What are the reason to Opt for JSON-LD Structured Data?
It is seen in a survey of the top 10 million sites that among them only 25.1% use JSON-LD structured data. However, Google has declared that its preferred structured data is JSON-LD.
Gradually, JSON-LD is becoming more important as Google is being started to be used in almost all the places from our homes to our automobiles.
So let’s see what this JSON-LD Structured Data really is.
JSON-LD Structured Data
JSON-LD is short for Javascript Object Notation for Linked Data, consisting of multi-dimensional arrays.
It is used as an implementation format for structuring data similar to that of Microdata and RDFa. JSON-LD is applied by using Schema.org vocabulary. It is a combined effort of Google, Yandex, Bing, and Yahoo!. It was put into effect in 2011 to build a singular structured data vocabulary for the internet.
This is applied in the head section along with all other metadata like meta description and title tags. It is sometimes placed at the end of the code.
JSON-LD as compared to other methods structure is much superior. It does not implement any changes to the HTML code and is easy to launch across the website.
Breaking Down of JSON-LD
Now let’s see how JSON-LD works
<script type=“application/ld+json”>{
By seeing JSON-LD, the first thing you will notice is <script> tag. This <script> tag using a type attribute says, “Hey browser, I’m calling the JavaScript that contains JSON-LD”.
“@context”:”
The“ class=”redactor-autoparser-object”>http://schema.org”,
@context is the second element that has a constant place in JSON-LD along with the value of http://schema.org. The @context read, “Hey browser, this is the vocabulary I’m referencing. You can find it at http://schema.org.” This provides a benefit for the SEO, as we can use any item types and item properties which is provided by Schema.org.
“@Type”: “…”,
@type is the final element of the JSON-LD Schema copy/paste team. The @type says, “Hey, I’m using the Person item type”, the URL is http://schema.org/person. By typing this URL in the browser, you will get the item type’s documentation and the technical specifications and any item properties available.
Attribute Value-Pairs
This will explain the information of the item type. The item properties can be found in the Schema.org page.
There are two vital elements of the syntax of JSON-LD. They are:
- Item Property- This is acquired from the Schema.org vocabulary and must always be put inside double quotation marks. This must be within the properties of the item types.
- Value- Here you have to put your value for the property. It’s important for the values to be aligned with the property and must be singular. The Strings and the URLs require the “double straight quotation marks”. However, when the numbers, floats, integers, or doubles are alone, they do not require quotation marks.
Square Brackets
These are used when there are numerous values for one item property. SameAs is used as leverage just like square brackets are used for enlisting numerous social media platforms.
The given below square brackets are saying, “There are multiple values for this item type; Jason Derulo has two given names”.
“familyName”:[“Derulo”, “Desrouleaux”],
“sameAs”: [“https://twitter.ocm/jasonderulo”,
“https://www.youtube.com/user/JasonDerulo”.
“https://www.instagram.com/jasonderulo/”,
“https://www.facebook.com/jasonderulo/”],
You will notice that there is no comma within the square bracket after the last element. This is an indication that there is no more information.
Nesting
The information is organized within layers in nesting. You all may be aware of nesting dolls. These are big dolls which contain other smaller dolls within itself. The nesting process applies the same concept.
Nesting is an important part of precisely marking up Schema.org JSON-LD. This is necessary because there are times when you will have some item properties which will not be of the same type as your item types.
The nesting process in JSON-LD begins with the item property, eg: actor, director, image. We have to use curly brackets for the item property which are defined using the new item type.
The Number of Sites using Structured Data
According to a survey, about 46.3% of the analyzed site don’t use structured data. About 25.1% of the analyzed sites use JSON-LD structured data. After adding the percentage of non-user and user of the JSON-LT, the result comes as 71.4%.
After subtracting the 71.4 from 100, the result comes as 28.6%. This 28.6% is the number of sites using structured data other than JSON-LD.
This is a mixed result, as there are sites which often use a number of structured data simultaneously. Hence these results are not accurate.
Moreover, this ranking of the top ten million sites was done by Alexa. These sites may not accurately show the actual position of the web.
You should start using JSON-LD as quickly as possible if you are not currently using any other structured data. You have to launch it properly. Otherwise, if the structured data do not support the on-page content, the site will consider it as spam.
Why you should consider Changing your Structured Data to JSON-LD?
You should definitely consider changing to JSON-LD because it is more flexible and has a more discreet way of integration. Moreover, it is preferred by Google, hence, you should make it your first preference for using structured data.
It is necessary to improve the search because only then you can obtain a top-ranking and keep it for as long as possible.
Other structured data are capable of fulfilling your needs. However, JSON-LD acquires all the features to help you achieve high rankings. Hence, according to me, you should definitely go for JSON-LD and you will be on the good side of Google.
Conclusion
As you have understood from the article that structured data is important for your site, and among the structured data, JSON-LD structured data is the best.
So, switch to JSON-LD as soon as possible and make your websites more effective.