A strong SEO strategy involves many components. It’s not simply about planting keywords in the right spots. You also need to take steps to provide both search engines and users with information about the type of content your pages feature. This helps search engines determine a page’s relevance to a user’s query, and it helps users determine if they want to click on your pages when they are featured in search results.
Schema.org offers one way to provide this kind of detailed information. With schema markup, you can add extra code to your pages so additional details are on display when a page shows up in the search results for a relevant user query. For instance, if a user’s search causes one of your products to be displayed in the results, you can use schema markup to display customer ratings.
That’s simply one example. To better understand how to use schema for SEO, read the following guide.
Know When to Use Schema for SEO
To use schema effectively, you must first know when to use it. Typically, it can be used to improve the following types of pages/content:
Events
With schema, you can provide more information about an upcoming event when a user conducts a relevant Google search. For instance, if you were hosting a music festival, with schema markup, you could make sure the snippet in Google SERPs includes information about who will be performing, where the event is taking place, when it’s taking place, etc.
Products
Schema is very useful for product pages. Again, a common use involves applying schema so that customer star ratings are displayed in Google SERPs. This can be very helpful from an SEO perspective. Users may be more likely to click on a product page link in a SERP if they see customers have rated the product highly.
Places
Schema markup also serves to provide more information about destinations when users conduct searches. Perhaps you run a hotel, and you want to highlight upcoming events at your venue. With schema markup, you could display a list of upcoming events in a Google snippet, making your property more attractive to potential guests.
Businesses
Businesses in general can also use schema markup to attract customers. For instance, if you’re a plumber, with schema markup, your Google SERP snippets could display former customer ratings, the same way they might highlight ratings for a product page.
The way in which you leverage schema markup will depend on the nature of your business. To better understand all the improvements you can make to snippets using schema markup, review the full list.
Adding Schema for SEO
To add schema markup to your pages, you need to add the relevant vocabulary from Schema.org to your HTML5 microdata. You’ll have to coordinate with your developer or another expert if you’re not sure you know how to do this. Additionally, you can use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to ensure the improvements you’ve made with schema markup are working as intended.
Google also has a Structured Data Markup Helper. This can be used to generate the necessary HTML code to add microdata. To use the tool, follow these steps:
Choose the Data Type
Start by accessing the tool and choosing which type of data you wish to markup. Options include articles, events, restaurants, products, and more.
Insert URL
Paste the URL of the page you wish to markup into the appropriate field. You can also paste the HTML code if you’d prefer to work with that, or if the site isn’t live yet.
Highlight
Highlight the element on your page you wish to markup, then choose what type of element it is from the list provided (such as “Author” if you want to add schema markup to highlight author of an article). This adds the element to your Data Items. Once you’re done choosing which elements you’d like to markup, select “Create HTML.” The program will generate new microdata code you can then insert into the relevant pages on your site.
Experiment with schema for SEO to determine how to best leverage it to your benefit. As with all SEO strategies, you need to monitor future performance to be certain a new tactic is effective. By experimenting and adjusting your plan when necessary, you’ll be much more likely to put schema markup to good use.
