No, SD (structured data) won’t have a direct impact on a website’s rankings like SEO does. According to John Mueller of Google: “All the information Google uses to organize content in search results is taken from visible webpage content.”
So why is SD such a big deal?
Because once an SEO “win” is achieved (an increase in search engine position) SD can serve as the “slot machine multiplier” by adding more search estate.
After all, what is better than a single link that promotes a company’s website? 2 links.
Why only have a listing for a website in Google when it’s possible to have a listing and a knowledge panel showing simultaneously, which doubles or potentially triples search engine visibility.
Although SD is not required to perform SEO, it is highly recommended by most SEO professionals including the one who wrote this blog post.
(Keep in mind, this is an opinion piece so if the technical side of SEO is not for you it should be reassuring to know that Google draws most information from the visible content directly off what’s visible on the webpage.)
Structured Data Enhances Search Visibility
Back in 2019 Google’s Gary Illyes basically let us know that CTR (click through rate) does NOT affect search ranings so SEOs should not be looking to raise their CTR in an attempt to raise their rank because CTR is not a search engine ranking signal. However, more search engine visibility equates to a higher chance of a click through.
Increasing search visibility can be done with SD. With more links showing up to be clicked the chances of a click through go up.
For commercial purpose websites (ecommerce, etc.) search visibility can eventually lead to more business revenue.
Rich Results Structured Data
Basically, SD can create more clickable search estate in Google. Rich results such as site links (those small blue hyper-links under website listings in Google search results) are proof of this. Site links break your site down into important sections that users would find useful. These users may click a site link that they otherwise would have never seen without SD implementation.
Of Course, the content of the link is important. If the content per link is not captivating it will probably not get clicked.
Remember: SD can increase visibility in search but without proper content creation it won’t matter and the CTR will be the same.
Quotes From John Mueller of Google On SD:
“There is probably no benefit at all and probably also no harm there. In general we recommend using structured data for the elements you want to have visible in the search results. And the ones we have visible are based on the properties that we have documented.”
“All the information Google uses to organize content in search results is taken from visible webpage content.” (Structured Data is not used for ranking)
If the search engine is Google then developers.google.com should be the documentation referred to for structured data format.
In 2021 SD offers a lot in terms of search visibility enhancement. It’s the opinion of many SEOs that SD should be almost looked at as “required knowledge” for SEO moving into 2021.
For anyone serious about professional SEO work in 2021, adding a wide breadth of SD knowledge to anyone’s “SEO lexicon” is not only beneficial, but, it may actually result in leaving business revenue on the table if not utilized.