Schema markup: what is it and why is it useful for SEO?

The user experience is one of today’s biggest digital marketing assets. But, it’s not just your website where user experience is important. You should also optimise how your content looks on Google, too. To do this, it requires schema markup.

Schema markup is a rather neat way of standing out from the crowd on Google, and if you can get this structured data right, you could land more visits to your site and, ultimately, more leads in your conversion pipeline.

Here’s what you need to know about structured data.

What is schema markup?

Schema markup is a line of code that you can input into the backend of a specific URL, which helps search engines provide a more informative, user-friendly experience to searchers.

In a sense, schema markup is similar to those SERP snippets (or rich snippets, depending on what terminology you prefer) you see on Google. These take the form of featured snippets, list snippets or table snippets.

Schema markup is a relatively new addition to the world of search engine optimisation, and it’s an excellent way to begin standing out from the crowd on Google and offering more value to a visitor, earlier on into their search journey.

Why is structured data important?

Good question, me. Search Engine Journal ran a small test on schema markup for one of their clients a few years back, and they reported an increased click-through rate of 43 percent.

In short, rich snippets are a great way to offer up more value to searchers and to draw attention to your listings on Google. Whether you’ve published product reviews, a navigation menu or even a how-to guide, rich snippets will increase your click-through rates and visitors to your site.

But, many B2B businesses don’t use schema or know how to implement any sort of structured data that could help them become more visible on Google, and this is because:

• They don’t have enough resources for their digital strategy.
• They’re not technical enough to understand the coding requirements.
• They fail to understand the tangible benefits to be gained.
• It’s not supported by their CMS.

Sure, anything to do with adding code to your website might seem like a daunting prospect, but it’s actually not as scary as it sounds. If you can get your schema markup right, then you will unlock the next level to the digital game and help increase conversion rates, improve visibility and indexation on Google and help you convert more visitors into leads.

There’s no arguing that someone with a little website know-how is probably the best person to be amending lines of code on your website. Ultimately, you don’t want to be breaking your website and pushing yourself back into the stone age. And, like graphic designers, writers and photographers - developers don't work for free, so either bring someone in-house, hire a freelancer or speak to an agency.

With the right marketing partner and with the right SEO tools at your disposal, adding in schema markup to your site is a walk in the park. It could mean the difference between 100 visitors a month and 1,000 visitors a month.

When it comes to your SEO strategy, structured data is a quick and easy way to improve your site’s search visibility and gain some fast, tangible results that you can showcase to management.

To find out more about how SEO can help your B2B business grow, download our ultimate guide to SEO.