How Schema Markup Helps Marketers Speak Google’s Language

Google Translate currently supports nearly 250 languages around the world. But there's one language it doesn't cover: its own! So how do we, as marketers, communicate with Google's bots in a language they'll understand? Consider Blue Compass your guide for talking to bots through schema markup. Schema—a form of structured data—is an advanced search engine optimization (SEO) tactic that uses specific code to provide more context about your content to Google and other search engines. 

Sure, Google's algorithm has more than 200 ranking factors helping it better understand content and provide relevant results in search engine results pages (SERPs). But incorporating website schema into your content takes clarity one step further by telling Google exactly what your content is about. Here's how to master schema to claim top ranking status in Google rich results.

What Is Schema Markup & Why Is It Important For SEO?

Website schema—or markup for SEO—is a standardized code designed to provide search engines like Google insider insights about the purpose of your content. Schema has multiple variations helping Google distinguish content like articles, products and FAQs so it can make information more readily available in rich results. For Google, rich results are an opportunity to answer users' questions and address their needs right away, while for your business, they're an opportunity to claim prominent positions in SERPs.

Rich results typically appear in a specialized format like a knowledge panel, carousel or featured snippet, to name a few. Because of this, content in rich results is highly visible and prominent for web users, which has a proven impact on website traffic and engagement. For example, Google notes The Food Network's efforts to add schema to 80% of their web pages led to a 35% increase in total website visits. 

Now, not every type of schema is eligible for a rich result, but schema is beneficial in general for search performance because it helps Google get a better grasp of what your content is about and provides context for the page. As a form of structured data, schema markup speaks in a way Google understands in an effort to improve your ranking in highly engaged search results.

What's The Difference Between Schema Markup & Structured Data?

Structured data and schema markup are used interchangeably to describe the code that contextualizes page content because schema is a specific language to implement data. Essentially, schema is structured data written in a way Google understands.

Marketing professionals may come across both terms when diving deep into SEO strategies, so know both refer to the technical code Google prefers to analyze page content. If you're worried about learning to speak this whole new language, the important thing to remember is Google already has a strong foundation of the data and formatting it needs. No, Google Translate still isn't an option, but there are a number of resources and templates available to help you plug in the appropriate schema type and complete with your own page data. You'll be taking over Google rich results and leading SERPs in no time!

Common Types Of Schema Markup

To take advantage of schema on your website, you must first identify which types of schema are applicable for the page content in question. Google supports many variations of structured data, from article and FAQ schema to product and video schema, depending on the rich results you aim to show up for. Some of the most common types of schema markup include:

Article Schema

Google's algorithm knows how to spot fresh content or news hot off the press, but implementing article schema on your news or blog-style content is a great way to strengthen relevance for Google's “top stories” rich result. The more you communicate with Google about what your content contains, the better. To get the most value out of article schema, be sure to fill in the markup for SEO with as much detail as possible, like a supporting image, headline, publish date, author and more. Google will display content it deems news-worthy in the top stories section prominently to bring more eyes to your website.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Schema

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) schema is useful for page content that lives in a designated FAQ section of a website. However, only reputable government and health organizations are eligible to rank for a “FAQ” rich result in SERPs, which features as a question-and-answer format readily displayed beneath their content. Still, any business can get value out of FAQ schema beyond appearing for a rich result—we've found FAQ schema influences how Google displays question-and-answer content for businesses across all industries. Other businesses that incorporate FAQ schema on their website increase their likelihood of ranking in another dedicated question-and-answer section like “People Also Ask” or featured snippets. For these businesses, this type of schema signifies to Google that even a single question and answer nestled in a blog article is valuable for readers, which may prompt Google to pull the question into a rich result.

To improve your chances, the SEO best practice is to answer a question in the same format Google currently favors, whether that be a list or regular paragraph content. For example, if you see a paragraph within a featured snippet, you should include a succinct paragraph in your copy and SEO markup to tell Google you understand what users need to see in response to their query.

Organization Schema

To showcase your authority and credibility as a business, organization schema is an opportunity to help your brand stand out from competitors. Schema for your organization communicates key details about your company to Google so Google can in turn provide high-level facts about your organization to users in rich results like knowledge panels.

Details to incorporate in website schema for your organization include your brand name, address, contact information, business description, founding date, logo, number of employees and more. Save this type of schema for the page on your website that best represents your business, ideally your homepage, to be the most impactful on search results.

Local Business Schema

If your business has a strong local presence, there's a schema template for that! Local business schema is a type of organization schema specific to businesses with a local presence. For location-specific businesses, use local business schema in place of organization schema for the best results. The more information you supply in schema, the more opportunities you'll have for your business to represent in search results. Key details like your business name, type of business, address, hours, images, logo, service area, offer catalog and more all have potential to feature in SERPs, depending on the search query. Gain local significance by using strategic structured data to take over top-page rich results like knowledge panels and local business carousels. Local business schema can technically live on any page of your website, but like organization schema, it works best on your homepage.

