Boost Your Search Results with Schema Markup in WordPress

Jerry is a salon owner in Seattle, Washington looking for ways to increase his business. He’s been consistently putting effort into search engine optimization on his WordPress site — writing regular blog posts and generating legitimate, high-quality links — and some of his web pages are now ranking on the first page of Google. But he’s looking for a way to get a leg up on one of the major corporate salons in his area and, ultimately, drive more traffic to his site.

After doing some research online, Jerry learned about schema markup, a set of data that helps search engines better understand the content of a page. And while schema markup by itself won’t necessarily improve his organic rankings, it can help him get rich results which, in turn, will increase clicks to his site.

Let’s take a closer look at schema markup and rich results, and see how they can help Jerry (and you!) get more site visitors.

What are rich results?

Rich results (also known as rich snippets) are visual search engine results that go one step further than the typical title and meta description combination. They include additional information based on the page type (blog post, recipe, FAQ, etc.) and really stand out from their competitors.

For example, right now, Jerry’s blog post about how to cut bangs looks like this on Google:

The same post as a rich result would look something like this:

See how much more engaging and attention-grabbing the rich result is? If someone wanted to know how to cut their own bangs, they wouldn’t even need to scroll down to view other pages.

In fact, rich results stand out so much that searchers click on them 58% of the time, compared to 41% for non-rich results. And receiving more clicks can improve your site’s ranking as a whole because it shows Google that people find your content helpful.

There are a lot of different types of rich results, which all look very different from one another. Here are more details about just a few:

FAQ rich results

An FAQ-rich result enhances an FAQ page by showing questions in a toggle format, which can be expanded to display answers. This is a particularly effective type of rich result — Search Engine Watch wrote that implementing FAQ schema increased the click-through rate from 6.5% to 14% for baby sleepwear company Nested Bean.

And since Jerry already has an FAQ page on his site that answers the 20 most common questions he gets from clients, adding schema markup to this page is an easy first step for him. His rich result ends up looking like this:

Note that while Google used to feature several FAQs at once, they’ve now moved to just two.

Review rich results

Review rich results add stars to a search result on Google, along with an overall rating and the number of reviews. Not only do bright yellow stars stand out from other pages, they also add an instant trust indicator for potential customers and clients. In fact, 91% of customers say that positive reviews make them more likely to use a business.

Review schema can be added to a variety of page types — including products, events, courses, and recipes — but can’t be self-serving. That means that, specifically for LocalBusiness and Organization schemas, reviews won’t be displayed if the business posts them on their own site. This is done to protect the validity of the reviews themselves.

Review rich results are perfect for Jerry, whose clients can directly purchase a haircut or styling service on his site. When his haircut product page shows up as a rich result, it looks like:

How-to rich results

How-to rich results add additional information for pages with step-by-step instructions. The steps are listed as an accordion (stacked items that can be expanded for more information) or as a carousel, depending on how it’s marked up. This type of format takes up a good chunk of space on Google, which is great for grabbing searchers’ attention.

Jerry has existing how-to content on his website, knowing that it’s a great way to prove his expertise and encourage those who are intimidated to style their own hair to come into his salon. So he adds schema markup to those posts, which show up on Google like:

Local business rich results

When a person searches for a business, Google shows results based on the area that they’re in, assuming that they want to visit a location close to them. After all, when someone’s in Dallas, they probably don’t want to eat at a restaurant in New York City.

Local business rich results showcase all the information people need before deciding whether or not to make a purchase or visit a company. They’re displayed in a large, visible knowledge panel and include details like hours, reviews, departments, and calls to action.

Jerry knows that, since the vast majority of his clients are local to his area, this information is critical to growth. Once he adds the proper schema to his site, he starts seeing this in search results:

Video rich results

Video rich results contain extra information like a description, thumbnails, and duration that are displayed to searchers. While Google does automatically try to identify this information, adding it to the video yourself is more accurate.

When marked up correctly, they can also include enhancements like:

A live badge, which is applied to any video that is live-streamed.
Key moments, which allow users to navigate the video like they would book chapters.

Jerry starts filming before and after videos of client haircuts, along with how-to videos for dying and styling hair. One of his videos shows up in results with key moments, and looks like this:

What is schema markup?

Schema markup is a type of structured data added to a website that assists Google in understanding its content. When done correctly, it can help pages show up as rich results. Google accepts several types of structured data, but recommends a linked data format called JSON-LD.

