A blog is an invaluable asset to any online store. Not only do you establish yourself as an expert in some niche but you also create a free source of organic traffic. Once you create keyword-specific content you'll start getting traffic. But making it more targeted requires more than that.
When it comes to blogs, schema markup is one of the best ways to achieve that. Today you'll learn what the blog schema markup is and why you should use it.
Besides, we'll cover how to implement it in Magento and Shopify blogs to achieve ultimate results.
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What is Blog Schema Markup?
Blog schema markup is a snippet of code that specifies the key components of your blog post. The main elements of the schema include the post type, title, publication date, author, description, featured image, etc. The schema markup tells search engines what type of content you post and what components it is made of.
Thus, schema markup for posts tells search engines that this is not a regular website page but blog content. Besides, blog schema makes your posts more attractive and helps to grab users' attention.
Have you ever wondered why some blog posts look so appealing in the search results with highlighted blocks, featured images and catchy elements? This is exactly what schema markup helps to achieve.
You may ask: Is it worth the trouble? What other benefits do I get? Let's find out.
Why Do You Need Blog Schema Markup?
You already work hard on SEO optimization, XML sitemaps, Google indexing and other search visibility improvements. So, it may look like blog rich snippets aren't as necessary.
Yet, the experience shows that schema markup for blog posts can enhance your efforts and bring exceptional results.
High-quality recommendations
By implementing the blog post schema markup, you tell search engines what your content is about. As a result, they offer more precise suggestions in the search results and there is a higher chance of your blog post being ranked higher.
So, your post is not chosen only by the keywords match. The algorithm is more complex leading to a first-rate result.
Enhanced user engagement
At this point, we can only imagine how blog schema improves user experience. People do not have to go through a dozen of pages to find the needed info. They get the best-matching result right in from of their eyes with answers to all their questions. Besides, after finding your blog post useful people are more likely to return.
Improved visibility in SERP
To get more clicks you need to stand out in the search results. If your blog post is highlighted with rich snippets, it is more likely to catch customers' attention and get you more visitors.
Blog Schema Markup Types
Blog schema is a useful tool but you should also know how to work with it properly. Since many content types vary in style and purpose, there are also different types of blog rich snippets.
Article
The Article is the broadest schema markup type. You can use it for any content type as it mostly indicates that your content is not a technical/system page. The Article schema markup is a safe option for those who are only getting started.
Blog Posting
This schema markup is more specific than the previous one. It indicates that your publication is a blog post and not just any content. Similarly to the Article, the Blog Posting also features the headline, description, image details, publication/modification date, etc.
HowTo
As the very name suggests, this schema markup states that your content is a how-to. HowTo rich snippet is most suitable for recipes or posts that feature a set of steps to complete. This is a schema you have to be careful with since when used too many times per page, it may be considered spam and not validated at all.
FAQ
You may often use an FAQ section in your posts to recap and summarize the key points. This FAQ schema defines your questions and answers making it possible for your content to appear in the tabs on the search result page.
News Article
This rich snippet is more specific and is a perfect option for news publications or updates. It will help you mark your content accordingly and appear in more targeted search results.
BreadcrumbList
The BreadcumbList schema is specifically important to define the navigation elements of your publication. It gives Google a better understanding of your website's links. While mostly used on the website scope, this snippet is also commonly used for blog posts.
How to Implement Schema Markup for Blog?
If you have reached this point in our guide, you must want to know how to add rich snippets to your blog pages. We'll cover the general details of adding the blog schema markup, as well as explore this process for Magento and Shopify users.
So let's break it down.
General guidelines
To begin with, you need to choose what type of blog schema to create. It's important to be as accurate as possible and never mark misleading elements to be indexed and ranked.
Then comes a more hands-down step where you create a snippet itself. You can do it manually by following Google guidelines and using the markup supported by Google. There are plenty of samples out there, so you can use them as a basis for your own snippets.
Yet, if you don't like creating the code manually, use some online tools. The Structured Data Markup Helper can be of great use, for instance. All you need to do is choose the structured data type, add a page URL or HTML and tag your data.
Before adding the snippet to your content you should validate it. Again, use online tools such as schema.org or Rich Results Test and verify if there are no errors or warnings.
If all is good with your code snippet, you can finally insert it into the <head> or <body> of your page. Once added, it's recommended to validate your page once again to ensure a seamless integration.
Nonetheless, when you have to spend lots of time writing content and then as much time adding schema markup, you may consider giving up the idea altogether. We totally get you.
But why bother with all the technical details when there is a faster way to implement blog schema markup?
Magento blogs
You are a lucky one if you are using the . To add the blog schema markup to your blog post, just navigate to the Search Engine Optimization section and choose the rich snippet type from the Rich Snippet / Structured Data dropdown.
That's about it. The blog schema markup will be generated based on your publication's data without any manual input.
Shopify blogs
If you are using the default Shopify blog, you have to add the blog schema markup using the steps we mentioned at the very beginning of this section. Yet, things are different for the users who only need to set up one option.
On the post-editing page, scroll down to the Search engine listing section and choose the corresponding option in the Rich Snippet / Structured Data field.
There are no other steps to take. Just like that, you can validate your post and make sure that the snippet is there.
The blog schema markup brings your blog to another level. When Google knows what exactly you are writing about, it generates more targeted search results and shows your posts to the right audience.
Yet, your blog is not the only place that can get a use of the schema markup. There are other important rich snippets, that can improve your CTR rates and enhance your online visibility. Don't miss a chance to learn more about them!
