You’ve probably heard of it and maybe you thought you’d put it on the backburner and look into it later, but schema markup is something you need to jump on right now. So, go ahead and front-burner that baby.
It’s a fact, schema markup one right can only help your SEO (search engine optimization) campaign. Less than a third of Google results are using schema markup, which means you should be because your competitors probably aren’t. And studies show that you’ll rank higher on the SERPs (search engine results pages), too.
Schema Markup: The Why, What, Where, and How
Here’s why: Schema markup can significantly increase your SEO because it makes your page’s description look better than the average description which means your description is way more clickable. You’ll also get a lower bounce rate because your users have relevant information right from the start, so they know what your page will be providing.
Here’s what: Schema structured data markup lives within your website’s HTML, it’s added code that allows you to greatly enhance and strengthen your web page’s description, referred to as a rich result, formerly called a rich snippet.
Here’s where: Your web page’s description is found on the SERPs under your web page’s title and if done properly and chosen by Google, it will be seen with all the information you added in your schema markup, making it rich with detail (hence the name: rich result) and enticing more clicks.
Here’s how: The search engines offer this to benefit the customer. Adding schema markup shows the user added detail and info so they can better understand what your page will offer them. A business can add location, ratings, pricing, dates, and several other tidbits of information, depending on what it is they offer.
The more technical side of “how” is found further down in this post.
The Schema Types
Schema markup is used within several categories of business, some of the most popular are:
- Organizations/Businesses
- Person
- Products and Offers
- Recipes
- Events
- Reviews
- Videos
We’re going to go over the top three in detail: organizations/businesses (inclusive of local businesses), person, and products and offers.
Organizations/Businesses
Within schema markup for organizations and businesses, one can include a logo, all contact info, location, and links to social media channels. With all of these opportunities to reach the business right off the bat, customers find it easy to get in touch quickly and efficiently.
Small, local businesses can greatly benefit from this. Providing details such as address, hours, and contact information through the Local Business Schema Markup.
Person
When using Person Market Schema Markup, one is providing basic details about those in the public eye. Included may be birthdays, addresses, education, career, and other members of the family.
Products and Offers
Selling something? Looking to increase your e-commerce digital marketing presence? Product and Offer Schema Markup is for you. You must include the name of the product in the Product Schema Markup. And in the Offer Schema Markup, you’ll need to provide name, price, and currency in the description.
Using these types of schema markups will help you get noticed in that long list of results that come up on the SERPs. Showing your pricing from the start gives users insight that will either create a click or save you from a bounce.
The Set-Up of Schema Markups
More on “here’s how”, as promised.
Not into techy stuff, don’t worry. This really isn’t as painful as you may think. Don’t let the word “code” have you running, Google’s got your back.
- Head to Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper
- Choose the data type for your page
- Paste in your URL and hit “Start Tagging” (the more the better)
- Keep highlighting and labeling all those elements you want marked, the dropdown list will help walk you through
- Create your HTML and test it to see what your page will look like after all is said and done
- Once perfected, add the schema markup to your page
And That’s That
Now you know all the benefits that schema markup will give your SEO campaign, your users, and your business, so it’s time to take care of it right now- before your competition does.
Looking for some help? Just a bit too technical for you? Allow us. Give The Great Online a call today.
