Google is rolling out a report in Search Console for sites utilizing the new COVID-19 ‘SpecialAnnouncement’ structured data markup.
Schema.org structured data markup for special announcements related to COVID-19 was first introduced last month.
Any site can use the new markup, but it’s only supported in Google search results for specific categories of websites.
Currently, Google is using special announcement markup to highlight announcements from health and government agency sites – such as school closures and stay-at-home directives.
Here is what a COVID-19 special announcement looks like in Google search results:
Sites using the markup can now monitor the appearance of their rich results in Google Search, as well as quickly identify and fix implementation errors.
Here’s more about the new reports available in Search Console starting today.
Special Announcements Enhancement report
The enhancement report for special announcement structured data focuses on identifying errors, warnings, and valid implementations.
Site owners can use this report to get a complete overview of whether their markup was added correctly.
From there, they can immediately figure out which issues need to be fixed on which pages.
To ensure the problem was adequately addressed, site owners can validate the fix right from the Search Console report.
Validating an error fix in Search Console will trigger Google to recrawl the page and confirm the problem has been solved.
Special Announcements appearance in Performance report
A new performance report in Search Console will let site owners see the total impressions and total clicks of search results with special announcement markup.
The report can be used to check impressions, clicks, and CTR results of special announcement pages to understand how they are trending for any of the dimensions available.
Special Announcements in Rich Results Test
Google’s Rich Results Test tool now support special announcement structured data.
After adding the markup to a page it can be tested using the rich results tool, which will show whether it is eligible for rich results.
If the page hasn’t been published on the web yet, site owners can also upload a piece of code to check the markup before the page goes live.
Source: Google Webmaster Central Blog
Related:
- Google to Support New COVID-19 Special Announcement Schema in Search Results
- Bing Supports New Schema Markup for COVID-19 Special Announcements
- Google Reveals What COVID-19 Special Announcement Schema Looks Like in Search
