Schema Markups to Improve Your Web Pages

What Are Schema Markups?

At its core, schema markups also called rich text markup, are a quick summary of the website or page being shown in search results. These summaries are recognized by search algorithms as code listed on your website detailing not only what is listed on your website but what it means.

This code is provided via microdata, HTML provided directions that add specifications and clarification on preexisting page content. When shown in a search result these schema summaries can also be referred to as structured data.

When looking at the search results on Google, you may have noticed that not all results are created equal. Some links stand out with fully fleshed out details such as ratings, prices, or video links, while others appear plain and basic. Have you ever wondered how these rich details got listed and how you can enhance your own search results? The answer lies in schema markup, an integral part of gaining an edge in SEO against your competition.

Schema markup is a powerful tool that helps search engines understand the context and meaning of your website’s content. By implementing rich text markup, you’re essentially providing Google and other search engines with a roadmap to interpret your data more accurately. This structured data vocabulary allows you to add schema markup to your HTML, which in turn enables search engines to generate more informative and visually appealing search results, known as rich snippets.

Significance of Rich Text Markup

One of the most significant benefits of rich text markup is its contribution to Google’s Knowledge Graph. The Knowledge Graph is a vast database of entities and their relationships, which Google uses to enhance search results with relevant information. By implementing schema markup, you’re feeding valuable data directly into this knowledge base, increasing the chances of your content appearing in featured snippets, carousel results, and other prominent positions in the search results.

For those looking to add schema markup to their websites, there are several methods available. One popular approach is to use Google Tag Manager, a free tool that allows you to add and update marketing tags, including rich text markup, without needing to modify the code of your website. This makes it easier for marketers and non-technical team members to implement and manage structured data without relying heavily on web developers.

Different types of content can benefit from various schema markup types. For instance, if you’re running a news website or a blog, implementing article schema can be particularly beneficial. Article schema helps search engines understand the key elements of your content, such as the headline, author, publication date, and featured image. This can lead to more prominent displays in search results, potentially including image thumbnails, which can significantly increase click-through rates.

Moreover, schema markup isn’t just about improving your appearance in standard search results. It also plays a crucial role in voice search optimization. As virtual assistants like Google Home and Amazon Alexa become more prevalent, having well-structured data helps these devices understand and relay your content more accurately in response to voice queries.

It’s important to note that while rich text markup can greatly enhance your search engine visibility, it’s not a silver bullet for SEO. It should be part of a comprehensive SEO strategy that includes quality content creation, proper site structure, and adherence to other SEO best practices. However, given that many websites still don’t utilize schema markup to its full potential, implementing it correctly can give you a significant competitive advantage.

The Basic Vocabulary of Understanding Rich Text Markup

Schema markup: A standardized code language that helps search engines interpret and categorize webpage content more effectively.

Semantic vocabulary: In web context, this refers to a set of structured data schemas that enable machines to understand and process the meaning of online content. These schemas add layers of meaning to existing web data, making it more interpretable for search engines and other automated systems.

Structured data: A pre-defined format for organizing information about a webpage and its content. This standardization allows search engines to easily process and understand the page’s key elements.

Search results: The list of webpages displayed by a search engine in response to a user’s query. Each result typically includes a title, URL, and brief description (meta description) of the page’s content.

Rich results: Enhanced search results that display additional, relevant information extracted from a webpage’s structured data. This extra information might include ratings, dates, cooking times, or locations. Also known as rich snippets or enriched results, Google prefers the term “rich results.”

Schema.org: A collaborative, community-driven resource that provides a comprehensive collection of schemas (structured data vocabularies) for webmasters. It’s considered the industry standard for schema markup, as it’s jointly supported and recognized by major search engines.

The Importance of Schema Markups

You may be thinking “Schema markups sound great and professional but if my website is already showing up in search results do I really need to worry about them?” Well, it may seem like you are already well taken care of in terms of SEO, especially depending on your industry competition, but you probably are missing out on providing consumers and potential consumers with a better digital research experience.

Structured data can help you stand out even more and give your company better brand recognition. While rich text markups don’t directly correlate to your SEO ranking, it most certainly helps enhance the search result experience both for the consumer and the search algorithms.

The biggest value to embracing schema markups is providing better clarification to web crawlers. Web crawlers are an integral part of SEO and the overall operations of any search engine. In order for a search engine to provide precise and beneficial results, programs called web crawlers are constantly reviewing all information listed on websites.

This is why it is so essential to provide as detailed and informative information as possible when it comes to succeeding in SEO. When you implement schema markups to your web pages you are telling these web crawlers exactly what the purpose of the page is and which information is most vital. This way the key elements of the page are highlighted in the snippet shown below the URL link in search result. Without implementing schema markups web crawlers will still produce a summary it just might not be as accurate as it should.

