What is hCard Integration?

hCard is a simple, open, distributed format for representing people, companies, organizations, and places, using a 1:1 representation of vCard (RFC2426) properties and values in semantic HTML or XHTML. hCard is one of several open microformat standards suitable for embedding in HTML, XHTML, Atom, RSS, and arbitrary XML.

Microformats are a way of adding simple markup to human-readable data items such as events, contact details or locations, on web pages, so that the information in them can be extracted by software and indexed, searched for, saved, cross-referenced or combined.

Microformats are a way to use (X)HTML for data and a logical next step in the evolution of web design and information architecture and a way of thinking about data which combines html, content and presentation .

From the SEO perspective the most commonly used microformat is the integration of Hcard for the contact address on your website contact page.

If I write the contact address of my company without the using the hCard the HTML will be as follows:
 
 

If I integrate the hCard the HTML is as follows:

 

 
If you are using the hCard it is advisable to put only one address on the page but if you have to put more than one the change the  div id="" class="vcard" tag accordingly for every address.




The code can be generated by using the hCard creator on the following link:

http://microformats.org/code/hcard/creator

Reference Reading:

http://www.microformats.org/wiki/hcard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HCard

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/05/introducing-rich-snippets.html