Microformats
Microformats are codes that allow additional information to be added to a Web page. This is often used with locations, contact information and events. The software then reads in this information for indexing, searching, combining and saving. The microformat codes are publicly available and free to use. Microformats are a form of semantic markup tags. With microformats, it is immediately clear what the information means. The three most popular microformats are:
- hCard: Locations, people, organizations and companies can be tagged with this
- hCalendar: This is for tagging events such as concerts or information sessions
- hReview: Reviews can be tagged with this and displayed as stars to indicate rating
Adding and sharing general information is made easy by microformats. This allows other websites and services to better collect and display this information.
Where do microformats come from?
These microformat codes were not developed lightly. The four main reasons for developing microformats are:
- Because it was seen as a logical step in web design and information architecture by web designers and developers
- Because it provides an additional way for organizations and people to self-publish information without the dependence on centralized services
- Because traditional metadata options take too long to become established or they don't work according to developers
- Because it provides a neat way to use HTML with additional data
Using microformats can not only help with ease of use for your business. It can also have a positive effect on your SEO scores in search engines. This is because the data given in microformats is not only clear to visitors, but also to crawlers. Search engine bots and crawlers can move around your website a lot easier thanks to microformats. So using microformats can have a positive effect on your search engine optimization. By the way, this optimization is not only with search engines like Google or Bing. Services like Twitter and Facebook also read data from microformats.
