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In the ever-evolving world of SEO, staying ahead often means adopting new tools and tactics before your competitors do. One powerful yet often overlooked SEO strategy is Schema markup. In this article, we explain what Schema is, why it matters, and how you can start using it to improve your website’s visibility and search performance.
What Is Schema?
Schema markup is a form of structured data—a type of code that you add to your website to help search engines understand the content on your pages.
Think of Schema as a translator between your website and Google. While humans might understand that a page contains a product review or an event listing, search engines need clearer signals. Schema markup provides that clarity by tagging content with context-specific labels, such as:
@type: Product@type: Event@type: Article@type: Review
This additional layer of information helps search engines deliver richer search results, such as star ratings, product prices, event times, and more.
Why Should You Use Schema?
While Schema markup isn’t a direct ranking factor, it enhances how your pages appear in search results, which can significantly improve click-through rates (CTR). This is particularly valuable in competitive industries where standing out visually can lead to more traffic.
With Schema markup, your listings can include:
- Review stars
- FAQs
- Recipe information
- Business hours
- Event dates
- Product availability
These enhanced listings—also known as rich snippets—make your result more attractive to users, increasing the chances they’ll click through to your site. Over time, this indirectly boosts your SEO by improving user engagement metrics.
How To Use Schema Markup
1. Use Schema.org to Explore Markup Types
Schema.org is the collaborative vocabulary supported by major search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. It houses the official definitions and syntax for implementing Schema markup.
To validate your structured data, you can use the Schema Markup Validator, which helps identify any errors in your implementation.
2. Choose Your Markup Language
The most commonly used formats are:
- JSON-LD (recommended by Google)
- Microdata
- RDFa
Here’s a simple JSON-LD example for a local business:
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "LocalBusiness",
"name": "BusinessName",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "Address line here",
"addressLocality": "Town",
"postalCode": "Postcode",
"addressCountry": "UK"
},
"telephone": "+441234567890"
}
</script>Add this directly into the <head> section of your website pages or via a tag manager.
3. Use RankMath Pro for WordPress
If your site runs on WordPress, the RankMath Pro plugin offers an intuitive way to add and manage Schema markup without touching code. You can:
- Choose Schema templates for blog posts, products, and more
- Automatically generate FAQ Schema from content blocks
- Customise Schema per page or post
RankMath even validates and previews your markup before you publish—making it a great tool for marketers and SEOs alike.
Schema Support
Adding Schema might seem technical, but it doesn’t have to be. Whether you’re looking to enhance a single service page or roll out structured data site-wide, we can help.
Contact us to book a free website audit, or chat with one of our digital specialists about Schema markup and other on-page optimisation strategies.