What is scheme markup? What is microdata format? How schema markup can be beneficial for SEO? Let us find answers to these questions in the following sections.
What is schema markup?
Schema markup is a type of code that is added on a web site so that search engines such as Google show informative data about the website to visitors.
When you use this type of markup, search engines index and return data from your site in a somewhat different way.
Schema Markup Helps Search Engines Understand Meaning of Data Present on a Web Page
Suppose, the name “Kevin Morris” is present on a web page. When right type of schema markup is added for this name, search engines are able to understand that “Kevin Morris” is the person who has developed content for that page and he is the author.
Using this data search engines offer search results with more information to visitors who are searching for “Kevin Morris”.
Additionally, schema markup informs search engines about details to highlight from your site and tells search engines about important details present on a web page.
This is quite similar to properly arranging inventory in your store so that everything is in labeled containers. Search engines extract this data to provide a better experience to people searching for something.
As such, schema markup ensures that the information in search results is richer, making data more useful and informative for an average user.
Use of Microdata Format
Schema markup utilizes semantic vocabulary that is in the form of microdata format. The good thing is that you do not have to acquire new website coding skills to use this format.
Your web site will continue to utilize HTML. All you will have to do is add vocabulary provided by schema.org to your website's HTML code at specific places.
The SEO Benefits of Using Schema Markup and Microdata Format
Research show that only 0.3% of sites utilize schema markup and microdata. This means, if your site starts using these markups then you will be in better position compared to your competitors.
Let us look at some of the seo benefits you will have by incorporating microdata format on your site.
Benefit #1
Availability of More Information about Your Site in Search Results
If your web site uses schema markup, visitors searching on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing see more information about your site in search result pages.
This information includes what your site is about, what is your location, what you are selling or which services you provide, how much is the price of your products, and a lot many other details.
This way visitors looking for specific details get more information about your site and are able to easily decide whether your site will be useful for them.
Benefit #2
Availability of Different Types of Microdata Markups
Moreover, availability of different types of microdata markups means all businesses can use these markups to provide more information to visitors about their business such as business ratings, product reviews, quantity available, product price, review votes, upcoming events, etc.
In addition, microdata markup is available for:
- Local businesses
- Products
- Movies
- Events
- Restaurants
- Book reviews
- Software applications
- Articles
- TV episodes
Thus, if you have any type of data to show on your site then it is likely that there will be a microdata markup available for it.
Benefit #3
Improved Click Through Rates (CTR)
Let us assume that a user is looking for concerts taking place in his or her nearby location. Google search results provides a list of all websites that are about concerts.
If your site is the only one that is using schema markup and providing details of time and date at which the concert will be occurring in the form of a rich snippet in search result, it is more than likely that the visitor will click on your website link to go through the details.
This way you will be experiencing higher click through rates (CTR) compared to your competitors and more footfalls on your website.
If, over a period of time there are more clicks on your site compared to other websites in search results pages, search engines will consider your site to be more valuable for users and start ranking it in higher position in search result pages.
How to use microdata format on my site?
There are different ways of adding microdata format on your site.
- You can read the documentation available on schema.org and include the code on your website.
- You can use the structured data markup helper provided by Google.
- If you have a WordPress website then you can use plugins to ease the process of adding microdata markups to your website.
After you have added the structured data code, make sure it will be read correctly by search engines like Google. For this, you can utilize the tool provided by Google to test structured data.
