5 Reasons Why Schema is Important for SEO

By Erik Bonsaksen on 2023-01-11

Why is Schema Important for SEO?

Short answer: Schemas are important for SEO because there's numerous case studies demonstrating the effects structured data can have on organic impressions, clicks, CTR and keyword rankings. Oh, and it's recommended and read by all major search engines.

Before we go in-depth and mention top 5 reasons you should add schema: do you need to freshen up on what schema markup, structured data and rich results are? Then read our article What is Schema Markup and How To Add It.

But I'll give you a quick recap:

Schemas (markup): Shared language between search engines on how to mark-up data on website pages.
Structured data: Actual data on a website page with an applied schema markup type (ex. Article, FAQ, Video, etc).
Rich results/snippets: Visual representation of your page content in search results. Enabled with structured data.

So structured data use schema markup types, that might enable rich snippets.

This is an example of rich snippet features using Recipe type together with Review/Product schema markup:

This is Sitelink Searchbox schema markup:

There's approximately +35 schema types with different visual representations in search results, ranging from Book and FAQ, to Video and Event.

What the Experts Say About Structured Data

Google documentation on structured data:

You can help us by providing explicit clues about the meaning of a page to Google by including structured data on the page. Structured data is a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content; for example, on a recipe page, what are the ingredients, the cooking time and temperature, the calories, and so on.

And that they are using it:

Google uses structured data that it finds on the web to understand the content of the page, as well as to gather information about the web and the world in general.

Score. It helps them understand your page content.

However, it's not directly a ranking signal, confirmed by John Mueller (Google's very own Search Advocate) back in 2018, but it does make it easier for them to understand your page.

Not all structured data enable rich results, but as Martin Splitt (Developer Advocate at Google) affirms, add it anyway:

Every indication basically says come on dude, just add it already.

Schema Case Studies - Effects of Adding Structured Data

There's numerous case studies on tha web' showcasing the impact schemas can have after being added to a website, but let's get it from the source.

Here's 3 cases from Google where structured data had a major impact on organic traffic:

This is just some examples. There's also tons of other experiments done by SEO specialists testing structured data, which a quick search on "structured data case studies" will show you.

5 Critical reasons for adding schema markup

Let's summarize the main reasons YOU should at it NOW.

1. It can improve organic click-through rates (CTR)

Schema markup is not a ranking signal, but has a proven track record of bolstering click-through rates as it makes search listing better looking and granular. Higher CTR means more clicks which means more people get to see your lovely content.

2. Large pool of extensive rich snippets

Structured data using certain schema markup types makes your website more appealing and engaging in search results through rich snippets and images. This show more of your page content, and takes a lot of space. This will make your competitors tremble.

See examples of high impact schema markups here.

3. Helps improving keyword rankings and SEO results

How schema affects rankings is through better CTR. Studies show that structured data increase click-through rates compared to pages without markup. So more traffic can indirectly improve page position for targeted queries, and we all know top rankings gets all the traffic.

4. Boosting sales and return on investment (ROI)

Certain schema markup types highlight crucial information of products or services, influencing a user during the moment of decision. Take sales price and ratings on an e-commerce product: When they click on it, they're more likely closer to a sale, thus improving ROI.

5. Educate search engines about your content

Schema markup educates web crawlers about key information on your page, and when engines have a better semantic understanding of your content they know when to connect the dots from search queries to your page (rather than your competitors).

Will Schema Markup Work on Your Website?

It might, and perhaps really good as well. And how to find out? Test it.

There's two ways to add schemas:

Add structured data directly to your HTML.
Add schema through a tool (depends on which CMS or framework you use).

#1 would often require some coding experience or help from a developer. You'll need to automate a way to generate structured data for certain page templates with the correct schema markup type. If you need to add multiple schemas on a page, you'll need to find a way to add custom markups as well.

#2 many CMS and dev frameworks offer plugins and packages for structured data generation. It's nice for automating certain markup types such as BlogPosting on a content page, but can be a hassle when you'll need to do some customization.

So, if you want a quick and easy way to add and test any schema markup type in minutes, we'll of course recommend metamanager. That's one of the core services after all.

And there's so many schemas types to add which really could highlight your content. How to boost SEO using schema is only deciphered through testing, and it's highly recommended to try it.

Conclusion

All major search engines (even Amazon) reads and use schema markup, and case studies show it has the ability to directly affect organic traffic, improving CTR and increase sales. As for our top 5 reasons for using structured data, it can:

Increase organic CTR
Enhance search results (takes a lot of space)
Improve keyword positions
Boost sales and ROI
Content is indexed faster and better

There you go. This is how to boost SEO using schema markup. Use data models on your data to relate to relevant entities. If you want to learn how you can add any markup type to your pages fast, try our structured data publishing tool. Google will thank you for it.