Schema mark up is quickly becoming a commonly used technical SEO tactic for websites in all industries.
With our beginner’s guide to schema mark up, you will learn the basics of how to ‘speak’ to a search engine and provide valuable context that could help search engines to better understand your web pages.
In other words, it helps search engines to ‘connect the dots’ between pages and concepts.
From types of schema mark up to how to create your own and test it, we’re covering all of the basics that you need to know. Read on to learn more!
Table Of Contents
- What is schema mark up?
- How does schema mark up work?
- What is the difference between structured data, Schema.org, JSON & Microdata?
- What are the types of schema mark up?
- Why is structured data important for SEO?
- How to generate your own schema mark up
What Is Structured Data?
Schema mark up, or structured data, is a universal language that can be used to communicate with search engines. It is a code standard that can help search engines better understand the context of a web page's content.
Schema mark up, in its simplest form, is a structured system. This system helps to categorise information on the web. With some types of structured data, you can see this visually in search engine results pages - known as rich snippets. There are now over 800 types of schema mark up.
It is formed using a markup vocabulary from Schema.org. This was developed by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Yandex and can be understood by all search engines.
Structured data can be added to a web page or site-wide depending on the schema type and can better define the context of different present elements.
What Is A Rich Snippet?
Before we dive into more depth about schema mark up and structured data, it€™s important to understand what we mean by rich snippet.
A rich snippet is an enhanced search result listing that appears in SERPs. It provides more detailed and informative content directly within the search results.
Here are a few examples of rich snippets:
This is an example of product schema. This shows ratings, price and the stock status clearly within the search result.
This is an example of sitelinks search box, allowing users to directly search on the Kmart site, from within the SERP.
This is an example of recipe schema, showing the rating of the recipe and how long it takes to make, directly within the SERP. It also features a series of similar recipes.
This is also a type of recipe schema, for those who are seen as highly relevant to the search query and matching user intent - they can be pushed into the more user-friendly snippet on SERPs. Having recipe structured data on your page can help to increase your chances of visibility here.
But, why are rich snippets important?
The main reason is because users are more likely to click on a rich snippet.
In fact, a study by Milestone Research which analysed over 4.5 million queries found that users click on rich results 58% of the time, compared to 41% of users who click on non-rich results.
How Does Schema Mark Up Work?
A web page is built using a number of individual elements. Schema mark up will mark the individual elements with a specific code to inform search engines of what that element actually is.
While there is some vocabulary that doesn’t exist yet, there is a broad list of mark ups that you can find on Schema.org that you might want to feature on your site.
This snippet of code can help to make a page easier to ‘read’ for a search engine while helping them to better understand what the content refers to.
What Is The Difference Between Structured Data, Schema.org, JSON-LD & Microdata?
Structured Data
This is a standardised format to provide search engines with information about different elements on a page. It allows users to classify content by pairing it with a known value that helps search engines categorise it.
Schema.org
This collaborative project was led by the major global search engines (excluding Baidu). It is an open-community concept agreed between them to allow for an agreed-upon set of definitions for different schema tags. This would allow them to be read universally by all search engines, not just one. This is where schema mark up was born.
Microdata
This is one type of structured data. It is used to nest metadata within content on web pages. It is an open-community HTML specification.
JSON-LD
Commonly referred to as JSON for short in the SEO community. This is another form of schema mark up and stands for JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data. It works similarly to microdata.
What is the recommended format for implementing schema mark up?
Google has outlined its preference for JSON-LD implementation for adding schema mark up to a site. Developers also tend to prefer JSON-LD implementation for structured data as it can be applied to entire web pages, not just individual elements, by being placed in the <head>.
What Are The Types Of Schema Mark Up?
Some of the most commonly used types of schema mark up to add to your SEO strategy include:
- Organisation Schema Markup: Used to define information about a business or organisation, including its name, logo, contact details, and social media profiles.
- Local Business Schema Markup: Specific to local businesses, it provides details such as the business name, address, phone number, operating hours, and customer reviews.
- Product Schema Markup: Ideal for e-commerce websites, it helps showcase details about products, including their name, price, availability, and user reviews.
- Article Schema Markup: Used for news articles, blogs, and other written content, it offers information about the article's title, author, publication date, and more.
- Review Schema Markup: Enables businesses to highlight ratings, reviews, and testimonials for products or services. This used to be a rich result in SERPs but was downgraded due to extensive use by SEO€™s.
- Recipe Schema Markup: Suitable for recipe websites, it details ingredients, cooking times, nutritional information, and user ratings for recipes.
- Event Schema Markup: Designed for events, it provides information about event dates, locations, performers, ticket prices, and more.
- FAQ Schema Markup: Allows websites to highlight frequently asked questions and answers. This was also removed from being a rich result.
