How to Speak Search Engine

Location pages continue to gain importance in Local Search Ranking Factors, as search algorithms prioritize the most authoritative sources of a business' location information (the business itself).

To maximize success, location pages need correct info, clean interfaces, clear calls to action, and compelling visuals. But what the user doesn't see is equally important.

Structured data markup, which is written into the source code of the page itself, is invisible to the user but allows search engines and web crawlers to determine the semantic meaning (context) of the important content on each location page. With this context, search engines and crawlers know more accurately when a user is searching for this information and the exact information to display –– e.g. the business hours, or the location of a particular store in maps.

It also allows search engines to display rich content directly in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). In the below image, the "rich snippet" is the event information listed below the description. Rich content provides consumers the information that they need more quickly and makes them more likely to convert.

Better context for what the information on a page represents is better for users, better for businesses, and better for search engines. To this end, Google, Yahoo, and Bing collaborated to create a common vocabulary, called Schema.org, for websites to use to describe their data.

Schema.org can be used for everything from books and movies, to people, and places, but for businesses looking to improve their local digital presence, the most useful schema types are: name, address, phone (NAP), reviews, events, products, and offers.

Download our newest whitepaper "How to Speak Search Engine" to learn more about Schema.org and how to implement it to boost the SEO of your locations pages today.