One of the newest advancements to SEO is Schema markup. When utilized properly, Schema markup can boost your website in search engines.
What is Schema Markup?
Schema Markup or Schema.org represents the semantic vocabulary also known as microdata of the content on your website.
Microdata can be added to the HTML of your website so search engines can better read your content and improve how it represents your web pages to its users.
Schema.org is a collaboration between the popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and Yandex. They all wanted to provide a more convenient way for users to instantaneously understand what a website is all about. Let’s go over how Schema Markup SEO can improve the way your users, or target audience, perceive your website.
Is Schema Important for SEO?
While Schema Markup is not a definite ranking factor, it is important to your SEO strategy. Schema was created because search engines want to provide you with more ways to supply information about your content and pages of your site.
By using Schema Markup, search engines will be able to understand what your data means and match it to a user’s search query. By defining what your content means, search engines no longer have to guess based on keywords or what the content says.
Schema Markup is Important to SEO for 3 Reasons
- Extensive Rich Snippets
- Increased Organic Click-Through Rates
- Boosted Website SEO
Schema.org offers data markup for all kinds of content. So, your website can rank better. The most common content types are the following:
- Articles
- Creative Works
- Local Businesses
- Organization
- Restaurants
- Persons
- TV Episodes & Ratings
- Places
- Book Reviews
- Products
- Movies
- Software Applications
- Events
Extensive Rich Snippets
Schema enhances the rich snippets displayed under the page title of your content in search engine results pages (SERPS). This improves your website’s listing in search engines and provides users with most of the information they might need.
The first result shows how a rich snippet not only looks better than the second result but provides the user with much more relevant information than when Google chooses its own metadata to use.
Structured data markup helps you display what you want your users to see in search results.
Increased Organic Click-Through Rates
Reviewing the example search results above, which result would you click? Probably the first one that has more information as a result of structured data markup.
Also, schema markup can provide an indirect SEO benefit by making your pages more indexable. Targeted metadata is more accurate than keywords.
Most importantly, SEO behavioral data such as click-through rate, time on site, and bounce rate are believed to be significant ranking factors.
Boosted Website SEO
Even though Schema is not a direct ranking factor, it is one of the best SEO practices that can place your website in the top results.
We’ve discussed that structured data can help enhance rich snippets which can drive higher click-through rates. On top of that, structured data can help search engines understand your website content and allow for better indexing of your pages.
Remember, the more you do Schema Markup, the better your SEO will be.
Do you want to properly apply Schema Markup and start boosting your website SEO? Consult experienced and effective SEO specialists today and get a FREE quote.