Google updated the opening paragraph of the Organization Structured Data documentation to provide a clearer, more comprehensive description of its purpose, with improved clarity on four specific points. The result is a model of how to write a high quality opening paragraph.
The new documentation has a high level of information density, which is the quality of communicating more information with less words. The importance of information density is that it communicates ideas better.
The changes add the following four points:
- It emphasizes that organization structured data disambiguates one organization from others using structured data properties like iso6523 and naics. Disambiguate means to make something less ambiguous.
- It explains how certain Schema.org properties can influence visual elements in search results and in a knowledge panel. A knowledge panel is a box containing data about an organization (or person) that appears on the right side of search results when a user queries about those entities.
- It specifically mentions how organization structured data can enrich merchant knowledge panels and brand profiles with details about return policies, addresses, and contact information.
- The new opening paragraph now states that there are no required properties for organization structured data and recommends adding as many structured data properties as necessary for relevance. This is not new to the documentation, but it is newly emphasized in the opening paragraph.
None of the four above points existed in the opening paragraph of the previous version of the documentation, serving as an example of how to keep on topic and communicate what a web page is about.
Here is the previous opening paragraph
“You can use organization structured data to let Google know about your organization’s administrative details, for example, logo, address, contact information, and business identifiers. Google can make use of this markup in knowledge panels and other visual elements (such as attribution), which helps users to find your organization’s details on Google Search.”
This is the new opening paragraph:
“Adding organization structured data to your home page can help Google better understand your organization’s administrative details and disambiguate your organization in search results. Some properties are used behind the scenes to disambiguate your organization from other organizations (like iso6523 and naics), while others can influence visual elements in Search results (such as which logo is shown in Search results and your knowledge panel). If you’re a merchant, you can influence more details in your merchant knowledge panel and brand profile, such as return policy, address, and contact information. There are no required properties; instead, we recommend adding as many properties that are relevant to your organization.”
The above opening paragraph is the only change to the document and yet it vastly improves the entire document because a reader knows what to expect as they continue reading.
Takeaways:
Understanding why the documentation is improved gives publishers and SEOs new ideas for understanding why a web page needs to be refreshed.
The changes to Google’s documentation improve it by clearly explaining what the web page is about, how organization structured data benefits users, and identifying a specific class of users who especially benefit from this kind of structured data. The opening paragraph invites readers to continue reading by ensuring they understand the web page’s purpose.
Why the new documentation is improved:
- Higher information density
- Improved topicality (communicates what the document is about)
- Gets to the point fast
- Offers more details and examples
- Is more comprehensive
- Mentions users who will benefit ( merchants)
Why the previous version needed to be fixed:
- Lacked specifics
- Limited in scope
- Lacking in actionable information
- Didn’t prepare the reader for what the entire page is about
Read the new documentation here:
Organization (Organization) structured data
Compare it to the old documentation here:
Organization (Organization) structured data – WaybackMachine
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Mix and Match Studio