Google Updates Structured Data Testing Tool And Documentation

Every blogger wants to get discovered in search engines specially Google and structured data markup shows how a site will appear in search engines. It helps your content gets discovered in search results and displays it in search results as your choice. A couple of days ago, Google announced a new structured data testing tool and improved documentations regarding structured data markups. The older tool is still available on Google webmaster tools. The new update also includes expanded support for JSON-LD markup syntax.

How New Tool Is Going To Help Webmasters:

The older structured data testing tool was not compatible with the continuous changes that are made in search markup. For example, it was still showing author markup in it's tests even after Google announced to discard it from search results. In this situation, webmasters really needed such a tool which help them better understand how Google interpret their content in search results. The picture is clear after this update. It is able to validate all search markups and Google features which are powered by structured data having support for JSON-LD syntax markup in dynamic HTML pages. It gives clear display of markups that are being used in the source HTML code. It also highlights problems and errors in markup structures which help to eliminate those errors.

What's New In Documentation For Structured Data?

Google has simplified their policies on using structured data and documentation related to it based on webmasters' feedback.
The new documentation clarifies the markup vocabulary used in markup structures of an HTML document and explains in more simpler ways that how can you enable different search features of your pages. For example how you enable published date, title and content summary for your webpage which is displayed in search results. The new documentation has come with explanation of JSON-LD markup syntax which is newest feature added to schema.org vocabulary. Google also announced to retire the old documentation very soon.

How JSON-LD Will Help Webmasters:

According to GitHub project, JSON-LD is defined as following.

JSON-LD is designed as a light-weight syntax that can be used to express Linked Data. It is primarily intended to be a way to express Linked Data in JavaScript and other Web-based programming environments. The difference between regular JSON and JSON-LD is that the JSON-LD object above uniquely identifies itself on the Web and can be used, without introducing ambiguity, across every Web site, Web services and databases in operation today.

Google has expanded their support for schema.org vocabulary in JSON-LD markup. After the expanded support, webmasters can link company logos and contacts, social profile links, events in the Knowledge Graph, the sitelinks search box, and event rich snippets to their search results in JSON-LD markup which help better exposure of your content in search results.

Final Words:

Google has been working since a long time to bring quality content higher in its search results by supporting those webmasters who are working genuinely and I think this update is going to help them more. It shows Google lust for quality. Hope they will keep doing the same in future.