “image”.
To understand Structured Data more, business owners may need to review the different Schema.org Types. They can also download the Schema Builder, a Chrome extension from Schema.dev. This requires one to fill out a form before they can build Structured Data.
Although Structured Data may seem easy once you have a better understanding of it, getting professional SEO services is still crucial for business owners. After all, working with a professional SEO agency gives you access to their experience and expertise, and also frees up time for you to focus on your business operations.
Here at Position1SEO, we can guarantee you a position on the first page of Google search results! As our client, you are entitled to a free, in-depth SEO audit to determine areas that need improvement, giving you a more efficient and personalised SEO solution. Dial 0141 846 0114 or email us at office@position1seo.co.uk, and work with us today!