Just like any human would, without specific instruction the web crawlers try to fill in the gaps and produce as best a description as they can. Sometimes this is sufficient but if you’re looking to stand out you really need to go the extra mile to provide that clear detail.

What do Scheme Markups Look Like in a Search Result?

Rich text markups show up in many different ways. It really depends what you specify in the microdata and what is most beneficial to you as a business. Some of the most common examples are star ratings, event dates, and descriptions. Usually they are displayed above or below the snippet in the search result (ratings are above the snippet but below the URL link, whereas event dates and descriptions are below the snippet). The structured data is also distinguished by grey text and bold title elements.

Recipes are some of the greatest examples of schema markup, structured data, as websites who post them take advantage of their capabilities more often than other industries. If you were to look up “apple pie recipe” you would get a lot of different results for apple pie recipes. Which one do you pick?

Unless you have a preferred source for your recipes you probably don’t have much of a reason to pick one over the other. You might also notice that all of these search results have auxiliary data listed above the snippet listing ratings, reviews, time the recipe takes, and calories. All of these are unique details that you don’t usually see in a search result. Granted, things like calories and cooking time aren’t relevant to most search results but that’s kind of the point of schema markups. Adding specific details can really help improve the value of your page listing.

Going back to the apple pie recipe example, you can now be more informed as a user making for a more valuable experience. Instead of going down the list of links, clicking on them, and reading through them you can get a quick overview of what each recipe is like. Without clicking on anything you now know which recipes people like, how long they take, and the caloric content. All of these could be variables in your decision process of which recipe to pick, narrowing down a recipe in a shorter period of time with less effort.

Now you might be thinking “But if I’m giving away key information in the snippet I’ll be losing clicks, isn’t search traffic the goal of SEO?” You’re right that fewer people will be clicking on your link, which is part of why schema markups don’t really play into your ranking but the quality of your page views will improve.

If you have schema markups listing relevant information on your page listings the kinds of people who will end up clicking on your page will be more likely to value your content. Using the apple pie recipe example again, if someone found one of your recipes and liked it because the structured data helped influence them, they are probably more likely to stay on your website longer and return for new recipes in the future. You might not be getting every possible click that comes your way, but you will be building up your brand recognition and perception, something that will play out to be more beneficial in the long run.

Other Schema Markup Examples

1. Schema Article Markup Schema Article markup is commonly used for news and blog posts. It makes the content easier to understand for search engines.

2. Schema Local Business Markup The Schema local business markup is especially for a local company or a local branch of an organization. It helps consumers easily find the company’s location and other info, as it features in the address, opening hours, menu, contact info etc. Business action property, including order action and reserve action, enables businesses to provide more information and to encourage users to “complete the action”.

3. Recipe Schema Markup Recipe rich text markup is designed for recipe web pages to show a recipe rich snippet. Even though Google only requires the name description, use two of the following properties:

• PrepTime, cookTime, totalTime or ingredients
• Image
• NutritionInformation
• Review

4. Schema Person Markup The Schema person markup lists an individual’s details, such as name, birthdate, address, education and family members.

5. Video Schema Markup It is still tough for search engines to crawl video content. Adding VideoObject markup is a good way to help Google crawl and index the video on your website, and helps your video appear in Google Video Search.

6. Organization Schema Markup The Organization schema markup elaborates the company introduction, including official name, logo, contact info, location and social profiles.

7. Breadcrumbs Markup BreadcrumbList schema markup lists the path links that lead to the current page where it usually ends up with. It helps users view their location, and it is useful for reducing bounce rate.

8. Schema Product & Offer Markup The Product and Offer markups are mainly for selling an item or a service, and both enable product information, such as price and status, appear on search pages. However, the Offer markup also requires the “price” and “priceCurrency” properties while the Product only requires “name” property.

9. Event Schema Markup The Event schema markup provides extra information for concerts, lectures, webinars, festivals such as date, location, and price.

10. FAQ Schema Markup FAQ schema markup is used for pages that contain a list of questions and answers. It can help your content appear in rich results and potentially in Google’s “People Also Ask” section.

11. Review Schema Markup Review schema markup is used to display star ratings in search results for products, recipes, movies, and more. It can increase click-through rates by making your result stand out.

12. How-To Schema Markup How-To schema markup is used for content that provides step-by-step instructions. It can appear in rich results, potentially with images for each step.

13. Job Posting Schema Markup Job Posting schema markup helps job listings appear in Google’s job search experience, providing information like job title, salary range, and application deadlines.

14. Course Schema Markup Course schema markup is used for educational content, including online courses, workshops, and training programs. It helps search engines understand the course details, such as the course name, description, provider, and duration. This can lead to rich results in search, potentially displaying course ratings, provider, and even course schedules.

15. Book Schema Markup Book schema markup is designed for pages that contain information about books. It can include details such as the author, ISBN, publisher, and publication date. This markup can lead to rich results in book-related searches, potentially displaying the book cover, author, and rating information directly in the search results.

