Why Structured Data & Semantic SEO Are Important - SMX East 2013

@mike_arnesen #SMX #21C

Why Structured Data

& Semantic SEO

Are Important

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#SMX #21c

Hi, SMX!

Mike ArnesenSEO Team Manager, SwellPathGoogle.com/search?q=mike+arnesen

@mike_arnesen #SMX #21C

What’s wrong with the web

anyway?

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What does it mean?!

Without advanced analysis,

it’s hard to understand what pages and sites are about.

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How we used to convey meaning…

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Okay …we’re not

that bad

anymore.

@mike_arnesen #SMX #21C

Semantic markup changes everything.

It’s our mechanism for creating meaningful data!

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@mike_arnesen #SMX #21C

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Data pulled from semantic markup is

everywhere!

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What do you mean by “data”?

Objects

Properties

Relationships

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From Documents to Data

Documents (i.e. web pages)

can only be read.

Data can be used in any way

you can imagine.

The data from a document can be

disassembled, rearranged, & reassembled.

@mike_arnesen #SMX #21C

When combined,

data can be more interesting

than the individual pieces themselves.

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Shared vocabularies make semantic

markup meaningful.

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What is Semantic SEO?

Providing open, structured data

in order to increase search visibility by

helping connect users with information

that they want and need.

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“I don’t want to lose traffic!”

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You could lose traffic!

Yet providing open data

earns your site greater trust.

A trustworthy resource is

worthy of being promoted!

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Let’s fast forward

“Webmasters can improve the rank of their sites

by creating high-quality sites

that users will want to use and share.”

Google, 2013

@mike_arnesen #SMX #21C

Let’s fast forward

“Webmasters can improve the rank of their sites

by providing high quality data

that users & applications will want to use.”

Google, future

@mike_arnesen #SMX #21C

Semantic SEO is the new frontier

It allows for more effective organization of the web.

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Delivering more comprehensive

& relevant information

@mike_arnesen #SMX #21C

Make your site a resource

Linked data is a vital building block of the semantic web.

Could it be that sites providing a wealth of data

will receive the same credit

as the sites who are frequently linked to?

The more your data is referenced, the more credible your resource becomes.

@mike_arnesen #SMX #21C

Thank you!