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We’ve curated some of the big news surrounding Schema markup for the week to help you stay on top of changes and news:
Google Expands Rich Cards to Include Restaurants and Online Courses
Over the last year, Google has been launching Rich Card support for different entity types, starting with movies and recipes in May, 2016. Now, the list of entity types supported by Rich Cards expands to Local Restaurants and Online Courses. This means that search queries about online course may be met with enriched search results which vertically display course names and types. Search queries about restaurants could be met with a carousel display of different restaurants in the area specified in your search. In the coming months and years, Google will likely continue to expand this enriched search experience to many other entity types. And remember, this enriched experience is usually a direct result of adding Schema markup to your pages. The more Google knows about your page, the more likely they are to display it in these creative ways.
Google Will Be Updating Webmaster Recommendations For New Mobile-First Index
Earlier this month, Google announced that it would be rolling out a mobile-first index which is meant to optimize search results for mobile users. While this is a good step in tailoring search results to users on all platforms, Google’s webmaster documentation, including recommended actions for this new index remains sparse. Google’s Gary Illyes has confirmed that there will be updates to this documentation to better provide webmasters with the proper support for optimizing their content in this new age of mobile-first indexing.
Google is Testing Images in Sitelink Extentions
Currently, Sitelink extensions are usually found as a list of popular page links underneath the main URL of a search result. These Sitelinks serve a functional purpose but don’t necessarily draw the attention of the searcher. Google is now testing these Sitelinks in image format. The new layout features a carousel image display with the page names underneath, similar to AMP pages. This follows the trend of further enriching search results for users, making structured data and Schema markup more important than ever.
