For most entrepreneurs, how we show up in Google search results is a big deal.
It’s a big deal because we want potential clients who are looking for what we have to offer to find us through a search.
And, we want our search listing to look really good, so that they’ll click on our link and check out our website.
So what if I told you that Google (and Bing & Yahoo!) have introduced a new way to tag your website so that the search engines know exactly what’s important about your website or blog post?
It’s Called Microdata
Technical awesomeness aside, the reason this new microdata language matters to you is that how you use this new format affects how you show up in Google search.
In a nutshell, better placement in search results and more attractive search listings lead to more website visitors and, ultimately, more clients.
That’s that microdata will do for your website, if you use it correctly. 🙂
How Do You Actually Use Microdata?
Because microdata is such a visual thing, I’ve stepped out of my writing comfort zone to produce my first video blog (gulp!). It’s long (~ 30 minutes), but it covers exactly how microdata works.
And, I show you step-by-step how to begin implementing it on your website.
Video Slides: How to Implement Microdata on Your Website – Basics, Person, Organization
Microdata Code Swipe File: Person-Specific Schema for Your About Page
Microdata Code Swipe File: Organization-Specific Schema for Your Contact Page
Your Turn
This is my first ever video blog, and I’d love your feedback! Leave me a comment below and let me know what you liked, didn’t like, or suggestions for improvement.
And, if you get stuck at any point with implementing microdata on your website, just shoot me an email. I’m happy to help!
~ Felicity
photo credit: danielweiresq via photopin cc
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Hi Felicity,
Thanks for making this video, it’s a whole new world for me 🙂
One question – how does this interact with – or does it – authorship markup? Do you need both?
Also, I don’t know if you realise but the video cuts out in the middle of a sentence…
Cheers
Kirsten
Hi Kristen,
Thanks for the feedback! As for your question about author markup, the microdata site says that you can use either microdata or the author markup to tell Google about the author. They are inter-changeable. 🙂
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Good intro. Since I am not a business, just a personal blog, I wan’t use a lot of it but will link my name to the blog address. If anyone searches for me they should find the blog!
Thanks Dad! Microdata is pretty handy, in that you can do as much (or as little) as you want with it!
Felicity Fields recently posted..5 Irresistible Email Lists to Learn From
You’re a great teacher Felicity. This is so easy to follow. Is there any way to increase the size of the Vimeo screen on my screen? It would really help to see exactly what you’re cutting and pasting. I hope you do the next video on blog posts. That’s where I’d really like to use microdata.
Thanks,
Susan
Hi Susan,
I’m not sure about increasing the size of the video screen. The stuff I’m copying can be found in the PDF below the video, but you’re right – the screen shots of where I’m pasting the data is a little fuzzy.
I’m working on another post about microdata for blog posts & events. Should be out in a couple of weeks!
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Felicity,
Just a note to thank you for the quality of your posts and Video upon Microdata.
You helped me a lot in my search of informations.
Thank you,
Cheers.
You’re most welcome, Jacques! I’m glad I could help out. 🙂
Felicity,
I have a question though,
Can we style Microdata with Css ?
Cheers..
Hi Jacques,
Microdata is designed to be “hidden,” ie not visible, on the front side of a website. CSS is designed to style what you see on the front end of a website. So far, I’m pretty sure no one has connected the two different branches of HTML language. They probably haven’t seen a need to do so. But if I happen to hear differently, I will let you know!
Felicity,
I am turning to you again as I have a few questions upon Microdata.
1st…Does it hurt in the Google Search to have a Web page marked up with Microdata that is not approved by Google Authorship ?
( In your Videos I don’t see any Google Authorship Aproval ).
2nd…Can I have on the same page a…
<div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization" and a
<div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Review"…Markup setup ??
3rd…With Microdata, is it the end of Keywords ?
4th…Should we still implement Web pages with Keywords ?
Thank you so much for your time,
Cheers..
Hi Jacques,
Some answers to your questions. 🙂
1. Google will not penalize you if you do not also have Google Authorship set up for your site. But since Google is paying a lot more attention to social networks, including Google+, when it decides what to show in search, it is beneficial to have Google Authorship set up on your site.
2. You can switch back and forth between two categories of microdata schema, like Organization or Review. You will need to close the
3. Keywords have been defunct since long before microdata came out. They were used in the beginning of websites because it was the only tool available. Now that the internet is more sophisticated, keywords ceased being important to Google a couple of years ago.
4. If you’re determined to use keywords on your webpages, use the Yoast plug-in. It requires you to select one keyword or phrase for the page or post, then shows you how to implement that keyword in various places on the page / post to give that page or post the best chance of being ranked in Google for that specific keyword or phrase.
Hope this helps!
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Thank you so much Felicity, that will help a lot.
Felicty,
How Long does it take Google+ Authorship ? ( I mean to get my picture on the Google testing page ).
Cheers..
If you’re using the Google Rich Snippets testing tool (http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets), then you should be able to see if Google is aware of your Google+ Authorship right away.
However, it can take Google a day or two in real life to connect your website with your Google+ Authorship. And, it can take anywhere from 2 – 4 weeks before your Google+ profile picture starts appearing in Google search.
It all has to do with when Google picks up the info on your site, and that can take a while. But at least the Rich Snippets testing tool shows you that you’ve done your side of the equation correctly.
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