How Much Role Does the Semantic Markup Play in Improving Your Rankings

Author: Sally Wilkinson

With the launch of the newly updated Hummingbird ranking algorithm, Google now seeks to incline SEO ranking visibility towards usefulness and steer away from keyword density. This is why learning the role and importance of Semantic markups from the serp tracker is vital for your future online success.

The aim here is to reduce limitations in technology that makes it possible for scammers to get favorable rankings over web pages that have genuinely good content. Semantic mark-ups seek to do the following;

  • Match searches to web pages that offer to mean based on context.
  • To create a metric that understands user intent, and matches the result of the search to the page that offers the best resource.
  • To maximize user gratification by providing the user with exactly what they are looking for, or whatever comes closest.
  • To focus on context and meaning rather than just the words themselves.

Note that semantic markups are a critical technique when it comes to emphasizing meaning. They are a way to prioritize your content as a stand out feature. It is very important to keep this at the back of your mind.

The implication for digital marketers

Marketers whose SEO strategy is based on spam and scams will have a tough time cheating their way out of this one. This is mainly because the use of semantic mark-ups actually helps search engines to get the exact components of a particular web page. This means rankings will be based on value resource and not just keyword density.

Key benefits across the board

Using proper HTML is a practice that benefits not just website owners but also potential leads as well. Here are some examples of how:

  • Properly structured Semantic Mark-ups actually reduce the clutter that is a resultant feature of lots of code. Less code means your page has less load-time, which results in more dwell time. Slow loading is a huge contributor to high bounce rates.
  • It also gives more specific content variations. This means that the difference in code will allow SERPs and developers alike to differentiate between presentation pages (CSS) and what constitutes actual valuable content (HTML).
  • Semantic Mark-up doesn’t just help in precision, it also makes your content more coherent. This is based on the fact that it outlines key features, prioritizes the main points, and outlines important markers on the text.
  • The most important benefit of all, mentioned several times in this article, is the fact that it does in fact help improve your SEO rankings, which is a dab hand at increasing conversion. This is due to the distinguishable HTML features that spell out what your text is about and focuses on the important points.

Importance of SEO

  • Faster indexing

Once you catalog your content with semantic mark-up, search engines will be able to decipher the exact content on your page, the meaning, and where it would be most useful. It won't just be about words, it will be about content and meaning. This means your site will be classified and indexed much faster.

  • Better Visibility

Semantic Mark-ups are all about emphasizing the value of meaning. Writing codes that focus on meaning ultimately results in a strategy that makes it easier for not just humans to consume and understand your content, but also for machines (search engines) to index and catalog your page. This means you get better visibility as well as better rankings in the long run.

  • More Specific content/query match

The great thing about these mark-ups is the fact that now you can have a clearer less ambiguous result to search queries. This feature transforms what was just a result of full of links into a resource that is closest in meaning to the original question as possible. This means that people who are directed to your site are actually more likely to get what they are looking for, compared to previous times. This means you get to provide meaningful answers that are relevant, making your website useful, and therefore boosting your rankings.

  • Maintenance

Semantic Mark-ups actually make things easier.

  • Easy coding is much simpler to update.
  • It is possible to edit and differentiate the design and style of your site without affecting the information.
  • The fact that the written code is easy and standardized makes it easier to maintain.
  • It is easier to read and understand. This because the classification is more precise.
  • Better target marketing

SEO is all about useful content, semantic markup helps to ensure that your content reaches the people who would most benefit from your website.

By utilizing the HTML simple code, this resource assists search engines to identify and rank your information in order of importance. This means that the search engine knows what your site is about, and the kind of people who can be interested in what you're selling.

You can use h1, h2 to indicate your keywords in order of importance. This easy code will emphasize on the important keyword based on this hierarchy.

  • Accessibility

Semantic HTML creates a metric that makes it easier for different people to access the kind of valuable information that they previously couldn't. These include people with disability, and people operating browsers without text boxes or style sheets. The elements contained here allow equal access, making it a valuable resource through and through.

Practical applications

There are a variety of studies that indicate how the use of Semantic Mark-ups as precise web indicators can be an effective tool, especially for sites that lay out a myriad of meaningful content.

  • BBC is one such example. With a variety of underpinnings, links and web identifiers, BBC uses this HTML resource to segregate different music and programs and to rank them in order of importance. This makes the Searching engine ranking process that is much simpler.
  • Car companies such as Renault and Volkswagen are also recording massive improvements in SEO and overall CTR based on clearly laid out structure mark-up strategies that have run their conversion rates into double figures in percentages.

Insurance websites, Pharmacies, as well as hundreds of online enterprises are all beginning to see the benefits.

Tips and Tricks

Semantic markups are a great resource, but only if you use them correctly. Here are a few areas that can help improve CTR.

Events and Authorship are a great place to start. By tagging structured data and identifying yourself as the author, Google metrics will rank you based on events linked to you, and even better. The ranking will be based on topics that you specialize in. This means a more target specific, more relevant SERP ranking algorithm will allow grouping and judgment based on this metric.

Product semantics are also a feature of structured mark-ups that not too many online enterprises are aware of. Note that you can be ranked based on reviews as standard practice. Products and their review patterns can rate as two separate schemas, where product related searches can be equipped with rich snippets, with reviews and ratings as a plus.

  • iTunes and Rotten Tomatoes have been known to use this strategy.

In 2019, it is estimated that video content will probably surpass text-only content at some point. While overlooked, being able to mark-up video content will perhaps be the most useful skill this term. A snippet with a video actually looks more resourceful and more aesthetically pleasing. YouTube, as the second largest SEO tool to date, does come with a standard mark-up for videos that aren’t of a technical incline. These snippets are usually visible on SERPs, and they help in improving your rankings.

The CTR for such sights is usually very high.

Location/Business details are vital when it comes to location-based searches. Consider the fact that 60% of web queries are mobile based, 80% of these queries are location based. That’s not the half of it. Mobile-based internet searches aren’t just mostly local, they have an up to 70% task completion rate. This means that someone who looks for something on their phone is likely to purchase that item within an hour, depending on how close they are to your store. What are the implications?

  • Once you have a resource snippet with your business information, then your CTR will go through the roof. Cause and effect. A higher CTR means more dwell time, better rankings, and higher conversion.

If that isn’t a reason to jump into local SEO with both feet, I don’t know what is!

Final thoughts

Semantics is all about meaning, and the key consideration for these mark-ups is creating a metric that prioritizes meaning and context, rather than simply ranking sites based on keywords. The key point here is to ensure that you distinguish between meaning and presentation. Most people bold titles and headers that add no value to the content. Mapping content that does not classify as useful will hurt your rankings.