Google has updated its documentation for profile page structured data, which is available to all creators, including recipe bloggers, and will now appear in expanded lists in search results.
What is ProfilePage structured data?
ProfilePage structured data is Schema.org markup that Google uses for expanded listings in search results. It’s most commonly used in forums and discussion communities, but is also useful for profile pages that contain information about the author.
What has changed in the official documentation?
Google has updated the opening paragraph to make it clearer how it’s used in search results, removing the reference to “Perspectives” and replacing it with a reference to forums to align with how Google Search references them in search results.
The opening paragraph of the new version is about 26% shorter but provides more accurate information.
This is the original version (64 words):
“ProfilePage markup is designed for sites where an author (an individual or organization) shares a direct perspective. It allows Google Search to highlight information about the author, such as their name, social handles, profile picture, number of followers, and the popularity of their content. Google Search also uses this markup when disambiguating the author and in features such as Perspectives, Discussions, and Forums.”
The revised version is as follows (47 words):
“ProfilePage markup is designed for sites where creators (individuals or organizations) share their direct perspective. Adding this markup helps Google Search understand creators who contribute to online communities and surface better content from those communities in search results, including discussion and forum features.”
What is profile page markup useful for?
ProfilePage structured data markup can be used on any profile page that has an author, not just for communities, to enable the profile page to appear in expanded lists in search results.
As Google’s documentation states:
“Other structured data features can also link to pages that contain ProfilePage markup. For example, Article and Recipe structured data have authors…”
ProfilePage markup doesn’t seem to be used much in the recipe blogger space, and I’m not sure why. For example, recipe writer J. Kenji López-Alt’s Serious Eats profile page has ProfilePage structured data markup, and Google seems to be honoring it in the expanded listing for his Serious Eats profile page.
Serious Eats profile page markup screenshot
Screenshot of profile page rich result
Another screenshot
The two screenshots above are rich results for a recipe creator’s profile page, which uses ProfilePage structured data markup.
Please read Google’s updated ProfilePage documentation:
ProfilePage structured data
Featured Image: Shutterstock/Krakenimages.com
