Schema.org – What Does It Mean?

If you haven't heard of Schema.org, it's an initiative that has Google, Yahoo & Bing working together to “create and support a common vocabulary for structured data mark-up on web pages”. Creating a uniform standard for HTML mark-up that is supported by all three of the major search engines.

An example of how the mark-up has changed from current html is shown below, as taken from the Schema.org website:

Original HTML:

<img src="dell-30in-lcd.jpg" />
Dell UltraSharp 30" LCD Monitor
87 out of 100 based on 24 user ratings
$1250 to $1495 from 8 sellers
Sellers:
<a href="save-a-lot-monitors.com/dell-30.html">
  Save A Lot Monitors - $1250</a>
<a href="jondoe-gadgets.com/dell-30.html">
  Jon Doe's Gadgets - $1350</a>
...

With Microdata:

<div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Product">
  <img itemprop="image" src="dell-30in-lcd.jpg" />
  <span itemprop="name">Dell UltraSharp 30" LCD Monitor</span>
  <div itemprop="aggregateRating"
    itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/AggregateRating">
    <span itemprop="ratingValue">87</span>
    out of <span itemprop="bestRating">100</span>
    based on <span itemprop="ratingCount">24</span> user ratings
  </div>
  <div itemprop="offers" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/AggregateOffer"
    <span itemprop="lowPrice">$1250</span>
    to <span itemprop="highPrice">$1495</span>
    from <span itemprop="offerCount">8</span> sellers
  Sellers:
  <div itemprop="offers" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Offer">
    <a itemprop="url" href="save-a-lot-monitors.com/dell-30.html">
     Save A Lot Monitors - $1250</a>
  </div>
  <div itemprop="offers" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Offer">
    <a itemprop="url" href="jondoe-gadgets.com/dell-30.html">
     Jon Doe's Gadgets - $1350</a>
  </div>
  ...
</div>

The overall goal of the initiative is to make it easier for the search engines to understand web pages, through the use of semantic microdata. Google have stated “The site aims to be a one stop resource for webmasters looking to add mark-up to their pages”.

Achieved by having each data entry being described by a vocabulary. For example, web pages for music, movies or local businesses, are all included within the new vocabulary and will help pages and websites become more structured, as shown in the example above. Allowing all site owners the chance to enhance how their site looks and appears in search results for the three major search engines and possibly any future search engine.

This can also be seen, with the rise of rich snippets, currently found with the SERP's. Although it has been active for a few years now, the introduction of Schema.org will enable all webmasters to take full advantage of rich snippet features and to expand on the current categories being used, which are currently limited. Schema offers more specific queries and more information that the snippet can now offer, making it much easier for users to quickly tell if the results are relevant.

If it is well received well and becomes the top choice for webmasters, over the current RDFa and microformats, it will allow the search engines to develop richer search experiences and make it easier for users to find more relevant information when carrying out a search online.

From an SEO perspective it could prove to be highly beneficial. The main highlight here being on structured data, giving relationships between items that can now be read in a 'machine-readable format'. By using microdata, semantic information can be placed into code of existing web pages.

This will surely affect the quality of future search results. If the initiative is backed confidently by Google, Yahoo & Bing as believed, this should result in a site containing Schema.org mark-up having greater visibility in the SERP's over a page containing similar information but excluding the mark-up, or so it would seem.

Only time will tell if in fact the new Schema initiative with common support will benefit webmasters, search engines and users.

For further information please visit schema.org.