Semalt Tells About The Best Tools For Improving Your Structured Data (Schema)



Schema Markups are what we use to help Google understand the contents on webpages better. But we do not do this with only our brains; there are some tools that we rely on that make it easier to create, test, and execute Schema. 

Without these tools, creating and managing your structured data would be next to impossible. It will be too challenging for even the best of us, and it will take too long to perfect. A minor error in your JSON code is enough to prevent your Schema from getting validated in Google's Structured Data Tool. 

Schema is essential, so it is indisposable. Your structured data helps Google understand your content more accurately when providing the best results for its user's search query. It is because of Schema that Google can offer rich results to its users, which would help your content stand out and generate valuable clicks, impressions, and conversions.
 
Luckily for web professionals, there are some tools that we use in creating and managing structured data. These tools also help us stay updated with the latest changes in structured data. 

Here are some of our favorite schema tools. There is no particular order to the list. We try to use as many tools as possible to cover every angle and create the absolute best. 

Why Is Schema Important? 

Structured data is simply information (data) that has been organized (structured). It is important because the data is used to communicate specific information about a webpage to Google bots. Doing so makes the page eligible to be displayed as rich content on Google's SERP. 

We use several apps to make up structured data, which is why you will come across several phrases like Structured data markup as you read about Schema. Markup means a computing language, a code. HTML is a markup language that organizes the webpage content that visitors to a site can see. This code also helps web browsers display the webpage in a particular order. 

The HTML contains informational content that helps search engine bots, and they are called metadata. Structured data communicate data in an organized manner to managers so that the search engine can display your web content in an attractive manner. 

Structured data also helps search engines to understand what the images and contents of a page are about. This ensures that your webpages show up for the right search queries and so that search engines accurately display contents in the SERP.

This is why it is so important that we build the best possible Schema for your website, and these are some of the tools that help us do that so well. 

Schema App

Clearly, this is a tool that has been developed to help create structured data. It is also one of the most comprehensive schema tool available at the moment. When we want to execute, test, manage, and keep up with the latest development, this is one of the tools we run to. 

Schema App has an awesome library of useful information that helps with identifying Schema.org types, popular types, properties, and more. If you plan on using this app on your own, we feel it's not a good idea because the Schema app provides you with more than enough data. Many times, you get overwhelmed with how much data it provides. This is why we love it, but it is also its Achilles heel. 

However, it still is one of the best Schema resource and management tools we use. One amazing feature of Schema we enjoy is its ability to define structured data with Wikipedia. For example, if we want to optimize the landing pages on the build-A-bear website, we can type in [build-a-bear], and the Schema app will automatically find the wiki entry that defines the structured data. In this case, that will be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Build-A-Bear_workshop

Another great feature is that it is a comprehensive tool we use to find all structured data types. Schema app also has recommended and required fields that show us which attributes are necessary in order to show up as rich results, including good reporting, data highlighter, and more. 

Merkle Structured Data Tool

This tool has been particularly helpful when we need to generate basic structured data quickly. Using this tool, we can quickly find basic Schema types and generate structured data for breadcrumb, event, how-to, and others. 

We can also test Schema and copy it when adding it to your site. However, there is one drawback with this tool, which is that it only lists basic structure types. Unlike the Schema App, it doesn't have any comprehensive, structured data, glossaries, or vocabularies. It is still an excellent tool. 

Hall Analysis

Like Merkle's, we use this tool to generate structured data quickly, but unlike Merkle's, it is limited to only local businesses, products, persons, organizations, events, and websites. Users must also copy and paste schema code into Google's structured data tool and test it to verify that it works. While another app like Merkle's allows users to test the code right there on the platform and offers more types of structured data. 

The RankRanger Tool

RankRanger is another great tool that offers quality services for a variety of structured data types which need testing. One particularly interesting feature is its Covid-19 special announcements, which is unique as we've not seen them in any other tool.

RankRanger allows users to reset, copy, validate and test its structured data. 

Chrome's Structured Data Plugin

This is a must-have for any professional or user who wants to see if structured data is present on the page as they browse through webpages while auditing or when researching the competition. This plugin allows us to test our webpages to fish out any errors or warnings. We can also copy the data in the table and more. 

Googles' Structured Data Testing Platform

You'd expect Google to have a structured data tool of its own. Now that we've made an argument for our favorite tools to create, manage, and execute structured, we now have to deal with the best tool for testing structured data. 

Last year, Google made a rather bazaar announcement that its structured data tool would be deprecated. This caused a rather unfavorable stir in the SEO universe. We, however, have good knew for you. Google's structured data testing tool is not going anywhere. At least not yet. Instead, it is moving to schema.org by April 2021. 

Google's schema tool is truly the best tool for testing Structured data. It does a great job in showing warnings as well as errors present in Schema. It is also easy to use as all you need to do is to enter the URL or copy and paste the code into the tool. 

We basically love this tool because it allows us to check syntax and ensure we've done a perfect job, which validates according to the standards of Schema.org. 

Google's Rich Results Tool

We use this tool in figuring out if a page will support rich results by entering a URL or code. What we enjoy the most about this tool is that it offers us an option to test Schema with Google smartphone or Googlebot desktop, which tells us if a page is eligible for rich results. 

Google Rich Result Tool and The Structure Data Tool can be used together to show if the page is eligible for rich results and to figure out what errors or warnings may exist in the code. One of the major differences between Google Structured Data Testing Tool and the Rich Result Tool is the Rich Result Tool can only test approved classes of structured data, which directly influences the appearance of search results. The Structured Data Tool, on the other hand, can validate all types of structured data. 

You should note that not all types of structured data are eligible for rich snippets. 

How Structured Data Tools Help Us Provide Better SEO Services 

Having structured data can help your website stand out on search result pages. It can increase findability, helps your website optimize for voice search, and help you get into the knowledge panel, to name a few. With the right tools and technology, we can create clean codes that will validate in Google's Structured Data Testing Tool and its Rich Result Test. 

While using these tools keeps us updated with all the changes and new structured data types. We also enjoy actionable reporting, essential maintenance tips, and other resources designed to help our structured data strategy help your websites better by becoming an ultimate success that matches your key performance indicators. 

Interested in SEO? Check out our other articles on the Semalt blog.