Structured data is a hot topic in search engine optimization right now. Suppose you hang around the water cooler at SEO Inc. In that case, you’ll see people up in arms about the implications for CTR, more traffic, and overall user experience regarding this new SEO element. Google recently released the Google Data Highlighter Tool, adding to this flurry of exacerbated excitement. And let me tell you, this thing is pretty impressive.
Watch a Video on the New Google Data Highlighter Tool
Below you will find a new video released by Google showing how the highlighter tool works.
As you can see, the Google Data Highlighter Tool allows you to apply structured data to your page without ever touching your code. If you are new to structured data, you can learn more here. But briefly, by adding structured data or telling Google what parts of your site you would like marked up with structured data, you can display different content in search results. Websites commonly use structured data to show reviews, events, music, and recipes.
Previously, the only way to add structured data to your website was by adding this markup language to your HTML. Now, the data highlighter is an alternative. It is a point-and-click tool that tells Google how to interpret your pages without modifying them.
As shown in the video, just input the URL to which you would like to add data. Next, highlight and label the critical fields.
Google will show you how they interpret the pages on the right side. Furthermore, Google will also reveal similar pages that you can check and confirm if they should also have structured data applied to them. When you are done, just hit publish, and Google will use these changes to your entire site.
You can access the new tool here: www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets
Have questions or comments about the new Google Data Highlighter Tool? Let us know!
