…then you are one of the website operators who use the – now outdated – schema data-vocabulary.org on their website. From 6 April, Google will no longer take structured data from the Data Vocabulary project into account. Because of its growing popularity, they said they would focus on schema.org from now on.
Structured data is important for highlighted search results on Google. It works like a kind of dictionary. It can be used to mark up data such as opening hours, videos or phone numbers for the Google bot. In the search results, that data is then highlighted via rich snippets or featured snippets. Structured data can therefore contribute substantially to higher click rates.
According to Google, the Data Vocabulary project was an important step in the development of structured data, but it is now outdated. Shop and website operators should therefore use the more widely adopted vocabulary from schema.org in future. Otherwise Google would no longer highlight the structured data in the search results through rich snippets and featured snippets.
In its official announcement, Google explains with an example how the code needs to be changed. The Rich Results Test is also a tool for checking whether the structured data works. For further questions, website operators should turn to the Webmaster Community….Or to us!
