Google’s search algorithm is almost perfect and knows everything about your website when its live on the internet. When your website goes live, it’s only matter of days before Google’s bot would visit and crawl it to get an idea about your company, who you are, what you do, what type of content you have and other information. It then takes a note of your content and showcases your website in the search engine result page when a query is made which relates to the content on your website.
But, the challenge here is that every company does that. Everyone posts the same content on their website. Let’s take an example:
-
Company A deals in providing solar panel installation services.
-
Company B also deals in the solar panel installation services.
Both the companies have created websites with almost similar kind of content and pages. Google knows about both the companies based on their on-page content and even though the both have almost similar content, Google is showcasing some extra information in the form of reviews and ratings about the Company A which is not even present on its web pages. So, how did Google find this extra information about Company A? ** The answer is Schema Markup. ** Any top website development company would able to implement the schema if they have the right marketing team to guide them.
What is Schema Markup?
Schema markup, also known as structured data, is a type of code that you can add to your web pages to help search engines understand your content better. It's like a translator that takes your website content and puts it into a language that search engines can easily understand.
Basically, it’s like giving the search engines an extra bit of information about your website and content within in a manner which makes you standout of others in search results. The more clear information you give to the search engines through schema markup, the chances of you ranking in search engine result increases.
There are many types of schema markups which can be added to your website depending on the content and the industry you are in. We have prepared this series of 3 blogs to make our readers aware about the most of the schemas and when to use which. In this Part 1 of 3, we will cover following schema markups:
**
Let’s explore each in detail.
1. Organization Schema
Organization schema is a specific type of schema markup designed to tell search engines all about your organization or business. ** It's like creating a digital business card for your website. You can add details about your business such as name, address, logo, telephone number, website, description, and other details.
Benefits of Organization Schema
-
**Improved Search Visibility: **The chances of your business appearing in search result increases by clearly defining your business details.
-
**Richer Search Results: ** Search engines might use your schema data to display rich snippets in search results, including your logo, address, ratings, and more.
-
**Increased Credibility: ** Providing accurate and detailed information about your organization increases trust with potential customers.
Example
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Sun Solar Panels",
"logo": "https://www.sunsolarpanels.com/logo.png",
"url": "https://www.sunsolarpanels.com",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "123 Main Street",
"addressLocality": "Georgetown",
"addressRegion": "CA",
"postalCode": "12345",
"addressCountry": "US"
},
"description": "We provide quality solar panel installation services in Georgetown"
}
</script>
View in Search Engine Result
2. Review Snippet Schema
Review snippet schema, also known as review schema, is a type of structured data that specifically focuses on ** displaying reviews and ratings for your products, services, or other content ** in search engine results pages (SERPs). It's like putting up customer testimonials on a digital billboard.
Benefits of Review Snippet Schema
-
Stand Out in SERPs: Websites with review snippets often have ** star ratings and review excerpts displayed next to their listing.** This makes businesses stand out in the competition as we saw in the introduction with Company A and Company B example.
-
** Increased Click-through Rate (CTR): ** Eventually it increases the click-through rate because with the reviews and ratings displayed, it encourages users to contact you and boosts credibility of your organisation as well.
Example
`
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Product",
"name": "Sun Solar Panels",
"image": "https://www.sunsolarpanels.com/solarpanel.jpg",
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.7",
"bestRating": "5",
"worstRating": "1",
"reviewCount": "123"
}
}
</script>
`
View in Search Engine Result
3. Product Schema
Product schema is a type of structured data specifically designed to ** provide detailed information about your products to search engines.** Think of it as a detailed product description card for your website, but in a format that search engines can easily understand and use.
Benefits of Product Schema
-
** Improved Click-through Rate (CTR):** Snippets with rich information about product form your website encourages users to directly click to your schema and redirect to your website, eventually increasing the CTR.
-
** Product standout:** Makes your product to standout in SERP which in turn increases the more exposure of your product and eventually conversions.
-
** Increased visibility:** With more information about product presented through product schema, increases the possibility of your product appearing in relevant search on SERP.
Example
`
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Product",
"name": "Solar Panel 2.9kWh",
"image": "https://www.sunsolarpanels.com/SolarPanel2_9kWh.jpg",
"description": "A 2.9kWh solar panel",
"brand": {
"@type": "Brand",
"name": "GoGreen"
},
"offers": {
"@type": "Offer",
"price": "24.99",
"priceCurrency": "USD",
"availability": "InStock"
}
}
</script>
`
View in Search Engine Result
4. FAQ Schema
FAQ schema, also known as FAQPage schema, is a type of structured data used to ** highlight your website's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section **in search results. It's like adding neon signs to your answers, making them more visible and accessible to searchers. Even though your web-page doesn’t have FAQs but, let’s say your blog is a Q/A based blog giving important answers to questions, you can add the FAQSchema.
Benefits of FAQ Schema
-
Richer Search Results: Search engines might use your FAQ schema data to display FAQ rich snippets directly in SERPs. This builds credibility of your website amongst the searchers.
-
**Improved Search Visibility: ** By informing search engines about your FAQ content, you increase the chances of your website appearing in search results related to the questions addressed in your FAQs.
Example
`
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What is a solar panel?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Solar panel is a series of solar cells arranged in a linear fashion to harvest
the solar energy"
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How do I place an order?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Visit our 'Shop' page and browse our products. Add items to your cart and proceed
to checkout to
complete your order."
}
}
]
}
</script>
`
View in Search Engine Result
5. Breadcrumb Schema
Breadcrumb schema is a type of structured data that helps ** represent the navigational hierarchy of your website ** to search engines and users. It's like creating a digital breadcrumb trail, showing visitors their current location within your website structure and allowing them to easily navigate back to previous sections.
Benefits of Breadcrumb Schema
-
**Enhanced SEO: ** Breadcrumbs can potentially improve click-through rates (CTR) by making your website listings in SERPs more informative and user-friendly. Search engines get an idea about your website navigation.
-
**Improved User Experience: ** Breadcrumbs in search results can help users understand how your website is organized, making it easier for them to navigate and find the information they need.
Example
`
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "BreadcrumbList",
"itemListElement": [
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 1,
"item": {
"@id": "https://www.sunsolarpanels.com/",
"name": "Home"
}
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 2,
"item": {
"@id": "https://www.sunsolarpanels.com/blog/",
"name": "Blog"
}
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 3,
"item": {
"@id": "https://www.sunsolarpanels.com/blog/what-is-a-solar-panel/",
"name": "What is a solar panel"
}
}
]
}
</script>
`
View in Search Engine Result
Conclusion
Schemas form an important part for the websites in today’s SEO and SERP game. Ask your digital marketing agencies whether they put enough stress on the schema markups? In this first part, we studied how organization, review snippet, product, FAQ, and breadcrumb schemas elevate your website’s position in the SERP by providing an extra information to the search engines.
Ask your website development company today to implement these during the development itself to get maximum benefit.
Stay with us as we would cover the other schema in the part 2 of this series. Till then, you can read about the onPage SEO key points in another three part series.