In this Hosting Help article , we bring you a guide to schema markup or structured data ( Rich Snippets ). We will show you the types of schema markup and its importance for SEO.
Suppose we have created an excellent website that works perfectly. However, we want to make our participation in search more active and easier for users in their searches. How to achieve it?
To achieve this we need to enter the world of structured data or schema markup.
What is structured data?
Search engine robots index websites and analyze all content. Companies like Google cannot rely on algorithm mode alone to display important information in search results.
For example, Google can’t say for sure that 123 456 7890 is a phone number found on a website. However, if there was an additional clue, the website owner could go to Google and other search engines and see that they have made their job easier for the search engines. This is where structured data comes in.
Structured data is a method of communicating with search engine bots to tell them what certain content on a web page really means. Schema.org is just a type of structured data that is followed by all search engines like Google , Yahoo , Bing , and Yandex . Adding structured data helps search engines better understand our website.
How does schema or structured data markup benefit SEO?
There are two key SEO benefits of implementing Schema.org on your website.
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Makes the website more SEO friendly
Search engine optimization (SEO) basically means making our website search engine friendly. And this happens when users type a relevant query and it can be easily found.
Schema.org structured data allows us to feed detailed information to search engine crawlers to better understand our website content. A website built to be understood by search engines has a greater chance of ranking higher. In addition, it can be found when a user performs a similar search.
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Appear in rich search results
Implementing schema markup through Schema can make websites stand out in search results. Something similar to what can be seen in the following image capture:
You can see how the search results are highlighted graphically. These results correspond to those of a search of sites where structured data was implemented. That is, what we see is the result of an enriched search.
Types of Enriched Results
In the previous section we saw how important it is to display well-explained and detailed rich snippets for search engines. There are several ways to display the results. Next, let’s see some of them.
Rich snippets
Rich Snippets are exactly what the phrase Rich + Snippets translates to. Therefore, the rich snippets of a website in search results are the richest or most valuable snippets that that site contains. These can be obtained by implementing the appropriate schema markup on our website.
Enriched cards
Rich cards are similar to the graphic elements that we see on a mobile or smartphone when we perform searches on those devices. We see them on mobile devices when we search for products, local restaurants, courses, movies and recipes, among others. These rich cards are often displayed in touch and swipe to make them look more dynamic and engaging.
This image gives us a clear view of what the enriched cards look like. You can see some examples of product presentation shown on the cards.
knowledge graphs
We have probably seen a large block of information, which usually appears on the right side of Google search results. That block contains images, location, contact information, description, social media profiles, etc. This block of information is called a knowledge graph.
Featured Snippets
Featured snippets don’t have a direct connection to structured data. They refer to the actual content present on the website. These do not contain additional information like rich snippets. However, they respond to queries made by users.
This is an example of what a featured snippet looks like. An important aspect to point out is that not only the structured data must be good, but also the content of our entire website. We must have clear and understandable content on our website so that it can respond to user queries as in the previous case.
Structured data types
If we go to the Schema.org website , we will find several types of structured data. We will list some of the most prominent below:
- Articles.
- Books.
- Work offers.
- Personas.
- Local businesses or organizations.
- courses.
- events.
- Products.
- Magazines.
- Prescriptions.
- Videos.
How to implement structured data on a WordPress website?
Structured data built into WordPress themes
Common data like header, footer, navigation, etc. are essential for search engines to understand the structure of our website. In addition, they are very easy to implement. All we need to do is choose a theme that has structured data built in.
Surprisingly, very few themes come with Schema Markup code built in. If we are looking for a well-coded and flexible Schema-integrated WordPress theme, we can rely on Astra . This is a free theme available in the WordPress repository. Other themes that we can use are the child themes in the Genesis Framework .
Mark other data with plugins
Layouts like headers, footers, navigation, etc. are common for all websites. However, for the case of a specific date, we must use a plugin. For example:
- For local businesses, we will need a markup for business days, hours, categories, etc.
- For websites that are about recipes, movies, books, or events, some sort of time schema will need to be added.
Plugins like Schema Pro will automatically mark up existing data that we have on our website. Also, it adds additional fields in the WordPress backend for the pages where we enter important information for the structured data implementation. There are also other free plugins in the WordPress repository that we can count on ( Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP , Schema , etc.).
Some important questions
Does integrating schema markup guarantee rich snippets?
Using only schema markup does not guarantee rich snippets or Rich Snippets . Search engines also look at other factors like authority, quality, history, relevance, and many other signals. Implementing schema markup is just one of the factors that increases the chance of your WordPress website displaying better.
Can it take a certain amount of time for a rich snippet to appear?
We should not expect immediate results. It can take months to see a rich snippet of our website appear in search results.
Is it required to maintain Schema Pro even if we have installed Yoast SEO?
The Yoast SEO plugin takes care of the following:
- Add RDFa markup to Breadcrumbs .
- Add schema markup for our home page.
- With the Video SEO plugin, we can add a video schema.
- With a local SEO plugin, we can have schema markup for our address and business hours.
Yoast SEO comes with these options, plus some basic SEO settings that it’s made for. We can still take the help of another plugin in case we want to add some more relevant schema markup on our website. In this case we can add Schema Pro to complement some schema markup.
Do we need to keep Schema Pro even if our theme has it built in?
Themes only deal with common layouts like header, footer, navigation, etc. We can still step up and implement other specific markup and thus get better results.
Do some plugins come with built-in schema markup?
Some plugins come integrated with outline markup to make our work easier. For example, WooCommerce adds built-in schemas for products. The Events Calendar plugin adds schema markup for events etc.
If we are using a plugin to add content, we can check with the plugin developer if the plugin supports Schema.
How to know if our website already has schema markup?
Google has provided a tool that can help us test Schema on any website. We can discuss what kind of schema we have implemented on any website here .
Conclusion
Very few websites implement schema markup. Doing so provides a bit of work. However, the result is for life. Implementing schema markup sets us apart from the competition.
We hope you have found this article on Guide to Schema Markup or Structured Data useful. More information on this and other topics in Help Hosting .