Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, clarifies that structured data is elective and doesn’t affect search rankings.
Whereas this has all the time been the case, Sullivan reiterated his truth after some controversy was triggered over a misunderstanding that structured knowledge is required to rank properly in Google Search.
The Controversy
This week, a meal blogger tweeted that she obtained a discovery from Google which said structured knowledge for calorie counts needed to be added to recipes. The blogger was underneath the impression that failure to incorporate calorie depend on structured knowledge would lead to her content material not showing in search outcomes.
Me: *Trying to create a food blog that doesn’t participate in diet culture.*
Google: Enable calorie counts on your recipe cards or risk not appearing in search results! pic.twitter.com/XQVKo4ofXC
— Rebecca Eisenberg (@ryeisenberg) January 15, 2020
It’s said in Google’s discover that including calorie counts were merely a suggestion, not a requirement. Nevertheless, the blogger’s tweet blew up and the misinformation unfolds the main others to imagine what she said was true.
Google’s Reply
The controversy attributable to the blogger’s tweet caught Google’s consideration, as Sullivan replied in an effort to clear up the misunderstanding. Later, Sullivan revealed a tweet thread through the official Google Search Liaison account to deal with the scenario in additional elements.
“Yesterday, a concern was raised that calorie information was required for recipes to be included in or to rank well for Google Search. This is not the case. Moreover, structured data like this has no impact on ranking in web search. This thread has more we hope eases concerns…
Content owners can provide structured data as an optional way to enhance their web page listings. It has no impact on ranking. Using it may simply help pages that already rank well appear more attractive to potential visitors.”
Sullivan goes on to state that structured data can be utilized to boost a search snippet and maybe make it extra engaging for searchers to click on on. However, once more, it’s not required.
Sullivan concedes the wording of the discover that was despatched to the blogger might have been clearer. Google will likely be reviewing the wording of Search Console notices in an effort to forestall these kinds of considerations sooner or later.
