Schema markup is a code that helps the search engines understand and display information about your website. Google and the other search engines want to know as much information about your business as possible and pass that information on to their users in an effective way – schema is one of those ways.
When you type in certain queries such as “apple pie recipe,” you’ll see the results are presented in a different way. In this case, you will see a star rating for the recipe as well as other important information such as the time it takes to cook and the number of calories in the dish.
If you don’t use schema markup to communicate with the search engines, then you won’t be able to add these extra details to your SERP (search engine results page) listing.
Other important schema markups include local business map, data sets, organizations, people, and events. Each markup allows the search engines to present your listing in a slightly different way to help people get the most important information.
Improve Results
The main reason for including schema markup in your results is that it helps drive better business performance. You want to get as many people to your website as possible and turn those people into leads and conversions, and understanding how to use data set schema and other markups can help you with this.
One of the best ways to do this is by getting organic traffic by ranking well in the search engines. Schema markup can not only help you achieve this, but it can also boost your click through rate (CTR), meaning you feature more prominently in the rankings and you get more clicks.
Stand Out in the SERPS
The more information you have about your business in the SERPs, the more it is going to stand out. People spend lots of time editing their title tag and meta descriptions in order to encourage people to click their link, so why don’t they go the extra mile and perfect their schema markup too?
You only get a small piece of “advertising space” on the results pages to encourage people to click to your website, so you might as well use as much of it as you can.
Control Your Brand Image
If your website is ranking well on the search engines, then it is going to give your brand plenty of visibility. However, if you’re not effectively using schema markup then you’ve got less control over how your brand is portrayed.
When you understand how to get the most out of schema markup, you have more control over how your brand is portrayed in the search engine results and can use it to improve your brand image.
Give People Quick Access to Information
We live in a fast-paced world and we want to access information quickly. Schema markup can help provide people with access to the information they need in a fraction of the time it takes to sift through your website.
People want things to be made easy for them, and the search engines will reward you for helping them achieve this.