Product Schema

To make your products pop in Google's search results, add product schema to relevant product pages on your website. This increases their potential to rank in rich results like product snippets, popular products, knowledge panels, Google Images and more. Ratings, reviews and pricing are important elements to cover in product schema as this is key criteria Google looks for to display content eligible for rich results. You must include at least one of these details in product schema for ranking potential. However, adding additional information like shipping, availability, images and more is a bonus to bolster your product's chance of gaining prominent positions in SERPs. Include as much information as you can in your markup for SEO as Google could display your products in a variety of formats depending on the search query.

Video Schema

Video schema is a valuable tool if you have landing pages on your website dedicated to viewing individual videos. If the primary goal of the page content is to direct users to watch the video, you're golden. However, if the video on the page is supplementary to blog content or part of a video library, Google won't register video schema since this is an incorrect application. If your page content fits the bill, be sure to add elements like the video description, thumbnail image, upload date, duration and timestamps. And don't forget to link to the video. Ideally, the link would direct straight to where the video lives rather than the landing page—i.e. YouTube. Eligible Google rich results include video mode, Google Images and Google Discover.

How To Use Schema Markup To Optimize For Google Rich Results

Once you know what types of schema markup are relevant to your business and website, copy the appropriate template from Google to implement in the HTML code of your website. Depending on what content management system (CMS) you use, you may need to download a plug-in to add and edit schema. For example, sites built in WordPress typically require a plug-in to update schema accurately. Otherwise, you'll need to directly edit back-end HTML code, risking user error that could negatively impact your site's visibility in search.

At Blue Compass, we build websites in Slate CMS, which is an SEO-friendly CMS that can be customized to incorporate your schema needs through dynamic schema editors. Using a schema editor, our clients can fill in key elements that will auto-populate their page's schema appropriately. Implementing schema in Slate CMS is user-friendly and reduces user error that can impact code validity. No matter what CMS you use and what options you have to edit schema, make sure you fill in all of the relevant data depending on the rich result you're shooting for and ensure the code is error-free using a tool like Google's Rich Results Test or Schema Validator. By using the correct template and following best practices for website schema, you provide greater understanding for Google about the purpose your content serves and which queries and Google rich results it'd be most valuable for.

Best Practices For Schema Markup Implementation For SEO

Unless you're blatantly disregarding Google's pursuit of quality content and breaking its rules, improper website schema won't necessarily impact your content's regular ranking potential. However, if code is improperly implemented, it can break elements of your website and impact the user experience across your site. Proper implementation is important not only so you can capitalize on the full SEO value schema markup provides but also to ensure your site maintains its functionality with clean code. Always build and/or implement code carefully and validate schema throughout the process. To navigate this new language like an expert, keep more proven best practices in mind:

• Do: Create quality, custom schema. Rather than trying to integrate schema willy nilly across your website, focus on the content schema can add the most value to and tailor schema to the content on that page. While general templates for different types of schema are a good starting point, that doesn't mean org schema should be copied on every page of your website or the same product schema implemented on every page. Look for opportunities where you have data readily available so your schema markup is as complete as possible and you can tailor it to the page in question.
• Don't: Add schema to a blank page to trick Google. When you implement schema, it has to be relevant to the content on the page or it won't stand a chance to rank in rich results, and it may even penalize you for misleading Google and users.
• Do: Follow Google's general best practices and spam policy. Yes, Google provides templated language to help with schema, but schema doesn't override other factors in Google's algorithm that detect spam and lackluster content. Content must still be high-quality and relevant to be eligible for rich results. 
• Don't: Provide inaccurate or misrepresentative data. Never misrepresent what's included in page content with inaccurate information in schema. In that same vein, don't knowingly misuse schema templates to try to gain a rich result your page isn't otherwise eligible for. 
• Do: Complete as many fields as possible. There's no point in trying to speak Google's language if you're not doing everything you can to communicate the value of your content. Fill in as many relevant fields in the schema template as you can accurately represent to truly take advantage of schema for Google rich results.
• Don't: Forget to validate before publishing. Even if you've successfully implemented a schema template before or copied from existing code, don't assume your schema markup is clean. Something as little as an extra comma or misplaced bracket can render it useless, so always validate your schema.
• Do: Use Google Search Console to monitor schema progress. Monitor schema progress in Google Search Console, which notes technical schema errors as well as syntax errors Google has trouble reading. Use the URL inspection tool to see how Google views content with schema markup. Correct errors as you go and select “validate fix” in Search Console to let Google know your page content is ready to be re-crawled. Google Search Console is also where you can manage and update your website's sitemap so Google recognizes the latest version of your content and corresponding schema. 
• Don't: Try to outsmart Google. No one speaks structured data better than Google does, so submitting misleading or incomplete schema will have the opposite effect on your page content.

Our Website Schema Experts Are Ready To Help You Speak SEO

Technical SEO tactics like schema markup are our bread and butter at Blue Compass. We help clients ranging from local businesses to international Fortune 500 companies and everything in between rank prominently in Google's rich results. For superior performance in SERPs, contact our SEO experts to get started with structured data on your website. We not only talk the talk—we walk the walk and help clients execute impactful schema across website content.