What is Schema and why is it important for SEO

April 27th, 2022

What is schema? Is it really important for SEO? How can you implement it on your site? If you've ever pondered these questions, read on. This article will introduce you to Schema, what it is and how you can use it (okay...what I know about Schema).

Schema is a way of annotating information so that search engines understand it better. Search Engines are trying to give us the most relevant results possible; unfortunately, they don't always get things right. We all have experienced mis-filed search engine results where we didn't quite find what we were looking for. Schema, plus other techniques (think: good content and proper linking) can help fix that.

Simply put, Schema provides a way to define the structure of information, which means it tells search engines how your data should be parsed. This makes it really useful for marking up complex or unique types of data as well as standardizing existing items. For example, you might have a list of events from multiple sources with different ways those events were organized. Without Schema, those events probably show up as separate entities in SERPs - but much less relevant because there's no indication they're related to each other! With Schema implemented, these results would likely read better as a single unit that looks like this:

Schema.org breaks down the different elements of this example into these categories: Person - Organization - CreativeWork - MusicEvent, which is useful for organizing all kinds of data differently or marking up existing standard information. As long as you understand how people would read information, you should be able to use Schema effectively.

Takeaways from this section: Schema's purpose is to annotate your site's content so it displays correctly in search engine results pages (SERPs). To use Schema successfully, you need an understanding of what words and phrases will help searchers find the content they're looking for. Just using keywords won't cut it anymore.

How can I implement Schema?

There are three main ways to get started with Schema.org:

1) Implement it yourself by creating the markup.

2) Use a plugin or microdata tool to do some of the work for you.

3) Outsource it to a company that specializes in Schema application, which is what I recommend if you have no technical background or limited time/resources. There's too much risk when using code - and remember any error could produce negative results! 

To conclude, Schema is important for SEO because it can help your website rank higher in SERPs, get more clicks, and improve your overall click-through rate. But most importantly, it can help you win the coveted featured snippet!