With plenty of new SEO techniques on the market, it can be difficult to know which will help you and which are better left to one side in favour of already established methods. One of the best but least- utilised new tools is the schema markup. Being able to use these tools properly can boost your SERPs rankings and potentially put yourself ahead of your competition if they are not using them. Let’s take a closer look at how schema can best help your business.
What is Schema Markup?
Quite simply, the schema markup is a code which you place on your website. The search engines read this code and will then present the information to their users in a useful format. For example, if your business hosts events, it might show a list of upcoming events on the results page alongside a link for your company website.
The schema code is something which should be included in your SEO strategy as it allows you to put more information around the content. Through the use of schema, you are able to define exactly what you are talking about for Google. This, in turn, allows it to sort your content better and deliver more accurate results for the end-user. No matter what industry you find yourself in, there is going to be a markup you can use to better your SEO and your overall rankings.
The “HowTo” Markup
One of the most often used markups is “HowTo” which presents a small tutorial on Google for a user to look at. If they like what they see, they might click on the site and view the tutorial in full. There are a few things you should know about using this form of markup.
Firstly, it is not for advertising. It is strictly to be for “HowTo” content only. The other major thing you need to bear in mind is that this type of schema is not for recipes. While recipes are technically a form of “HowTo content”, they have their own special markup to help distinguish them.
Markup Options
With the “HowTo” markup, you have several options of how you want the snippet to appear on the SERPs. Two of the most popular forms are with an accordion list, and the other is a carousel list. The accordion list is also the standard “HowTo” schema result. It features a number of different things. You can include an image, a short description, the how-to steps themselves, and some other information such as the length of time needed to finish the project. The carousel also has the description and the steps, but it differs from the accordion primarily because each step also has an image with it for ease of understanding. The accordion is one of the more popular “HowTo” markups to use due to its ease to set up and the flexibility with it.
Custom Options
It is surprisingly easy to create your own custom “HowTo” markup. All you need to get started is an already existing schema. Then, you simply have to tweak the code to fit your purposes instead. All of this can be handled in the Google Tag Manager. Though it can be complicated at first, it can be much simpler once you know what you are doing. Here is an example of code which you could copy over for your own. As you can see below, there is space for you to include an image with each step, though this is optional:
"step":[
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"text": "INSERT STEP",
"image": "https://example.com/1×1/photo.jpg"
}, {
"@type": "HowToStep",
"text": "INSERT STEP",
"image": "https://example.com/1×1/photo.jpg"
}, {
"@type": "HowToStep",
"text": "INSERT STEP ",
"image": "https://example.com/1×1/photo.jpg"
}, {
"@type": "HowToStep",
"text": "INSERT STEP",
"image": "https://example.com/1×1/photo.jpg"
}, {
"@type": "HowToStep",
"text": "INSERT STEP ",
"image": "https://example.com/1×1/photo.jpg"
}
]
This is also just the simplest example of the HowTo markup. You can also find more complex ones which might suit your needs more closely.
There are several common errors that people make. Luckily the Schema generator itself is very good at pointing out where there are indeed some errors. It is usually down to small things like missing commas or brackets, or an incorrect value type. This means that you need to double-check that you are assigning the correct value to the “HowTo” step. Spelling is incredibly key here; a wrong letter can easily throw off your entire code if you are not careful.
What Next?
Like many other SEO changes, you need to make sure that Google has recognised what you have added. Luckily, there are several tools you can use to make sure Google crawls your URL quickly. When this is done, not only will your new content be indexed but it will find your new “HowTo” markup. This means that you have the chance of appearing on SERPs when that particular how-to query is searched.
You will then need to track the performance of the schema as you would with any other aspect of SEO. This can be done through the Google Search Console. You should ideally be monitoring the number of clicks you are getting and the impressions. If you have managed to claim a “HowTo” schema before your competitors, you are going to be able to claim large amounts of SERP real estate. If you are looking for a way to boost yourself ahead while also enhancing your content, this is certainly the way to do it.
Is It Worth It?
There are many benefits to schemas such as the “HowTo” markup and they can really help a company out with their rankings on SERPs. What’s more, very few companies are currently using schemas so it can really help your content to get ahead. If you can claim the specific “HowTo” for certain things connected to your business, it might be a while before your competitors catch up. Take a look into the world of schema today. Key processes like the “HowTo” markup might be the next perfect step for your SEO strategy.