16. Movie Schema Markup Movie schema markup is used for pages that contain information about films. It can include details such as the director, actors, release date, and movie rating. This markup can result in rich snippets in search results, potentially displaying the movie poster, rating, and even showtimes if applicable. It’s particularly useful for movie review sites, streaming platforms, or cinema websites.

17. MusicGroup Schema Markup MusicGroup schema markup is used for pages about musical groups or bands. It can include information such as the band’s name, genre, albums, and members. This markup can help search engines better understand and display information about musical acts, potentially leading to rich results that showcase discographies, upcoming concerts, or band member details.

18. SoftwareApplication Schema Markup SoftwareApplication schema markup is designed for pages that describe software applications, including mobile apps and desktop software. It can include details such as the application’s name, operating system, version, and price. This markup can result in rich snippets that display app ratings, price, and operating system compatibility directly in search results.

19. Dataset Schema Markup Dataset schema markup is used for pages that describe or link to datasets. This is particularly useful for research institutions, government agencies, or any organization that publishes data. The markup can include information about the dataset’s creator, distribution format, and temporal coverage. It can help make datasets more discoverable in Google Dataset Search and potentially display key information about the dataset in search results.

20. Speakable Schema Markup Speakable schema markup is designed for content that is particularly suitable for text-to-speech applications. It allows content creators to identify sections within their content that are best suited for audio playback by text-to-speech (TTS) systems. This is particularly relevant for news articles and can help with visibility in Google Assistant and other voice-driven interfaces.

21. ClaimReview Schema Markup ClaimReview schema markup is used for fact-checking content. It allows publishers to identify claims that have been checked and to provide information about the fact check, including the claim checked, the conclusion reached, and the author of the fact check. This markup can lead to rich results that highlight fact-checking information directly in search results, which is particularly useful for news organizations and fact-checking websites.

Certainly! Here are nine more types of schema markup:

22. WebPage Schema Markup WebPage schema markup provides general information about a specific web page. It can include details like the page’s name, description, and main content. This markup can help search engines better understand the purpose and content of individual pages on your website.

23. QAPage Schema Markup QAPage schema markup is designed for pages that contain a single question and its answers, such as those found on Q&A websites. It can help search engines understand the structure of the page and potentially display the question and top answer in rich results.

24. ItemList Schema Markup ItemList schema markup is used for pages that contain a list of items, such as a top 10 list or a collection of products. This markup can help search engines understand the structure of the list and potentially display it as a rich result in search.

25. NewsArticle Schema Markup NewsArticle schema markup is a more specific type of Article markup, designed specifically for news articles. It can include additional properties relevant to news, such as dateline, printEdition, and printPage.

26. TVSeries Schema Markup TVSeries schema markup is used for pages about television series. It can include information about the series’ episodes, actors, creators, and more. This can lead to rich results that display episode information, cast details, and ratings.

27. EducationalOrganization Schema Markup EducationalOrganization schema markup is used for pages about schools, universities, and other educational institutions. It can include details about the institution’s name, address, and programs offered.

28. HealthAndBeautyBusiness Schema Markup HealthAndBeautyBusiness schema markup is a more specific type of LocalBusiness markup, designed for businesses in the health and beauty sector. It can include specific details relevant to these businesses, such as services offered and accepted insurance plans.

29. AggregateRating Schema Markup AggregateRating schema markup is used to represent the average rating based on multiple ratings or reviews. This is particularly useful for product pages, local businesses, or any entity that receives ratings from users.

30. ImageObject Schema Markup ImageObject schema markup provides information about images on a webpage. It can include details such as the image URL, caption, and copyright information. This can help search engines better understand and potentially display your images in image search results.

Different Ways to Apply Schema Markups to your Website

So, let’s say you’re not a cooking recipe website, more than likely you are not, what kinds of ways can schema markups add value to your website/business? With all the open possibilities, schema can be applied to any type of website. Are you an event space? Post your upcoming event dates. How about a restaurant? List your location, style of food, hours, reservation options, etc.

Do you have an online store? Ratings and reviews would be some obvious choices. Honestly, there are so many possibilities to utilize schema that its hard to list them all in an article. There are many sources that are helpful to implementing schema, such as schema.org, wpschema.com, rdfa.info and jsonld.com, that break down their information by industry. If you are looking for schema inspiration those are great sources for further details and information.

Schema.org

Out of all of the resources, when it comes to schema implementation and comprehension, the most definitive is schema.org. Schema.org is an open source project founded by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Yandex in order to expand knowledge and implementation of schema throughout the internet.

It’s not often that you see major internet titans working together but the universal appeal of schema is enough to do just that. While schema.org is a central point for schema learning and technique improving, its main value is its showcase of schema examples that are great learning tools for anyone looking to start implementing their own schema markups.

