In recent Google searches, you may have noticed new information popping up underneath different websites. A list of events, customer reviews, FAQs, and other items now show on the search results page. These features are possible with schema markup, a type of website content that lets businesses customize what shows in their listing on a search results page. With a little technical knowledge, schema markup is easy to implement and a great way to boost your site’s SEO
We’re going to talk about one of the easiest and most relevant types of schema markup for small businesses: FAQ schema markup. We’ve already talked about the importance of having an FAQ page on your website for an FAQ section on individual web pages. Once you have those in place, you can add the schema markup, and give the answers to those FAQ questions directly on the search results page.
What Is Schema Markup?
Search engines function by scanning your website and making their best determination for what type of content you have. Schema markup is code that communicates directly with the search engine to define your content and explain its purpose. This code also explains how Google should display your content snippets on the search results page.
Schema markup uses HTML or JSON and, in the case of FAQ markup, is placed on your website’s FAQ page. The search engine reads the code and displays questions and answers from your FAQ right on the search page to provide customers a fast answer to their question.
You can also use schema markup to show everything from details like operating hours, contact information, upcoming events, reviews, pricing, and more. The number of schema templates make it possible to customize your results exactly to your type of business.
Few companies have implemented this newer SEO tactic yet, but because schema markup makes it easy for Google to provide their users with answers and relevant information, using schema markup works alongside valuable content to increase your SEO.
How to Implement FAQ Schema Markup on Your Website
Adding schema markup is relatively simple, but there are a few requirements that Google and other search engines have to make sure the markup displays accurately.
The main requirement is that you have an FAQ on the page where you are incorporating the schema markup. If you have one FAQ page on your website, that is where the schema markup should go. Alternatively, if you have an FAQ section on different pages throughout the site, you can add schema markup to each of those pages.
Placing FAQ schema markup on your site requires only 3 steps:
- Generate Your Code – Templates for all markup are available through Schema.org, or you can use a free code generator, like Merkle. Copy and paste the FAQ exactly as it appears on your site into the generator, and it will create the code for you in either HTML or JSON.
- Test the Code Snippet – Next you should place your generated code into the Google Rich Results Test. This will point out if you have any errors in the code that could stop it from functioning correctly.
- Add Code to Your Site – If the code test does not return any errors, it is ready to copy and paste into your site.
Keep in mind that when using FAQ schema, it can take a little while for it to index and appear live on search engine result page, and it’s still up to Google whether or not they’re going to display your FAQs. But having it in place gives Google the option, and adding it is an easy way to improve SEO with very little technical knowledge or time required.
If you would like to integrate FAQ schema markup into your website but you are not sure where to begin or you do not yet have FAQs written for your site, working with a marketing company like Great Leap Studios, can help you create the content and add markup to your website. Contact us today to learn how we use content marketing and technical SEO to help boost your web page ranking in search results.
