Schema Markup for Competitor Advantage.
Insights — Schema helps your organic listing stand out from your competitors in search engine results. It’s an attention-grabbing SEO strategy that drives traffic to your website and secures prime search engine real estate 🏘️
Posted by Renae Casey
16.05.2024
Schema markup? It doesn’t sound very glamorous, but don’t glaze over just yet! While it sounds complex, foreign, and downright nerdy, schema markup can do some pretty amazing things that quite frankly, are very, very attractive.
Schema markup, also known as structured data, is an important part of technical SEO, but it is very—you guessed it—technical. It’s not something to be ignored because it can have a big impact on organic search results, and it’s worth taking the time to figure just how schema markup should form a part of your SEO strategy.
Understanding Schema Markup
Schema markup is a code that search engines use to help them better understand the information in your site to drive more relevant search results. Schema markup is added to the HTML code of the website, which means it isn’t visible to users.
Essentially, it helps search engines (Google, Bing, Duck Duck Go, etc.) to better understand what your website is about, and then display that information more accurately and attractively in results, making it easier for users to find what they're looking for.
By implementing schema markup, you can ensure that search engines have a clearer understanding of your website's content, which allows search engines to categorise the content correctly and showcase it effectively in search results, driving more targeted traffic to your site.
Here's what schema can look like in your search engine results:
Do I really need Schema?
You might wonder if schema markup is necessary since Google already displays websites in search results. While your website might appear in organic search results without schema (and hopefully on page one results), using structured data effectively changes how and where your site appears across all major search engines.
Search engine technology has evolved significantly, shifting focus from backlinks and keyword repetition to user intent and semantic search. Google now favours in-depth, long-form content over brief, keyword-focused text.
Schema markup plays a crucial role in this context by providing additional data that helps Google better understand and contextualise content, which then generates the most relevant search results based on a user’s intent.
WHAT ARE THE SEO BENEFITS OF SCHEMA MARKUP?
01.
Improve your website’s visibility and enhance it’s appearance in Google search results.
02.
Schema allows your content to appear in Google’s rich results which improve click-through-rates in organic search results.
03.
Schema helps Google contextualise your content for more relevant search results driving more targeted traffic.
Common Types of Schema
There are many types of schema, and depending on your business, some are more suitable than others. More commonly used types of schema include:
Article
FAQ
Local Business
Organization
Product
Review
You can find the full list of schema on schema.org
Gaining Competitive Advantage
Ultimately, businesses prioritise growth and acquiring new leads to fuel that growth. While schema might seem too technical, its benefits for scaling a business is significant.
Schema is a valuable tool that enhances and strengthens your SEO, leading to increased visibility and website traffic, helping your website to capture attention and differentiate itself from competitors.
This can give you a competitive edge and increase your chances of attracting valuable organic traffic and ultimately generate more qualified leads for your business.
If you’re interested in learning more about what types of schema your website needs, we’d love to chat.
