The news of the top three search engines collaboratively recognizing Schema.org microformatting is not new.  At least not in the world of search marketing, which sees regular change.  Google, Bing, and Yahoo! announced last summer that they would all be recognizing Schema.org markup for search results.  As with Schema.org, rich snippets are not new, but Schema.org markup should be considered the default format for the future.

The slightly bad news right now is the search engines are not yet recognizing microformatting across all verticals.  That said, as the engines slowly roll out Schema.org microformatting across all verticals, it’s still a good idea to have your site ready.  On the site, Schema.org has listed a complete hierarchy of categories for which they have microformatting instructions, even if engines don’t yet display rich snippets for certain categories in search results.

While microformatting won’t help your search engine rankings, it does enhance your results by providing users more information and promoting higher click-through rates (CTR).  For instance, let’s look at some recipe results, specifically for bacon-wrapped scallops:

These are the first three results I was presented on a search engine results page (SERP).  While the Cooks.com recipe ranked first, the following two are much more informative and eye-catching.  The AllRecipes.com result provides an image, reviews, and cook time, and the Food.com results provides all that plus calorie count!  While the second and third results aren’t first, their CTRs are likely quite high due to their enhanced appearance.

As I alluded to earlier, since the big three search engines are collaboratively supporting Schema.org, and even though they’ll continue to recognize other forms of rich snippets (such as hReview), we at Intrapromote believe Schema.org markup is the microformatting of choice.

If you’d like to enhance the search results for your site, or even if you’d like to prepare yourself for the future when the engines will begin providing rich snippets for your vertical, we would love to help you with the code!

@Calebdann discusses why Schema.org is the Microformatting of choice…and bacon is involved. bit.ly/IPSEO3 ^MLS #SEO

— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) February 1, 2012

Caleb Dann, SEO Campaign Director, joined Intrapromote in 2010 when he brought his experience in marketing from a traditional New York advertising agency.  At Intrapromote, Caleb works with both large and niche brands, helping them present their site on the web in as search friendly a manner as possible.  Particularly, Caleb specializes in working with brands in the hotel & hospitality and food & beverage industries.  There is no doubt that his love of both travel and a great meal lend to his passion for working with such brands.

Follow Caleb on Twitter:

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