Schema markup is a powerful tool that can greatly benefit both Google and website owners in various ways. In an article published on Search Engine Land, Tyler, an Associate Director of SEO at Tombras, explores the role of schema markup in building trust with Google and enhancing information acquisition.
The article begins by highlighting the escalating costs that Google faces due to the rapid growth of spam and the adoption of generative AI. Implementing Search Generative Experience (SGE) incurs significantly higher costs compared to current methods, potentially impacting ad revenue. As a result, Google has become more stringent in what gets included in its index, leading to more frequent deindexing for pages with complex business models or JavaScript issues.
To reduce the chances of being deindexed, website owners and SEO professionals can align with Google’s initiatives by implementing schema markup. Schema markup not only helps search engines understand content more efficiently but also provides a cost-saving for Google. By aiding Google in minimizing resources needed for crawling, indexing, and understanding websites, visibility can be improved.
One of the key benefits of schema markup is its ability to establish trust with Google. Detailed schema markup, linking entities with @id, and connecting to external data sources through sameAs can lower the cost of data exchange between a business and Google. Descriptive schema markup lowers NLP costs by defining entities and their relationships on the page. Linking entities enhances the description of their relationships, while linking to external data increases the descriptiveness and legitimacy of entities.
The article emphasizes the importance of connecting data from external sources using sameAs. This not only links social media profiles but also connects to knowledge bases like Wikidata and Google’s Knowledge Graph. Connecting to trusted and verified data sources is crucial for building trust and proving legitimacy.
Schema markup also plays a role in increasing the likelihood of inclusion in SGE and boosting information gain scores. The more structured data businesses provide Google, the more verified information they have to train machine learning algorithms effectively. Increasing visibility in SGE requires sharing something new or providing a new perspective. Information gain scores, which encourage the discovery of new information with each query, can boost content’s chances of being included in SGE results.
In conclusion, schema markup is a valuable tool for building trust with Google and enhancing information acquisition. By implementing detailed and accurate schema markup, linking entities, and connecting to external data sources, website owners can improve visibility, reduce the chances of being deindexed, and align with Google’s initiatives. Ultimately, schema markup benefits both Google and website owners by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing the likelihood of inclusion in SGE.
