The Google search results page is filled with a variety of different results, from recipes to reviews you can find so many different formats. The one thing these listings all have in common is what is called schema markup and I am going to help you learn how to add schema to WordPress websites.
Schema (also called structured data) can be confusing but we are going to do our best to break it down and simplify it so you can begin implementing it on your own website!
By using Schema markup you can create what is called “Rich Snippets” which for bloggers can be gold in the search engines.
Below is some important information schema markup and how you can begin implementing it on your website/
What Is Schema Markup?
Schema markup is code used by the search engines to better understand what your web pages are about so they can do a better job of serving relevant content to users based on what they are searching for.
Schema.org is the home web page for this project and is a collaboration of the major search engines – it can show you the type of schema properties that are available and offer you updated information about the project.
By taking the opportunity to learn and implement these techniques, you can put yourself ahead of your competitors.
In the search engine results example below you can see several listings for a review on a GoMotion Belt Light.
You will notice that 2 of the listings have stars in the listing, that is due to the implementation of Review Schema Markup in the code of that page.
We are going to use the internetofdogthings.com result as our example for the code that was used for this listing.
In a normal post, the HTML code for that specific item may look something like this
<article><h1><a href=””>GoMotion LiteBelt 100 Review: Useful belt for jogging you…</a></h1><div class=”author”>Review by Jen deHaan</p><div class=”entry-meta”>April 20, 2015</div><div class=”entry”><img src=””>content goes here to talk about the product</div></article>
But then we add in our Product Review Schema and we have something like this:
<div itemscope itemtype=”http://schema.org/Review”>
<a itemprop=”url” href=”http://testingforreviewschema.com”><div itemprop=”name”><strong>GoMotion LiteBelt 100 Review</strong></div>
</a>
<div itemprop=”description”>This is where the content of the belt will go. This should be the body of your post.</div>
<div itemprop=”reviewBody”>GoMotion LiteBelt 100 Review</div>
<div itemprop=”author” itemscope itemtype=”http://schema.org/Person”>
Written by: <span itemprop=”name”>You Name Goes Here</span></div>
<div><meta itemprop=”datePublished” content=”2015-06-16″>Date published: 06/16/2015</div>
<div itemprop=”reviewRating” itemscope itemtype=”http://schema.org/Rating”>
<meta itemprop=”worstRating” content=”1″><span itemprop=”ratingValue”>3.8</span> / <span itemprop=”bestRating”>5</span> stars</div>
</div>
In the above example you can see that “itemscope” and “itemtype” and “itemprop” codes which are all the microdata that is used in schema!
How Does Schema Work?
Schema is code that is added to your HTML code in your website. There are several formats of Schema including Microdata, RDFa and JSON-LD. JSON-LD we believe will be the future of Schema but takes more experience to implement, so for now we are recommending Microdata as the format of choice for bloggers.
Will Schema Improve My Rankings?
Schema is not known to directly improve website ranking but it will improve your search appearance in the results which in turn can help improve click thru rates which might affect search engine ranking.
What Are The Benefits of Schema Markup?
- You are giving the search engines exact information about what your article is about which gives them a clearer understanding of what you offer a someone doing a related search
- It can help improve click thru-rate (CTR), which in turn can help you gain higher rank
Do I Need To Add Schema To Every Page & Post?
Not necessarily.
We highly recommend you use this on posts that are Reviews or Recipes though. You can either use one of the plugins noted below or just add the code to your html.
How To Add Schema To WordPress?
Great question! And while we typically use manual code to include schema in the websites we create, we realized that may not be an option for everyone so we tried to secure some easier options that bloggers can use.
Below are several options for implementing the code including WordPress options that we tested and thought would do a decent job of getting the code into your posts in an easy way.
We have not had the time to see actual results of the plugins – as it can sometimes take weeks to have it shown in the search results – if it is shown at all!
1 | Schema Generator
The Schema Generator allows you to pick the type of markup you are interested in placing on your page and then you just need to fill in the fields.
If you are using the blocks editor in WordPress you can copy and add the code in a HTML block or if you are not using the block editor just add it to the code error in your post or page as HTML code.
There is a limited number of schema types available from this tool.
2 | WP Review
WP Review is a WordPress plugin that will easily allow you to create reviews that will be shown on your post and have the Microdata in place to allow it to reflect in the search engines with the star ratings and details.
Visit WP Review
3 | All In One Schema
One of the most popular schema plugins that features options for review, events, recipe schema and more.
Visit All In One Schema
Types Of Schema Markup
Below are some examples of types of schema markup a website may use and how it would look in Google’s search results.
Reviews – shows a star rating in the results
Recipes – shows calories, reviews, time, image
Events – shows dates and event names in a list
There are many other types of schema as well including (but not limited to):
- Local businesses
- Restaurants
- Events
- Products
When Will I Begin Seeing My Rich Snippets In Search Results?
Well, as with most things in life – especially when the search engines are involved, there are no guarantees – and if they do choose to show your data with Rich Snippets it may take a while to see the results.
We have seen all of our clients that we have implemented this on reap the rewards of this code so we do expect you will too, especially since so few websites are taking advantage of this feature.
Checking Your Schema Markup
Ensuring your schema markup is correct is important if you want to get the results you are hoping for. If you are setup with Google Search Console then you will get error warnings if your schema has issues.
Below are some other resources as well to ensure your schema is correct!
Structured Data Testing Tool
Visit Google Testing Tool
This is critical to know that you have properly implemented the code on your website! For example n the image below you can see a page from our own website that we ran through the tool.
It was for a post that we added the review schema microdata to for testing purposes. We added it via manual code with no plugin. You can see that the tool returned an all good for all the microdata we have on our website.
Final Thoughts
Schema is one way you can stand out from your competition. There are still a lot of websites not using it because it does take a little extra time and knowledge – but the rewards are worth it for the time investment!
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