If you have heard the term Schema but are scratching your head as to what it actually is, you’re not alone.

Schema has the potential to boost your site’s visibility in Google search results – something all businesses want.

To help you get your head around it, take a look at our Schema 101.

What’s Schema?

Schema.org is a set of tags that add a level of semantics to your website.

What are Semantics? ‘The branch of logic concerned with meaning’. In a digital sense, semantics involves clarifying the overall meaning of a set of data or information.

Schema came about following a collaboration between 4 major search engines – Google, Yahoo!, Bing and Yandex. The aim was to make it easier for search engines to digest the information on a site and get better, more accurate information onto search result pages.

This means that today, schema tags allow search engines to quickly get to grips with what’s on your site and what they mean very quickly.

How does it work?

Schema is a type of coding that can be added to your HTML. Certain information is marked up and can then be easily digested by a search engine. The information can then be displayed in a digestible way to the searcher.

So for example, if you work in the food and drink industry, you might have a recipe on your site on how to make the best brownies in the world.

By adding schema to the HTML on the recipe page, your recipe can appear directly in search results and give searchers the chance to make life-changing brownies themselves.

So the ‘Recipe’ schema would include elements such as:

• cookTime
• cookingMethod
• recipeIngredient
• recipeInstructions

and a few more to boot. Other information from the ‘HowTo’ schema and ‘CreativeWork’ schema are also required.

This all means that searchers can get the information they seek directly in the search results pages.

What features does Schema drive?

Features driven by Schema include:

• featured snippets
• ratings and reviews
• search boxes
• video links
• news articles
• TV episodes
• maps
• events
• medical information

Plus hundreds more on top of this. The full list can be viewed here.

Who can benefit?

Schema is great for SME businesses because it enables them to make their site visible and allows for access to the latest and greatest Google features.

What’s more, moving forwards, it’s likely anything that Google is planning will probably be driven by Schema. So businesses who embrace Schema now can set themselves up for better search visibility down the line.

Where can I get more information?

schema.org is a great resource if you want any more information on Schema. And our marketing team is always happy to help with any search related queries you have. Feel free to get in touch.