How to Position Your Authority through Fact Check Structured Data

With journalism being questioned now more than ever, finding the truth online can be elusive. Luckily, Google has a Fact Check feature that helps users to easily check the veracity of a claim or rumor. 

In an unprecedented way, Google’s Fact Check feature can also help businesses. Here’s how it works.

Google’s Fact Check Structured Data: What It Is and How It Can Help Businesses

Fact Check is a schema markup that allows users to “review” a claim made by other entities and verify its truth using the ClaimReview schema.

It includes the following elements:

• Claim – This is the claim or statement in question; for example: “The world is flat.”
• Claimed By – The name of the entity making the claim.
• Rating – The truth of the claim; that is, whether if it’s true or false.
• Fact Check By – The name of the entity evaluating the claim; this is where your brand can come in.

These can all be accessed through Google’s Fact Check Explorer, a mini search engine that’s part of Google’s suite of Fact Check Tools.

Sample fact check about WhatsApp

What does this have to do with businesses? The short answer is: Fact check structured data can help brands position their authority in the digital space.

This can be especially helpful if a certain claim is made in your niche. In the example above, there’s a claim about WhatsApp, which Teyit.org confirms to be false. 

By debunking the claim and providing a link to their content relating to the claim review, Teyit.org hit two birds with one stone:

• Establishing their authority and expertise in the niche
• Driving more traffic to their website 

How to Set Up Fact Check Structured Data for Your Brand’s Content

There are two ways to implement the ClaimReview structured data: manually (best for advanced users) and by using the Fact Check Markup Tool

Using the tool is quite simple and intuitive:

1. Go to Fact Check Markup Tool.
2. Enter the URL of your fact-check article. The URL should match any of your Google properties. 
3. Supply the following information to create your Fact Check markup:
   • Fact-check article publishing date
   • Name of your organization
   • Statement of the claim to be fact-checked
   • The date when the claim was made
   • URL of where the claim appears.
   • Author of the claim
   • Your rating (assessment of the claim): false, mostly false, half true, mostly true, or true

For more information about the ClaimReview structured data, refer to the following:

• Schema.org ClaimReview Guide
• Google Fact Check Guide

Tips on How to Effectively Use Google’s Fact Check Feature for Your Business

The Fact Check Structured Data is not for everyone, though. As a rule, the claim that you are reviewing should make sense to the nature of your business. 

In the example provided above (WhatsApp), the credibility of your fact-checking evaluation is only bolstered if your brand is focusing on social media products and services; otherwise, if your business does not have anything to do with social media, your evaluation won’t be as authentic.

Here are other tips to keep in mind when using Fact Check Structured Data as part of your SEO strategy:

• To be eligible as a fact-checking organization, your website must have several pages marked with the Fact Check Structured Data.
• While Google doesn’t explicitly specify the limits, it’s best to host just one claim per page.
• Avoid evaluating the same claim on different pages to avoid confusion.
• Your fact-check article should have a summary of the fact check and the evaluation.

To know more, refer to the following:

• Google’s Fact Check Guidelines
• News Publisher criteria for fact checks

Need help with your SEO?

It must be understood that applying the Fact Check Structured Data is not a guarantee that it will be automatically shown in search results. According to Google, “Fact check elements are scored based on a programmatic ranking of the site.”

This means that if the SEO ranking of your website as a whole is high, there is better visibility for your fact-check review as well. In other words, focus on creating quality, authoritative, and valuable content first and foremost.

If you need help with your SEO or any of your content marketing needs, give us a call at 888-420-5115, or send us an email at [email protected].

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