In SEO there are a lot of steps that can be implemented to optimize and enhance your web page. What is that one step you think web pages could be doing to give them an upper hand over their competitors?
Let me tell you that this implementation will give you an advantage of 4 average positions on SERP, in accordance with a detailed research study.
It can be achieved by an addition of small piece of code to your webpage known as Schema Markup found at Schema.org. (Schema.org is collaboration done by all search engines in order to bring structure in content to ease readability and improve the display of search results)
Let's Understand …. What is a Schema Markup?
Schema markup informs the search engine precisely what your content is trying to convey on your web page. It converts unstructured data into structured data. Adding schema will help the search engine crawl better, raising the websites ranking while keeping other best practives of SEO in mind.
Search Engine has an algorithm which helps to identify the content in the best way. The algorithm will comprehend the information on the webpage as well as the relationship between the entities. The content is then given a structure after which Schema comes into picture.
Using this structure with the help of a piece of code will answers all the who’s, what’s, where’s, when’s, and how’s to the search engine.
There are several tools which can help you make the schema code for your webpage, therefore the ability to code is not necessary.
Benefits of Using Schema Markup
Approximately less than one-third of webpages on google use schema which leaves us with a lot of room to take advantage of schemas over our competitors to improve ranking and gain visibility.
As the page ranks higher on SERP, the CTA of the webpage simultaneously increases.
Implementation of schema gives you an opportunity to be eligible to obtain rich snippets bringing your page content on the top of SERP. This increases your brand presence for product base brands and can attract potential customers.
Rich snippets are results which are shown on top of SERP that gives users more information rather than just displaying the URL and meta description.
(Different types of schema images).
Here are some rich snippet examples.
Types of Schema Code Languages:
Microdata, RDFA and Json-LD are the 3 code languages that can be used to add schema markup to the web document.
Microdata:
Microdata annotates html tags making them more machine readable. They are easier to use but can get quite messy as they must be used with every html tag within the body of the webpage document.
They include attributes such as, itemscope, itemtype, itemprop
Microdata schema looks like this:
<h2 itemprop=”description”> The best phones</h2>
<p>Address:</p>
<span itemprop=”address” itemscope itemtype=”http://schema.org/PostalAddress”>
<p itemprop=”streetAddress”> 201 Juhu </p>
<p itemprop=”addressLocality”> Mumbai, Mh </p></span>
<p>Tel: <span itemprop=”telephone”> 8888574321</span></p>
<p><a itemprop=”menu” href=”http:// http://www.techhaven.com/menu “>Click here for phones</a></p>
<p>We’re open:</p>
<p itemprop=”openingHours”> Mon-Sat 10am – 7:30pm </p>
<p itemprop=”openingHours”> Sun: 10am – 1pm </p>
</div>
Resource Description Framework in Attributes (RDFA)-
The use of RDFA and microdata is similar, they must be added with different html tags withind the body of the webpage. Different attributes used in RDFA are typeof , property, about, datatype.
Different types of vocab examples can be found on schema.org.
Rdfa schema markup code looks like this:
<h2 property=”description”>The best phones </h2>
<p>Address:</p>
<div property=”address” typeof=”PostalAddress”>
<p property=”streetAddress”> 201 Juhu </p>
<p property=”addressLocality”>Mumbai, Mh</p>
</div>
<p>Tel: <span property=”telephone”>8888574321</span></p>
<p><a property=”menu” href=”http://www.abctech.com/menu”>Click here for phones</a></p>
<p>We’re open:</p>
<p property=”openingHours”>Mon-Sat 10am – 7:30pm</p>
<p property=”openingHours”>Sun: 10am – 1pm</p>
</div>
JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data (JSON-LD) :
This code is easier to generate because it can be placed anywhere in html body of the webpage.
JSON-LD need not be added with every html tag, it can place in any part of the html webpage.
JSON-LD has attributes like @context, @type.
Google which covers 92.24% of the market share for search engines prefers JSON-LD wherever possible as it is easily readable and can be added and removed with ease.
JSON LD Schema Code looks like this:
Test Your Webpage for Schema
These tools by Google : Rich Results Testing tool and by Schema.org i.e Schema Validator Tool can help you check if your webpage consists of schema markup or not. If they are, then the content on page becomes directly eligible for rich snippets.
Additionally, these tools give detailed information about the different attributes of schema present on the webpage. These attributes help google display the content for rich results depending on the query searched and the information present on the webpage.
Different types of Schema Markup are as follows:
- Organization Schema
- Local Business
- Product page
- Job Listing
- Event Page
- Video Page
- How To
- FAQ
- Article
- Breadcrumb
- Recipe
How to Use Schema Markup
Several tools are available in order to generate schema like Google Structured Data Markup Helper, Schema.org, Schema Markup Generator by Merkle and many more.
In order to use these tools, you don’t necessarily need to have any prior knowledge of coding. You would, however, need to understand the attributes used in the schema to describe the content on the webpage.
Compared to the various available tools, Schema Markup Generator by Merkle this schema code generator is easy to use and will help you avoid all the possible errors.
You can find the link for the tool here.
The steps shown below will assist you in using the Merkle Schema Markup tool
Step 1:
Select the type of webpage as per the requirement in the section as shown below:
Step 2:
Once the type is selected, the schema code template for the selected webpage will appear as shown below.
The type of schema displayed below is an article type of schema.org markup:
Step 3 :
Select the [email protected] and select the type as per your requirement from the dropdown as shown in the image below.
Step 4:
Once the type of article has been selected, enter the rest of details required as the webpage URL, image URL present on the page, articles short description showing- the meta description, author name, publisher, publisher logo URL, date published and lastly date modified.
Step 5:
Once all the details are entered click on the copy button on the top right corner
Step 6: Enter the copied Schema code and enter it within the HTML body of your webpage.
We are here to help:
If Google fails to understand the content on your webpage, this could lead to decreasing its rank on SERP.
Hence it is very important use schema markup on all your important webpages.
Schema markup helps Google crawl your webpage better and understand your content in detail.
At Merkle Sokrati, we offer the best SEO services which covers important technical aspects like Schema for your website. Our channel capabilities and best practices with attention to minute details ensure our clients the highest optimization scope in their campaigns. If your business needs help in growing conversions from ad campaigns, we’re here to help.
Contact us for a free audit and we will assist you in building a SEO friendly website.
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