- Video Schema Markup: Used for video content, it offers information about video duration, thumbnails, and publication date, improving video search visibility.
- Breadcrumb Schema Markup: Enhances website navigation by displaying a hierarchical trail in search results, helping users understand the site's structure.
- Person Schema Markup: Provides information about individuals, including their name, image, job title, and social media profiles, often used for authorship.
- Breadcrumb Schema Markup: Enhances website navigation by displaying a hierarchical trail in search results, helping users understand the site's structure.
Some other types of schema that Google understands include book actions, carousel, course info, course list, dataset, discussion forum, education Q&A, employer aggregate rating, estimated salary, fact check, home activity, image meta data, job posting, learning video, math solver, movie, practice problem, profile page, Q&A, sitelinks search box, software app, speakable, subscription and paywalled content, vehicle listing.
Why Is Structured Data Important For SEO?
There are a few reasons why structured data is important for SEO.
Firstly, structured data helps search engines to better understand the content on your website more effectively. This clarity can lead to enhanced search engine results page (SERP) features like rich snippets and knowledge panels. This, in turn, can potentially improve your website’s visibility and click-through rates.
When search engines display rich snippets with additional information such as ratings, reviews or event details, it can provide users with more context about your content, too. This leads to a better user experience on the SERP, increasing the likelihood of users clicking on your result.
As search engine algorithms evolve, structured data is likely to play an increasingly important role in how content is indexed and displayed.
Implementing structured data schema mark up now could help to future-proof your SEO efforts.
How To Generate Your Own Schema Mark Up
Generating your own schema mark up has never been easier.
With the integration of new tools on the market, AI capabilities and various existing templates, generating your own schema mark up for your site is simple.
The best part about schema is that in most cases, with most sites, if the <head> of the page is accessible via a CMS, then an SEO can implement it themselves without the help of a developer.
Follow our step-by-step guide to generating your own schema mark up below:
- Identify What Schema Mark Up You Need
- Consider Using An Online Tool To Help
- Add Your Schema To The <head>
- Continue To Check For New Opportunities
Identifying Schema Markup You Need
With more than 800 types of schema available, it can be difficult to identify which is going to work best for your site.
The best ways to identify what schema mark up you need include:
- Running searches to see what rich results are appearing for your main keywords
- What schema mark up your competitors are using
- What schema mark up your competitors are not using
- What is easy for you to implement
This is a great starting point before diving into each and every type of schema there is. You may also find that some of the plugins that you already have on your site, such as Yoast SEO , already have the capabilities to quickly and easily add different schema types to your site automatically.
You may also find that you already have some schema on your site because of this, which you were unaware of. Use Google's rich results tool to identify what you and your competitors already have on the site.
Consider Using An Online Tool
There are several online tools that can help you to generate schema mark up. Firstly, there's Google's Structured Data Markup Helper , which helps you mark up different elements and generates the HTML for you to add to your site.
TechnicalSEO.com also has a JSON-LD structured data generator that can help you to add common schema types like Article, Breadcrumb, Event, FAQ Page, How-to, Job Posting, Local Business, Organization, and many more.
You could also play with AI tools to see if they can create structured data scripts. Remember to be specific with your prompts and ensure you mention using JSON-LD formats (Google's preferred version).
Always double-check using the Rich Results tool that the code generated is accurate and acts as intended before implementing it on the site if you rely solely on AI.
Research some of the available tools online that may be able to help you to generate your own schema.
Add Your Schema To The <head>
Remember that in most cases, schema should be added on a page by page basis, to define the individual elements on that page.
If you are able to access the <head> of the website you are implementing the schema onto, then you can simply copy and paste the generated script into the header HTML.
Republish the page and test using the Rich Results Testing Tool that this is implemented correctly.
Not all CMS systems have the same capabilities, and you may require the creation of custom fields or have to edit page templates to access the <head>. Consider consulting an experienced technical SEO or developer prior to implementing to avoid any technical issues that could impact user experience.
Continue To Check For New Opportunities
Google is recognising more and more types of schema as time goes on.
Therefore, there are always more opportunities to add more context to the pages on your site, to help Google to understand them better.
Continue to run competitor analysis and identify what they are (and aren't) including on their site to give you a more competitive edge.
Conclusion
Structured data or schema mark up is increasingly important in an age where the internet is full of content and information.
You can help search engines to have a clearer understanding of page context as well as potentially gain rich snippets to improve your clicks and visibility in SERPs.
With schema mark up, there is no downside. It doesn't matter if you're running an enterprise SEO campaign or a local SEO campaign, schema mark up can benefit everyone.
Start adding structured data to your site, or speak to a member of our expert team who can help you with your technical SEO implementation today!