While looking through schema.org you can often be overwhelmed with the amount of information provided. Its important to know what your goals are with schema utilization. This way you can focus on what you need rather than schema as a whole.

When you know which areas you would like to explore, one of schema.org’s greatest features is its way to view multiple different methods of schema implementation with ease. Pages on schema.org feature examples of schema implementation in multiple different methods. This allows you to see how to put together your own code and how to find a method that works for you. Some methods are more code heavy than others. This allows you to find a method that can fit your needs and coding skill level.

RDFa

It doesn’t take long looking into schema to realize there isn’t just one way to implement it. Depending on your skill, budget, and current resources there are a plethora of different options to explore. RDFa is a method that operates within HTML 5 (it is also operational in other XML documents such as SVG, HTML 4, and XHTML5). For someone with a more skilled coding background this is a great option, although there is a RDFa Lite option for beginners.

JSON-LD

It doesn’t take long looking into schema to realize there isn’t just one way to implement it. Depending on your skill, budget, and current resources there are a plethora of different options to explore. JSON-LD is a method highlighted in schema.org and more in depth on jsonld.com. Jsonld.com prides itself on sharing its code and encourages its use.

For someone with more casual coding abilities it’s a great method that can be easily utilized and comprehended. One of the biggest advantages to JSON-LD is that it isn’t tied down to an HTML format. Its simplicity allows for it to be implemented on its own or in tandem with another system. When it comes to Google’s rules and recommendations they actually suggest JSON-LD as the preferred method for implementing structured data.

Schema Pro

If you are someone who uses WordPress as their primary CMS system, there are plenty of options to easy implement schema markups into your websites.

Schema Pro is one of the more premier options that utilizes the JSON-LD method to easily make schema adjustments to your websites. Schema Pro is a paid service but its streamlined abilities and easy to navigate systems make for a more accessible and efficient experience if you spend most of your web development time in WordPress.

Some Guidelines to Follow When Using Schema

To refer back to Google’s structured data guidelines, there are some things that are good to keep in mind when implementing schema tactics. One of the biggest is making sure that any data that is highlighted in the structured data is actually included on the web page itself. Google wants to make sure that they are providing representative and accurate information as the structured data shows up on their site, not yours.

Just because the structured data is something you provided and is in association it your site doesn’t mean it doesn’t reflect on Google itself. Users will see these schema additions first in Google’s search results and may not event end up clicking on your page, so they want to make sure its in accordance to their standards. For this reason, they also do not allow structured data that is related to illegal products and actions.

It is also valuable to provide as much schema information as is descriptive of your website as Google prioritizes these pages.

This goes back to the fact that schema markups help web crawlers read your website and more content rich schema will result in Google’s preference for them over other structured data listings. Its not guaranteed that your schema markups will show up as structured data but by following these rules you will have a better chance of standing out in your Google search results.

Does Schema Markup work for SEO?

Schema markup can be beneficial for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Here’s how schema markup can positively impact SEO efforts:

1. Enhanced Search Results: Schema markup helps search engines understand your content better, which can lead to rich results in search engine result pages (SERPs). These rich results are more eye-catching and informative, potentially increasing click-through rates.
2. Improved Relevance: By providing explicit information about your content, schema markup helps search engines match your pages more accurately to relevant queries. This can improve your visibility for targeted searches.
3. Better Understanding of Content: Schema markup provides context to your content, helping search engines understand not just the words on your page, but their meaning and relationships. This can lead to better indexing and ranking for relevant queries.
4. Potential Ranking Boost: While Google has not officially stated that schema markup is a ranking factor, the improved understanding and relevance it provides can indirectly lead to better rankings.
5. Voice Search Optimization: As voice search becomes more prevalent, schema markup can help your content be more easily discovered and used for voice search results.
6. Local SEO Benefits: For local businesses, schemas like LocalBusiness can help improve visibility in local search results.
7. Competitive Advantage: Many websites don’t use schema markup, so implementing it can give you an edge over competitors in your niche.
8. Future-Proofing: As search engines evolve to understand and use structured data more effectively, having schema markup in place positions your site well for future developments.

Schema markup can be beneficial, but it’s not a magic solution for SEO. It should be part of a comprehensive SEO strategy that includes quality content, good site structure, and other SEO best practices.

Conclusion

Schema markups have a lot to offer. They are relevant to pretty much any industry you can think of. Over the last few years, more and more websites have been taking advantage of them, but they are still not as common as you would expect.

If you are looking for a simple way to stand out in search results schema is a great way to get a quick lead on competitors. With the growing interest in schema, it is beneficial to prepare for a future where these additions to your web pages could be utilized to an even greater ability.

Google highlights in their structured data guidelines that it might not use all of the schema that you provide it, but that doesn’t mean it won’t find a use for it in the future.