What Is Speakable Structured Data?
The debate between structured data vs. unstructured data has been ongoing for some time now. Unstructured data is flexible; it does not have a predefined structure. Its flexibility allows businesses to collect a wide range of data, including patterns in customer behavior, which can be stored in different formats, a quality webmasters have appreciated for years.
In June 2011, Google, Bing, and Yahoo introduced Schema.org. In November 2011, Yandex joined the Schema.org initiative.
Schema.org is a set of structured data markup rules for web pages. Businesses can use the guidelines provided to help search engines understand their web pages’ content and where it is located. Accordingly, search engines can display the content effectively.
For example, if a business owner wants content related to a particular location to appear at the top of the search results in that location, they can mark up the location.
Now, speakable structured data or speakable schema markup takes the benefits of Schema.org to the next level. This Schema.org property allows businesses to provide content to searchers who use voice search.
Levy Online has a team of experienced web developers and other specialists who understand how speakable schema markup works and how it can benefit a business significantly.
Introduction to Speakable Schema Markup
Speakable structured data identifies web page or article sections that are best for audio playback using text-to-speech (TTS) and uses Google Assistant to read those sections to a searcher.
Although currently in the beta stage, this feature is already making changes in search engine optimization, and its future is promising.
First, it allows readers to access information hands-free, which enhances accessibility. Second, it improves user experience. Users appreciate it when they can easily find the information they are looking for and interact with businesses on smart devices.
Importance of Speakable Structured Data in SEO and Voice Search
Speakable schema markup data allows businesses to rank on Google Assistant-enabled devices. When someone searches for a query using voice search, Google will look for web pages with relevant texts marked with speakable structured data. It then uses the marked-up sections to create a TTS response.
With smart devices becoming the norm, many people are turning to voice search. It’s becoming rare for people to type questions on search engines. Thus, not having content suited for audio playback can disadvantage your business.
The ability to rank in text and voice search results can increase your visibility. With the right strategies, a potential customer can find you when they type a question related to your business, and another can access your content when they search the same question using their voice.
Speakable schema markup is currently limited to news content but may expand to broader applications. Thus, business owners may be able to mark up sections on their landing pages, non-news articles, and even contact pages in the near future.
Technical Implementation
One of the properties you will notice on speakable is @type, which allows you to specify whether the page you want to mark up content on is a web page or an article. Next, you will enter the name of the object under “name.” This is where you can input keywords to rank higher when a searcher asks a question relevant to the content on the web page or article in question.
After entering these details, you can now get to the actual speakable markup under “speakable.” The @type option in this category should be SpeakableSpecification. The next property can either be xPath or CssSelector.
Xpath is designed to navigate and query XML documents, including HTML. It has advanced features. CssSelector is simpler and works great on HTML pages. Another locator you can use is the id-value URL references, which uses the id-value of an element in the annotated page.
You should ensure your content is eligible to be marked up for audio playback. For starters, this feature is currently only for news articles. It only works for users in the U.S. who publish content in English. However, this can change. According to Google, the feature can be launched in other countries and other languages as soon as a sufficient number of publishers implement it.
You should also be approved for Google News results. Thus, you must be a reputable news source, have set up a valid Google News Producer, be a transparent author, and have no explicit/hateful content. Additionally, the ads on your web page or article should not exceed the content, your content should not contain concealed sponsored content, and you should not have grammatical errors.
Moreover, the content you want to add speakable scheme markup should not sound confusing in voice-only and voice-forward situations, such as photo captions and datelines. In other words, the content to be marked up should make sense without needing a searcher to look at images or any other additional content.
Additionally, you should not highlight an entire article or content on a web page, as TTS can cut off important details and only read those that may not be relevant to a searcher’s query. Therefore, focus on key points in a news article (the details a listener should have to get an idea of what a story is about).
The content should have concise headlines and/or summaries to provide listeners with brief and relevant information. Google recommends 20 to 30 seconds of content per section, which is roughly two to three sentences.
To add a speakable schema markup on your web page:
- Create a web page schema, which is another property for Schema.org
- Add the “speakable” property to the schema
- Choose “web page” under @type
- Add a name of the web page, using relevant keywords
- Move to “speakable,” and ensure it’s “SpeakableSpecification”
- Add an xPath or CssSelector sub-property, depending on the type of content on the web page
- Test your speakable schema markup using the Schema Markup Validator or Google-specific structured data testing tools, like Google’s Rich Results Test, to find and correct any errors or warnings that will appear on your results after running the test
- Upon validating the structured data, you can submit your content
Benefits of Speakable Schema
Speakable schema markup offers businesses many benefits. First, it enhances engagement by providing voice-friendly content. A searcher can engage more with content when they listen to it than when typing. Once a question is answered, a user can keep asking more questions hands-free, making this feature suitable for multi-tasking users.
