Schema data (also known as schema markup) is one of the latest evolutions of search engine optimisation. Currently, over 10 million sites use Schema.org – a project founded by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Yandex – to mark up their web pages for better search engine rankings, which can improve a business’s online visibility. Schema data is one of the most powerful but least utilised SEO methods used by companies and websites today. Many people have no idea what schema data even is.
However, if you want to stand out from search engines, you need to understand how schema affects SEO, and how to use it to your advantage.
First things first, you need to know what schema data is.
What is the schema data?
Schema data is essentially code (a semantic vocabulary of tags) that you add to your content to improve the way it gets interpreted by search engines and their crawlers.
While SEO titles and descriptions tell SERPs what your content is about in a certain number of characters, schema data goes one step further and provides further meaning and value. This helps search engines better organise content and presents users with immediate information that’s valuable to them.
What is Schema.org?
Schema.org is the online home of the schema project: a collaboration between Google, Bing, Yahoo! and Russian search engine Yandex to standardize structured markup. The project launched in the summer of 2011.
In the words of Schema.org founders themselves:
“A shared vocabulary makes it easier for webmasters and developers to decide on a schema and get the maximum benefit for their efforts. It is in this spirit that the founders, together with the larger community have come together – to provide a shared collection of schemas.”
Rich snippets and schema data
If your website has schema markup in place, Internet users can see much more information in their search results than with a headline, metadata, or description that may have been chosen by Google.
With schema data, users can also see what your website is about, where your business is based, how customers have reviewed you, what your prices are, and other useful information, all with a simple search.
These extra bits of information displayed beneath the title are called “rich snippets,” which are added using schema data.
One-third of Google’s website listings include rich snippets, whereas only 0.3% of all websites use schema data in their website code. In other words, many businesses are already using rich snippets, but if you want to get ahead of the competition, you need to embrace what schema data has to offer fully.
The benefit of rich snippets is (for example) if you ask a question, your site answers that question but you are not on the top page. The search engines will understand that your answer is relevant, and put the answer, and yourself, straight to the top of the rankings page.
There is a great chance that someone will click through to your website off the back of the schema data. This is because Google will only provide them with a snippet of information and the only way for them to find out more is by clicking through to the site.
Now that the schema has done the hard part, all you have to do is provide a website with a good page speed, some internal links and relevant information.
Does your Website need Schema?
If you are unsure whether or not you have put the schema on your site correctly, there are many structured data testing tools for you to choose from. One of the most popular tools to use for testing is Google Search Console.
The great thing about schema is that it isn’t just Technical SEO with some information. You can really tailor it to your business or website. Whether you are a social media influencer or a bakery, you can get to the top of search results using structured data and a well-optimised site.
Simply enter in the URL that you want to test rich results for and it will tell you whether or not you have successfully added it to your site.