While Google is great at detecting information from websites (after all, that’s their job), schema markup makes the process easier and clearer for them. It ensures that they get all the details right so that potential customers, clients, and visitors know if your site is right for them. Plus, it helps search engines understand what your content is all about so that you’re more likely to rank for the correct keywords, ones that will bring you more business and traffic.

You can apply schema to a variety of content types, each of which has its own set of data, including:

Blog posts
Recipes
Job postings
Books
Videos
Events

So, a recipe would include details about preparation time and ingredients, while a job posting would include details about salary and location. All of the rich results above are content types optimized with schema markup.

Does schema markup affect SEO?

As we discussed, schema markup provides additional information that helps Google understand your content, your website, and what you’re all about. In a way, this can help with search engine rankings because it ensures that the information about your website is correct.

However, there are two primary benefits of using schema markup:

1. It can lead to more prominent search results

When your page ranks for a keyword on Google, it’s competing with all of the other websites that rank for the same term. Therefore, you want to stand out as much as possible. One way to do this is through relevant, compelling titles and meta descriptions. But rich results make standing out even easier by adding visual information.

Think about it. If both Jerry and his top competitor show up on page one for the phrase “haircuts in Seattle,” which site do you think a potential client will click? The one with the plain blue link and black text that blends in with all the others? Or the one showing a ton of positive reviews, hours, photos, and other information?

Those more prominent search results can lead to more site visits and, ultimately, more sales, subscriptions, or ad revenue.

2. It may lead to a higher search position

While schema markup isn’t a ranking factor for Google, it can indirectly affect search engine rankings. That’s because click-through rate (the ratio of people who click a link to the number of people who view it) is a ranking factor. You see, Google’s goal is to provide the most relevant, quality results to people based on what they’re searching. And they view clicks as a sign that people like what that site has to say.

As we’ve already discussed, rich results typically lead to more clicks. More clicks increase your click-through rate, which could then help you rank higher in organic results.

How to add schema markup to WordPress

Okay, so you know the value of schema markup, but how do you implement it on your site? There are a few different methods:

1. Add schema markup with a plugin

If you’re not comfortable editing code, and have a Business or eCommerce WordPress plan, a plugin is the easiest, fastest way to add schema markup to your site. There are a variety you can choose from, including:

Yoast SEO, which includes schema blocks so that FAQ and how-to content can show up directly in search results. It also automatically does a lot of the work for you by adding structured data for every post and page. Plus, you’ll benefit from a variety of other helpful SEO tools.
Rank Math SEO, which supports more than 16 types of schema markup and includes schema blocks for FAQs and how-tos. It also comes with a variety of other tools that help with keyword optimization, redirects, breadcrumbs, and more.
Schema and Structured Data for WordPress and AMP, which focuses strictly on schema markup. It supports more than 35 schema types and is fully compatible with AMP.

2. Choose a theme with schema markup

Another easy way to add schema markup to your WordPress site is to choose a theme that’s already done most of the work for you. When selecting a theme, check the description or list of features for details about the work they’ve done to add structured data to pages and posts. However, if you already have an existing site, you may not want to switch themes and should choose one of the other two options.

3. Add schema markup yourself

If you feel comfortable editing code and don’t want to add an extra plugin or switch themes, you can add schema markup to your theme template files.

Let’s say that Jerry wants to add FAQ schema to a page with questions and answers. His first step is to create the code, which he does using Merkle’s Schema Markup Generator to simplify the process. It looks like this:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "How Much Does a Haircut Cost?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "A men's haircut costs $29, on average, while a women's haircut costs $35 on average."
    }
  },{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "How Long Does Hair Dye Last?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "Hair dye typically lasts between four to six weeks."
    }
  }]
}
</script>

He then adds that code to the FAQ page template of his WordPress theme and ensures that it works using Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool. Then, he does the same thing for his services, how-to posts, and videos.

For more details about creating schema markup, read Google’s documentation.

Improve your search results with WordPress schema markup

Jerry understands that it can take time to start seeing the results of his SEO efforts. But a little while after implementing schema markup, he starts to see some of his pages showing up as rich results. This, in turn, helps potential customers find his business easier and leads many of them to book appointments for haircuts and styles.

This can happen for you, too! By putting time and effort into schema markup, you can help your site stand out to searchers, increase your click-through rate, and potentially increase search engine rankings.

Remember, SEO is a long-term strategy. But consistent effort can lead to success.

SEO is a powerful way to grow your audience, and WordPress.com is the perfect platform to power your website. Our advanced SEO and marketing tools are designed to help your business website succeed. See what else your business can achieve when powered by WordPress.com.

Boost Your Search Results with Schema Markup in WordPress

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