What is Schema?

Schema.org is a dictionary of tags (also known as markups) that webmasters may apply to the HTML to make the website appear more appealing to SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). By adding these tags, we get what is called Organized Data, which results in Rich Snippets.

You’re curious how to use schema.org for SEO? The purpose of applying the Schema is to give information (site/product details) to search engines in order to enhance their comprehension of the content, to make the snippets richer and to increase the CTR. 

Yes, it may sound simple, but we want to emphasize that rich snippets have a big effect on the CTR (Click Through Rate) because they draw more interest than any other search result, and that drives more clicks. Note that this parameter dictates the success of the snippet, and it is determined by dividing the amount of times it was clicked on the SERPs. The more clicks you press, the higher the CTR.

In the case of rich snippets, the CTR is raised to 30%! Especially when it comes to goods or service assessments: ratings and feedback are the most influential elements in the field of rich snippets. Will you need more excuses to introduce them? Here comes a really good one: 

In the past, SEO specialists had to force their developers to write the markups and upload them, which resulted into long waiting time and often inaccurate implementations, with a lot of feedback loops. Now SEO practitioners may use JSON-LD to edit schema marks (one of the codes accepted by schema.org). It’s pretty easy to use, because all you need to do – besides inserting details – is to submit it to the developers or add it to the HTML or Google Tag Manager on your own. We’re going to get to that later.

Now, are the rich snippets showing immediately? Unfortunately, it’s not. It takes a little longer for them to turn up. Forget of applying schema.org on a bad website to make it higher. You do need to spend the SEO efforts in any single page, since Google would value whether the text is important enough, if what is presented in the tags fits the content of the website, whether or not it receives quality links, etc. 

The “organization” markup is a great utility in schema.org. Through this, you can help Google recognize and show all of your company’s data in the Information Graph. You’ll want to enter a logo, contact info, opening hours (if it’s a physical business) and a connection to your social media networks.

To apply a schema markup to your websites, follow the following steps: 

You want to visit schema.org, where you can find a directory of all sorts of sites, needs, industries, etc.

Choose the sector or product that best represents the page(s) you want to advertise on the SERPs. There’s a lot of detail you can highlight, take your time to get the right numbers. Remember, you don’t need to include it all. 

Choose the encoding that matches your needs and adapts it to the content of your website. You will find it at the bottom of the tab, copy the prototype to start working on it. 

Add the markups to the tab, depending on the code you used (see the next section). 

Validate the code using a standardized data review framework like FandangoSEO. 

Yeah, and ta-da! Your sites are beginning to appear more appealing than ever before. 

The schema markup can be used for three separate encodings: RDFa, Microdata, and JSON-LD (you’ll actually like this one the most).

MicroData and RDFA are semantic markup types that can be paired with typical HTML properties to describe and category of item (review, cost, price, etc.) by using related attributes. 

It literally frames the words you want to highlight using this coding within the body of the HTML format. This way, you tell the search engines that they have to consider the term as, for example, the name of the product or the summary.

For categories (which display a list of items), you can highlight 1 thumbnail as “image,” “price range” that includes all products shown, and “payment accepted.” 

If you wish to highlight more than one object on a category or subcategory tab, you can list it by assigning ITEMREF numbers. 

Using “isRelatedTo” to denote related goods. 

Don’t forget about the reviews and scores. The price would also help if it is sustainable.

As stated earlier, JSON-LD is the most commonly used SEO experts, as it is the simplest schema markup for structured data. Why? Why? Well, when the others have to be written in the word-framing HTML file, this one can be written and posted separately, and Google can realize that the code applies to the entire page. This way, stop modifying HTML tags and actually messing it up. 

You can apply the code to the HTML as another tag, so you don’t need to touch the current code. It was better to tell you. affirmative Google advises applying JSON-LD to the <head> section of the HTML document; but it’s okay if the JSON-LD is in the <body> area. Just paste it down (or ask a developer if you have the chance).

You have shown that organized data has a lot of promise. Depending on your company, structured data is the best way to beat your rivals in search engines. Sounds cool, doesn’t it?

Taking a peek at some of the Google structured data examples: 

You’re doing a food blog, and your meal has less calories, and it takes less time to plan for your top rival. 

You can also install a video schema markup and connect to the video tutorial to see how schema can look. 

You own an e-commerce company and want to make the highest selling sneakers stand out on the SERPs. Add the specifics of the product but also the overall ranking depending on multiple ratings or feedback. 

You’re the author of a novel, and you’ve just written an epic guide on how to be an awesome leader. There are a lot of people out there, but yours is the best. Using schema.org for books to become the best-selling author of next Christmas. 

You have an app to monitor flights and want it to be identified while people are searching for arrival times and airport terminals; so you can use the schema web application markup.