Microformats are a set of open standards for marking up structured data in a human-readable format on web pages. They provide a way to embed semantic information within HTML markup, which makes it easier for machines to understand and process the content on web pages. This structured data can include information about people, events, organizations, products. Key points about microformats:
Human-Readable: Microformats are designed to be easily understood by humans, meaning that the data is embedded in a way that doesn’t interfere with the visual presentation of a web page.
Semantic Markup: They use simple HTML class attributes and standard HTML tags to add meaning to content. For example, a person’s name with the “h-card” microformat, a date with the “h-calendar” microformat, and so on.
Interoperability: Microformats are widely supported and can be used across various web technologies. Examples: Some common microformats include “h-card” for representing a person or organization, “h-event” for events, “h-review” for reviews, and “h-entry” for blog posts and articles.
Parsing: To extract microformat data from a web page, developers often use parsers or libraries that can identify and process microformat annotations. This data can then be used for various purposes, such as aggregating event information, displaying reviews, or enriching search engine results.
SEO Benefits: Implementing microformats can have SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefits, as search engines like Google can use this structured data to enhance search results.