SEO, search engines, keywords, google analytics, schemas… sound Greek to you? You are not alone. The world of internet searches and algorithms is constantly evolving and changing. It truly takes skilled experts to keep on top of all the latest trends and strategies to have your website appear high on online search lists.
The latest tool you can use is Website Schemas. Website Schemas are essentially words or tags in a “shared vocabulary” that can be used to talk to search engines to provide refined searches. Schema markup is a form of microdata or structured data (SD) that is added to a webpage to help search engines better understand the content contained on the site. Schema plug-ins use a set of standard data structures that categorize on-page content.
When all other things are equal, a website with schema/structured data will probably appear higher in search rankings than one without it. But schema is still not something we see implemented on many websites by default. That’s why we recommend adding Schema to your WordPress website to boost your search positioning.
Let’s take a look at why Schemas are important, what they are, and how they can be used to boost your online presence, and in turn, bring in customers!
Why Are Schema Markups Important?
Schema markups make it easier for search engines recognize the meaning of website content, which helps search engines more likely to find relevant terms and phrases on your website, ranking you higher in searches. There is little data out there to give a concrete statistic for how schema plug-ins boost a website’s search rankings, but experts say that it is a best practice for SEO to provide long-term value and results. It is another level of rich content for your website that makes your content highly desirable to search engines.
What Are Some Examples of Schemas?
An easy way to understand Schema markups is to think of them is putting your content into categories. For example:
- Use code to tell search engines that your blog contains “how to” content
- Use local schema markup to show search engines the name, address, and phone number for a brick-and-mortar business.
- Use a structured data type to tell search engines which pages of your site contain job postings
- Differentiate the services pages on your site from the posts (blog/news) and the other pages of your site.
Rich snippets (normal Google search results with additional data displayed) include additional information about the type of search result. Schema markup essentially categorizes this extra information and explains it to search engines so that they can display it as a rich result.
What are the Schema Categories?
There are hundreds of types of schema categories. There have been two hierarchies defined by Schema.org: one for textual property values, and one for the things that they describe. The current schema vocabulary includes 797 Types, 1453 Properties, 14 Datatypes, 86 Enumerations, and 462 Enumeration members. So, the possibilities are endless. But this also means you must be strategic and intentional. This is where an expert comes in handy. At Webster Digital Marketing, we use the tools and knowledge we have gained to maximize the effectiveness of Schemas to improve your website’s online presence.
What makes Schemas Different from SEO?
The thing to note is that Schemas should be one of the pieces of your SEO strategy. Schema works hand-in-hand to improve the rich content of your website. In SEO there are a lot of steps that can be implemented to optimize and enhance your web page, Schema is one of the tools in that process.
Want to Boost Your Online Presence?
Webster Digital Marketing can assist you in implementing Schema markups on your WordPress website to work hand in hand with our SEO services and boost your online presence and rank on search engines. If you are a current client, we will be in touch about adding this to your current services. If you are not a current client, we would love to work with you to improve your online presence! Contact us today to learn more.