Have you ever noticed how some search listings just look better than others? They’re not just plain blue headings and meta descriptions. They’re dressed to the nines with extra features like star ratings, product details, and event dates. Some even appear more than once in the same listing in snippets, advanced features and FAQs. But
Have you ever noticed how some search listings just look better than others?
They’re not just plain blue headings and meta descriptions. They’re dressed to the nines with extra features like star ratings, product details, and event dates.
Some even appear more than once in the same listing in snippets, advanced features and FAQs.
But why are they so popular? One thing. Schema.
Schema markup (structured data) is code on a page that whispers in Google’s ear to display extra details about your content.
At Paramount Digital, we’ve helped small start-ups and national businesses take over SERPs with schema. And while we’ve got a lot of techy people here, you don’t have to be overly technical to add schema to your pages.
In this blog, you’ll learn the basics of schema markup and understand how to use it properly to improve your search engine listings and get more clicks.
Schema markup is structured data and part of the technical SEO that helps search engines understand what your content is about.
Without schema, Google has to guess what your content is about. Schema is like showing Google a label saying “this is a blog about schema markup” or “this is a product page that has a price, availability and five-star rating”.
Adding schema to a page makes it possible for search engines to show your page in the rich results, like the images, FAQs, star ratings, etc.
But it’s not just making your listing look better. It adds to your visibility in SERPs, helping you stand out against the plain heading and meta description results.
And more visibility means more people click on your listing. Which means you get more traffic to your website pages. Which means more chance of converting visitors into customers.
No, not directly (oh, we really wish it did).
But it does give your listing a better chance of standing out in the results. And standing out is a result in itself if it means you get more clicks, visitors and enquiries.
Schema matches your content to a shared language at Schema.org that’s supported by search engines like Google and Bing.
Once schema is added to your website, it makes it possible for search engines to pull information from your page to be shown in enhanced listings in search results like:
Without schema there’s no way for search engines to identify this information, so you won’t appear other than in your simple listing.
JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is Google’s preferred format for adding schema because it’s clean and doesn’t interfere with your site’s code (but we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves).
Reviewing and adding structured data is a big part of your on-page SEO checklist that can often be overlooked, but can greatly improve online visibility very quickly.
As we’ve said, schema markup doesn’t directly improve your search rankings.
But, it does impact how big your listing is, and how people interact with it.
Rich results make your listing bigger, giving you more space in the results page than you’d otherwise have, and more space than listings without schema.
Websites with schema see click-through rates increase anywhere between 20% and 30%, according to Milestone Research.
There’s also a lot of evidence to show that AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini rely on schema markup to process information when responding to prompts.
So schema can also help make you more visible in AI search results (which is becoming more important as customers use LLMs more for research).
TL;DR answer, loads. Product. FAQ. Review. Local business. Article. Video. Event. Plus more.
But you won’t use every schema type on every page. It depends on the context of the page.
This list isn’t exhaustive, but it is the most common types of schema that you’re likely to use on your website.
You’ll need product schema if you sell anything directly on your website (eCommerce brands). It helps search engines pull out details like price, availability, and reviews. Paired with strong title tag optimisation, product schema makes listings more persuasive because users can see key information right in the listing.
This adds collapsible Q&A blocks beneath your listing. This is one of the simplest schemas to add, and can help make your listing more useful while greatly increasing your SERP real estate.
Seen listings with gold stars and rating scores? That’s the result of review schema. This is great for building social proof directly into your listing and adds authority to your results. Just make sure you’re using legit review information (Google hates it when brands try to blag fake review scores – you’ve been warned).
This is especially important for service businesses and those with a physical location. It highlights your location, opening hours, and reviews, helping you show up in advanced local listings like Google Maps. You should use this along with your Google Business Profile optimisation and your wider SEO for businesses strategy.
If you’re writing blogs on your site, this is one for you. Article schema helps blog and news content qualify for features like Top Stories and enhanced search result features.
If you’re running a webinar, launch, or ticketed event, event schema gives search engines key information like when, where and what is happening, so your listing includes locations, dates and times.
A bit niche, but essential if you’re publishing food-related content and want your listing to include enhanced features like ingredients, pictures or cooking times, etc.
If this is all sounding a bit technical, the good news is you don’t have to be a developer to add schema.
It takes some getting your head around what information you need, but once you understand it, it’s simple.
You can even use a schema markup generator to help you.
Adding JSON-LD scripts directly into your site’s code is the best way to get the precise information you want.
For example, here’s a simple FAQ schema block that you can add to the <head> of a web page’s code:
<script type=”application/ld+json”>
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”: [{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What is schema markup?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Schema markup is structured data that helps search engines understand your content.”
}
}]
}
</script>
Don’t worry if you don’t want to go anywhere near your website’s code at all.
Most modern CMSs make adding schema pretty easy.
There are plugins like Yoast, Rank Math or even Shopify apps like JSON-LD for SEO that help you do it.
If you want to start adding schema to your SEO content writing, start with your highest-value schema.
Add product schema to top-selling product pages, FAQ schema to evergreen content, or local business schema to your homepage or local service area page.
So, schema and structured data are great. We use it all the time for clients and on our own website. But it can go wrong if you don’t use it properly, or try to game the system by using too much.
The most common errors we see are:
Once you’ve created your schema, it’s important to test that it’s valid before adding it to your webpage. That’s because schema only works if it’s been validated.
There are a few ways you can do this.
Schema ROI is highest for searches where you have the most competition for clicks:
Schema is an SEO tool that easily gets overlooked, or doesn’t get as much attention as content or link building, but that can have massive results in getting your SERP listing noticed and clicked.
It’s even better because you don’t need to make wholesale changes to your website to use schema either, whether you’re adding article schema to a blog or local business schema to an area service page, it’s a small effort, big reward task that can make a huge difference to your SEO results.
Before you start adding schema to your pages, there are a few rules/ guidelines you should keep in mind to make sure you see the results you’re hoping for:
The schema you add to your page should match the content. If you’re using review schema, make sure the reviews are visible and not buried in some page code. Trying to game results by squeezing schema in where it doesn’t belong isn’t going to work and could actually hurt your results.
Schema isn’t a “throw it all at the wall and see what sticks” kind of tactic. Stick with the schema that best matches the content and intent of the page. If it’s an area page, use local business schema. If it’s a blog, use article schema. Don’t try to get more schema on a page than you need.
Schema is something that needs a bit of a spring clean as you update your website content. If a product’s price changes, your review score changes, or you change some FAQs, be sure to update your schema. Use a schema validator tool to get a steer on what needs changing.
Always put your schema through a schema validator tool once you’ve created it and after you’ve added it to a page. This helps flag any errors that need updating so the schema does the job you want it to.
Schema is only going to become more important.
AI search and the rise of LLMs as search tools mean more robots are reading and trying to understand the content you’re putting out there. And that’s what schema is for.
As AI-driven search matures, schema will help engines better match results to search intent.
Think of schema as future-proofing your SEO. The businesses that adopt it now will be the ones Google trusts later, because they’ve already proven they can make their content machine-readable.
If you want to see better results from SERP listings, adding schema could be just the quick fix you need.
And if you’re not sure where to start, or need a pro to take a second look, then we’re here to help.
We help businesses like you turn technical SEO into something that’s easier to understand and something that makes a commercial difference to your search engine marketing.
Get in touch for a free strategy session, and we’ll show you exactly how you can start to see better results using tools like schema.
Speak to a member of our team and start your project today!
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