How Important Is Schema Markup for SEO In Small Businesses?

There are several tasks required for a small business to thrive, and it can at times become difficult to sift through that long list to prioritize. Well, one of the biggest priorities for all businesses is to generate traffic and schema markup is one of the tools available that many small businesses tend to overlook. So is schema markup important? Absolutely! Let’s take a closer look.

1. What Is Website Schema?
2. How Many Webpages Should I Add Schema To?
a) Website Schema Markup
b) Homepage Schema Markup
c) Schema Markup for FAQ
d) Schema Markup for Products
3. Is Schema Important for SEO?
4. How To Add Schema Markup To Your Website?
5. Schema Markup Generator Service

What Is Website Schema?

The term schema defined by Merriam-Webster is

I find these definitions to hold true when it comes to defining website schema. Schema markup is a form of structured data that is used to communicate with the search engines in a language that’s easier for them to understand. It’s helpful to think of schema markup as a webflow of information, as code on the backend of your website. The schema markup provides Google with more context about the content of your webpages which in turn helps them deliver your content to the right audiences…but more on that later. Schema markup was generated as a response to the complexities of the internet and the vast amount of web content. It organises and outlines the various components of a webpage to create an easier and faster path for Google.

How Many Webpages Should I Add Schema To?

The short answer to that is all of them. The more context you provide, the better you are setting yourself up for success with Google. There are a few exceptions…you don’t really need schema on your privacy page, terms and conditions or other pages that don’t provide much insight into what your small business is about and who you help. It could be argued that your about me page is also within that list, however, I believe that depending on your small business goals adding schema to your about page holds value.

Schema was created by Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Yandex in 2011 and you can find all the different schema types on the official website schema.org. It has a list of all the different schema types at your disposal and a couple examples. At the end of the day, if these companies have come together to create a method to help your website gain more traffic and visibility, then you should be using it. Let’s look at a couple types of schema that small businesses should most definitely be using on their webpages (where appropriate of course).

Website Schema Markup

This schema type should only be placed on your homepage.

TIP: A common error I see small businesses make with their schema, is that they’ll place everything on all their pages. This is what I mean by placing it where appropriate. In general, you want to minimize the amount of code on your website and so having duplicates written out on every page is a waste of space. There are ways to have certain schema linked and read by Google without fully writing it out, but you’ll only want to do this with particular pages & schema types. Depending on the method you use to implement the schema code to your website, you can create a schema markup webflow that will pour in information to your selected pages without adding unnecessary code.

Homepage Schema Markup

It’s important that for your homepage schema markup you provide as much information as possible in order to help provide more context about your small business to the search engines. For example, if your small business is local then you will most definitely want to add local business schema. You will want to fill your schema in thoroughly with tons of information about your business location, hours, areas in which you provide service etc.

Your homepage is the most important page on your website, and that’s because more often than not it’s where everyone checks out first, be it searchers or bots. It is expected that your homepage will tell your customers and potential clients all they need to know about your business. That information should be just as detailed on the backend of your website through schema. This is why your homepage should be your top priority when adding schema markup to your website.

You don’t want to add unnecessary types of schema to your pages just to have it, but your typical homepage has content about many different aspects of your business which allows for you to add more code and boosts your homepage for more related searches with your ideal audience. So how exactly does that work?…

As previously discussed, this language was created by the top search engine companies such as Google and Yahoo because it would be easier for the search engines to process the context behind the pages. When you add schema markup to your webpages you are telling Google more information about your company and who you are trying to target. This helps them show your pages on the search engine results pages to your ideal audience, in turn resulting in a boost in your impressions and click through rate. Although it is not yet officially considered a ranking factor, Google has stated that it helps them and you really should be doing anything to get on their good side.

Schema Markup For FAQ

FAQ schema has been known to show very great results and faster results than the rest. Think about it, people are constantly on Google to ask them a question they need answered. And now, they even have rich snippets to show the searchers that will show your website as a trusted site for information on said topic. Now you have already pleased the searcher by answering their question and more, and you have also appeased Google by being a trusted source and telling them explicitly through your schema that you have the answer to the question they are looking for. This makes their search quicker, which is their only goal.

So what is FAQ schema? It’s the same code as the rest but you’re literally telling the search engines this is the question I ask on this page, and here is the answer to said question. You’re packaging their request in a neat little box for them to deliver to the searcher, rather than having Google spend more time searching for an answer to provide.

Schema Markup For Products

Have you ever searched for a product on Google and had images pop up? Perhaps with a star rating, price and shipping fee? This is most often than not, the result of product schema. The code on the backend will detail all of this information and more (detailed on schema.org). Small businesses need that extra push, and if you sell products then adding schema markup to your product pages will give that to you. It will allow Google the opportunity to give your links rich snippets and boost your visibility on the search engine results pages.

Is Schema Important for SEO?

So why is schema important for seo? Let’s review the facts. Search engine optimization is the act of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website. The top search engine companies have come together to create a language called schema markup to help you help them. Meaning if you use this tool, you are helping them provide better results to the searchers.

It has been proven that adding schema markup to your website puts your website in a better position for your web links to receive rich snippets. Rich snippets are results at the top of the page that take up more space and provide more information to the searcher. It is a fact that rich snippets receive a higher click through rate (people click on these links more often), meaning people will land on that webpage generating more traffic to your website.

Why use schema markup you ask? Because the benefits far outweigh the negatives…you have nothing to lose and more to gain. Not only are you increasing the traffic to your website, but the people that are being sent to you are your ideal audience and will likely spend more time on your site as you have now been proven to be a trusted source by Google. You have already answered their first question, gained trust and have peaked their interest enough that they may visit again.

The importance of schema markup for search engine optimization is simple. Help yourself gain more recurring traffic. Now how do you do that?…

How To Add Schema Markup To Your Website?

There are a couple different ways you could go about adding schema markup to your website. You could use a web schema markup tool, a plugin, write the code yourself or hire an SEO expert.

If you wanted to use a web schema markup tool or a plugin, there are tons of options online including: schema pro, schema app, or Merkle’s schema generator. Although these can be quick ways to add schema, I do not recommend always using it due to one of two reasons. They are either expensive as the monthly fees add up, or they place limitations to the lines of code available to generate your schema. Not ideal if you’re looking to optimize your schema as much as possible.

Custom code is always the better option because you can go to the website schema.org, find all the various schema types that are available and use all the lines that are available to you that you find fit the objective at hand. By writing the code yourself you are opening the possibilities for you to receive a better outcome. Think of it this way. If all the other small businesses are using schema plugins that generate a very similar code, then you are giving yourself the upperhand of one standing out and two going the extra mile.

Lastly, you could always hire an SEO expert to write the code for you. This is the perfect option for small businesses that are not so confident in writing the code themself but want to optimize their schema as much as possible. Not all SEO experts are well versed in coding, but for the ones that are you will benefit from them not only knowing how to code, but also knowing which schema types to use and which lines of schema they should be targeting to get you the best result.

Strengthen the backend of your website and boost your visibility on the Google search engine results pages by having me write custom code for your website. If you want to stay competitive and generate more traffic to your pages then custom schema markup is the path forward. With this Schema Markup Generator Service you can select the webpages you want schema written for and I will handle the rest, or I can select the pages for you if there is a certain amount of pages you want done. Not only do I write the custom schema, but I can also implement the schema for you to ensure that it is up and running correctly.