Schema Markup | Description and What is it | SEO Tutorial

If you are into marketing, then it is a possibility that you might have heard about schema markup, structured data, and microdata. However, it can be confusing at times how to add them to your website. And if you are a beginner then it might take some time fully grasp the concept of schema markup.

Let's consider it this way, suppose you or your business have a website that has amazing content, design, etc which you want to show to as many visitors as possible. So, ranking high or driving traffic to your search engine results page is one of the important parts of your site. 

Now here's where your efforts in SEO will show and make all the difference. 

To make sure that search engines recognise your site and content, you need to speak the language they are using to go through your site both textually and visually.

Hence, when you add schema markup to your site, structured data in a form of code, it can guide search engines to understand the content and enhance the organic rankings, context, and visibility of your webpage in SERP. 

Are you still confused? Here's more about what schema markup actually is and how you can use it to boost your website's SEO.

What is Schema Markup?

As you might have understood by now, schema markup is structured data which helps search engines understand your site. It is a form of microdata, an HTML code, which is added to your website. When the bots of search engines 'crawl' a page, they can easily analyse data which will make sure that your content appears relevant and also contains all the important information in searches. It helps categorise text and other elements such as video or images to fit tag classifications. 

Searchers can get a brief glimpse of what you have to offer and what you're all about by using easy-to-read snippets that search engines can generate from the schema markup data.

Types of Schema Markups

How search engine bots categorise your content will depend on the kind of schema markup you choose. Because of this, the top three results for a business search and a product search appear differently.

The following are only a few of the several kinds of schema markups.

• Product Structured Data

Product offerings can show up as target-rich snippets thanks to product schema markups. They do an excellent work of visually presenting all of the information about the product.

Therefore these schema markups have become necessary for e-commerce websites. It is important to add Product schema markup on every product page.

For example:

• Person Schema Markup

Personal information like as a person's name, date of birth, accomplishments, and work title is included in people's schema markups.

These markups work well on websites that feature well-known figures, such as actors, players, entrepreneurs, or historical figures.

For example:

• Review Snippets

Review schema markups show how well (or poorly) past customers rated particular goods or services. The markups may include a range of information, such as stars, real text reviews and the reviewer's name.

For example:

• Business/Organisational Schema

Businesses' names, addresses, and contact information are all included in business schema markups. They support search engines by providing a thorough and organised representation of a business in their search result snippets.

For example:

• Video Schema Markups

Data that points people to videos on your articles or video pages make up video markups. Additionally, they provide in-depth details about the video, including its pivotal points. Use only on pages where the video is the most essential component.

For example:

• FAQ Schema

For the questions to appear in search results, add FAQ schema to the page. The ability to occupy more real estate in the SERPs will help you attract consumers' attention and boost clickthrough rates.

For example:

• Sitelink Markup

Your entry on the results page gains additional navigational links thanks to sitelink markup. Searchers will notice links to your blog, careers tab, and other crucial pages in addition to merely your home page.

For example:

Why is Schema Markup Important for SEO?

The reason why structured data is important is because it can communicate with search engines. When SERPs, such as Google or Bing understand your entities properly, it can provide better results for searchers. 

After collecting information from structured data, items like rich cards, rich snippets, and the knowledge panel appear on SERPs.

Although there is no proof that schema can boost your ranks, it does offer a tonne of chances.

For instance, a search result without sitelinks only displays the linked page's title and meta description to users:

On the other hand, a search result that includes sitelinks shows users the primary linked page in addition to related site pages that might be of greater interest to them:

There are still a few opportunities to draw the user in using sitelinks if the title tag wasn't persuasive enough to get them to click.

According to studies, rich results' enhanced real estate can increase click-through rates.

In actuality, consumers click on rich results 58% of the time compared to non-rich results 41% of the time.

Additionally, according to Google, properly formatted data can enhance the overall look of search results (which provides a better user experience).

For instance, using structured reviews, Google can display the top results for recipes that have received the most five-star evaluations.

In spite of the lack of concrete evidence, structured data significantly enhances the search experience. Without ever visiting a page, users may read FAQs, look at ratings, discover crucial business information, and more.

This may enhance click-through rates and broaden the audience for your business.

Types of Schema Code Languages

There are 3 types of Schema Code Language, based on website frameworks and compatibility, which can be used to add the schema markup to webpages.

1. JSON-LD: JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data*

This type of schema code is mostly recommended by Google. It is a mixed version of code and schema markup which can be used anywhere in the HTML body of a webpage. 

JSON-LD Code Example:

<script type=”application/ld+json”>

{ “@context”: “https://schema.org”,

“@type”: “Local Business”,

“name”: “Company Name“,

“url”: “company URL“,

“image”: “Logo URL“,

“address”: {

“@type”: “PostalAddress”,

“streetAddress”: “street address“,

“addressLocality”: “Locale area name“,

“postalCode”: “xxxxxx“,

“addressCountry”: “country code”

},

“OpeningHoursSpecification”: {

“dayOfWeek”: [

“Monday”,

“Tuesday”,

“Wednesday”,

“Thursday”,

“Friday”,

“Saturday”

],

“opens”: “00:00”,

“closes”: “00:00”

}

}

</script>

2. Microdata

One type of structured data that functions with HTML5 is microdata. They are easier to use but can be confusing because they must be used with every HTML tag on the page's body.

Micro Data Code Example:

<h2 itemprop=”description”>webpage heading details</h2>

<p>Address:</p>

<span itemprop=”address” itemscope itemtype=”http://schema.org/PostalAddress”>

<p itemprop=”streetAddress”>address</p>

<p itemprop=”addressLocality”>City, State Code</p></span>

<p>Tel: <span itemprop=”telephone”>xxxxxxxxxx</span></p>

<p><a itemprop=”menu” href=”URL“>Anchor Text</a></p>

<p itemprop=”openingHours”>From-To 00:00am – 00:00pm</p>

</div>

3. RDFA – Resource Description Framework in Attributes

Micro Data and RFDA are quite similar, and they both support Linked Data markup in a number of HTML-like languages in addition to working in HTML5. such as XML documents, SVG files, HTML4 documents, XHTML1 documents, and XHTML5 documents.

RFDA Code Example:

<h2 property=”description”>webpage heading details</h2>

<p>Address:</p>

<div property=”address” typeof=”PostalAddress”>

<p property=”streetAddress”>address</p>

<p property=”addressLocality”>City, State Code</p>

</div>

<p>Tel: <span property=”telephone”>xxxxxxxxxx</span></p>

<p><a property=”menu” href=”URL“>Anchor Text</a></p>

<p property=”openingHours”>From-To 00:00am – 00:00pm</p>

</div>

Both the head and body portions of an HTML page frequently employ RDFA.

How to Use Schema Markup to Improve SEO

Schema markup is a crucial component of your SEO strategy. Rich snippets can raise your ranking in the SERPs, which could improve your organic visitors.

Fortunately, you can start using schema markup right away without any coding knowledge. In reality, you can use a programme to have the code generated for you with Google's Structured Data Markup Helper:

Conclusion:

I think you must always remember that making your website's search results as detailed and interesting as much possible is crucial. It helps searchers understand your page and click on them. Schema markup can help in improving the SEO and even drive more organic traffic to your site. 

Some of the best methods for implementing schema markup on the site are:

1. Use the Structured Data Markup Helper to mark up a web page.

2. Use Yoast SEO to apply schema markup.

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