Schema is a type of microdata (code) you use on your website that helps search engines to interpret the information on the website more efficiently so search engines can serve relevant answers to the user’s search query. Schema.org is a collaboration between Google, yahoo, bing, and Yandex to standardize structured markup. Schema mark up is one of the greatest evolution in SEO.
Since 2011 Schema is the primary project of major search engines. Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yandex are using schema markup even today. Search engines are smart, we all know that however, search engines are struggling to categorize items from the huge collection of data on the websites. Schema categorizes items in the website for the search engines. To be clear schema feeds data in a structured manner to search engines. How this affects SEO is by increasing the click-through rates, because it is easy for the users to identify the events, dates, etc through rich snippets, moreover, the information they are searching can be visible just on the search engine. Adding schema to your website will also aid a direct increase in ranking. Because we already know feeding structured data to search engines will help the search engine to understand your website quicker and easier, it will result in ranking
How does schema work?
Schema code is applied to the content on the webpage to define exactly what it is and how it should be treated. Schema elements and attributes can be added directly to the HTML code of the webpage to provide additional information to the search engine crawlers. Date and time can be very difficult to interpret by the search engine. This is because the date and time are formatted differently.
Including schema microdata in your HTML tag can help search engine crawlers interpret the information on the website efficiently. This will result in improved visibility. However, never think that including schema to the HTML code as a hack to improve SEO, consider it as a best practice to make it easier for the search engine to find and display the content effectively.
The inclusion of schema microdata is not considered as a factor for increasing the rank in the SERP. It improves the website’s rich snippet, which can help your site to appear in the SERP prominently. It is a fact that clear, concise, and rich snippets can result in enhanced click-through rates as users can easily determine the information provided on your website is what they are really looking for.
Although Schema mark up is not included as the part of Google ranking, it is considered important for SEO. Google has announced that structured data or schema mark up will be included in the ranking algorithm in the near future. It is something that is developing and gaining its place.
The other factor is structured data enhances your website’s presence on the SERP with rich snippets. This means the impression of your website will be great with attractive information and description and thereby increasing the chances of higher CTRs and more visitors to your website.
Schemas are great for local SEO. With structured data, you can provide search engines more information about your local business including the address and contact details. Creating a well-optimized Google My Business Page will help to boost local SEO.
How to add schema markup on your webpage
Blog: In the case of blogs, you can use webpage schema to give information about your website, logo, name, etc and also article schema for your articles and blog posts.
E-commerce: For e-commerce websites, you can use product schemas which include the details of the products, name, price, offers, etc.
Local Business: Local business schema can be used in the local business as well as the website schema. You can use more than one schema on your website as long as the implementation is correct. In order to test the implementation, there are tools available online like structured data testing tool.
How to implement structured data on your website
There are two ways to implement structured data on your website. The first one is the manual way. That is editing the HTML code and adding the required code and the second way is through a plugin or through a combination of plugins. To make the manual process a bit easier there is a tool available called Structured Data Markup Helper. Using these tools, you can visually tag your pages and generate the required HTML code, but you still have to edit your HTML files or templates. It is recommended to use JSON-LD (JavaScript Option Notation-Linked Data) Markup Format. The generated output is a script you can insert in the HEAD section of your webpage.
Adding structured data using plugins
If you are on WordPress the easiest way is to use the plugin. Fortunately plenty of plugins available on WordPress. In most of the cases, you need to add schema information to the home of the website, and to the article page if you are running a blog, or to the product page if you are running an e-commerce page.
How to check for Structured Data errors?
Other than checking your website with a structured data testing tool there are two other methods to check the structured data errors within Google Search Console. You can use the URL inspection tool to inspect any page from your website. Among other things, the result will show you structured data-related issues. Clicking on the error message will give you more details.
Enhancement Report
View the report under the enhancements section of the Google Search Console. Google will show you details about various features such as Logos, products, Sitelink search-box, and many more.
Conclusion
Structured Data is important for SEO and it is something you will have to consider sooner or later if you want to stay in sync with modern SEO practices.
The first step is to check whether your site is using markup data and the easiest way to do this is to use the Google Structured Data testing tool and test your homepage and other pages. If you use markup data but there are errors in the testing tool, then it may be easier