This feature also makes content accessible to visually impaired users. This way, a web page or article can provide helpful information to everyone, increasing a business’s audience and driving more interaction.
Speakable schema markup aligns with the shift toward conversational interfaces. Many users are now interacting with digital devices using natural language, such as voice. That’s why it’s important for businesses to embrace this technological tool to be up to date with customer behavior.
Limitations and Challenges
Being in the beta stage, speakable schema markup has its limitations, which are expected to be solved with more tests and advancements. As aforementioned, this feature is restricted to U.S. users who publish content in English. Another challenge is that it’s currently limited to Google devices, as it can only work with Google Assistant. Therefore, it can only read content on Google Assistant-enabled devices.
Additionally, this feature requires strategic selection of “speakable content.” You can’t mark up any content that you want. You have guidelines to follow. While this can help to ensure searches access relevant information to a question, it can limit you. For instance, you may be unable to mark up content that may be complex, as the feature may deem it as confusing without visuals, yet you wish such information to be accessed by people who use voice search.
Lastly, it may be challenging to pass across some details in only two to three sentences, which is the recommended length by Schema.org.
Real-World Applications
Several news organizations are using speakable schema markup and are benefiting from it significantly. A good example is Forbes. Let’s look at their news article titled “What the Impact of Global Voice Recognition Means for Today’s Brands.”
Upon searching “how businesses use speakable schema markup,” this article ranks among the top results, and chances are it may be the one picked by Google’s algorithm to be read aloud.
Its test results on Schema Markup Validator show the article has no errors or warnings.
A second example is Martha Stewart’s “Five Things That Make Your Living Room Look Small — and How to Fix Them,” which ranks top when searching for “how to style your living room.”
Its results on Schema Markup Validator provide all the information entered to ensure it appears on top of the voice search results. Its @type property is AnalysisNewsArticle, and the author has also provided a comprehensible but short description of the content.
If you run a local business or are in a specialized industry, you should use industry or location-based keywords when providing details on Schema.org. For example, your content description should include a particular location or industry.
The news article “Las Vegas’ Top 10 Restaurant Openings and Closings of 2024” ranks among the top searches for “Restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip.” The article’s Schema Markup Validator test results show the author included “Vegas” in the headline, description of the article, and name.
Compliance and Best Practices
Businesses using structured schema markup must comply with schema.org’s technical and content guidelines. Businesses should also follow other guidelines provided by Google, for example, be verified for Google News results.
Schema.org has a document on Speakable that provides information on how to use the feature. This page provides examples of data that has no markup and those with markup. Accordingly, businesses can understand how to implement speakable schema markup on their web pages or articles.
Speakable schema markup aligns with accessibility standards, like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Therefore, authors are required to follow these standards to ensure that their content is accessible to everyone, increasing the credibility of the speakable schema.org property.
In addition to complying with all the required guidelines, another best practice for this feature is providing relevant information on your rich results (the results search engines extract relevant structured data from on pages to read to users). Provide more information than a title tag, meta description, and URL.
Furthermore, test your content regularly to find and correct errors earlier before they affect your rankings on voice search results.
Future Outlook
The future of speakable structured data mainly depends on how it’s being received currently. Google hopes to expand the feature beyond the country and that English-only content will be available as soon as a sufficient number of publishers have implemented it. This is proof that its future significantly depends on its current use.
There is a possibility of expanding the feature beyond news content. In the future, it may be possible for businesses to mark up content on any of their pages, such as landing pages and blogs.
Advancements in an AI-driven search may influence the adoption of the Speakable Schema. Improvements in the algorithms used in AI-enabled search engines to enhance accuracy may encourage more people to use speakable structure data. It can also help if AI tools are advanced to easily integrate structured data, which usually comes from many sources, making it challenging for some AI tools to manage it.
Whether or not speakable structured data becomes a major SEO strategy may be unknown. However, it’s vital to implement it to benefit now to future-proof your business. Implementing this feature can make you stand out, as a wide range of audiences can access your content. When it progresses to subsequent stages, you can be more advantaged.
Sources:
Madden, H. (2024). 5 Things That Make Your Living Room Look Small—and How to Fix Them.
Sener, C. (2023). What The Impact Of Global Voice Recognition Means For Today’s Brands.
Speakable (Article, WebPage) structured data (BETA).
Test Your Structured Data.
WCAG 2 Overview.
Wright, J. (2024). Las Vegas’ top 10 restaurant openings and closings of 2024.
