Key Points

  • Schema markup helps search engines interpret and contextualize your content to improve your chances of ending up in relevant search results, meaning it can have a major impact on your user engagement.
  • Schema isn’t difficult to create and implement, but like all highly technical coding, one minor error can and will thwart your entire operation. So it’s mission-critical to get it right.
  • There are many schema tools out there — free and paid — to help you do just that. We’ve listed all the ones you need to know.

Any website publisher or experienced content creator who’s been around for a while knows that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.

Actually, it’s more than a marathon. It’s a trek. Through the mountains. With no end in sight. It’s otherwise a journey, that demands endurance, experience, and a whole lotta patience and gusto.

One of the many skills you’ll need to learn to complete this journey is schema markup. 

Keep reading to explore what exactly schema markup is and the most important tools for successfully incorporating schema into your content strategy.

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The Complete Guide to Schema for Website Publishers and Content Creators

 

 

What is Schema?

Schema — also known as structured data — is an element of technical SEO that involves adding code to your website’s infrastructure to help search engines better understand your content.

In the vast wilderness of the World Wide Web, you need skills and the right tools, which we’ll get to in a moment, to direct your content to the right eyeballs.

Think of SEO schema writing like orienteering:

  • It’s a specialized skill,
  • very useful when navigating through the wilderness (or the web),
  • something not many people know how to do it, and
  • it has been rendered mostly obsolete by modern tools (like Apple Maps)

So, no need to pull out your compass and whistle. Simply, read our list of 9 schema tools that make it easy to generate and implement schema markup for your site.

Schema.org

Think of schema.org as your guidebook. Orienteering 101. It’s the penultimate resource for all things structured data.

Everything you want to know about writing and implementing schema on your site can be found on these web pages. 

This includes things like:

  • Vocabulary: In-depth listings of all the definitions you may encounter as you learn about schema.
  • Style guide: Instructions for how to name and write schema markup.
  • Schema listings: A hierarchically organized list of every schema type.
  • Schema validator: A structured data testing tool that validates the schema code embedded in your web pages to ensure everything is written and being read correctly.

Real talk: You probably don’t want to read this particular guidebook cover-to-cover; it’s a lot of technical jargon and not a lot of pictures or diagrams. But it’s an important resource to keep in your back pocket as it contains the answers to all the questions you might encounter along the long and winding schema trail.

Google Tools for SEO Schema Markup

All SEO journeys begin and end with the search engine giant, Google. Schema is no exception.

Google has some of the most reliable and user-friendly schema tools for website publishers and content creators.

Let’s take a look at them.

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Explore the Complete Schema Resource Center

Google Structured Data Markup Helper

Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper is a free, reliable resource for generating schema markup for your website.

The interface is easy to use and supports structured data for a range of popular schema types, including:

  • Articles
  • Book reviews
  • Data sets
  • Events
  • Movies
  • Job listings
  • Local businesses
  • Products
  • Q&A pages
  • Restaurants
  • Software apps
  • TV seasons and episodes

You can use the tool to generate schema for a webpage or HTML email.

Just paste the URL or HTML you want to add schema to within the text box. The tool will bring up the missing tags in the “Tag Data” section. There, you can add tags directly in the interface, and then view the new markup for your site. 

Google Rich Results Test

Once you’ve added schema to your site, you can check it in Google’s Rich Results Test tool. 

Rich results, or rich snippets, are the extra-fancy search results Google shows for certain search types. Rich results for recipe sites, for example, usually show photos, user ratings, and cook time, whereas, for TV shows, rich results could display ratings and notable cast members.

The Mediterranean Dish_Screen Grab (Schema Pillar)

If you’ve done a good job of adding schema to your website, Google will easily add rich snippets to your page’s search results.

And rich results = more organic traffic.

Which is why we’re on this arduous journey in the first place.

Other Notable SEO Schema Markup Generators

If you’re a serious trekker who wants to use all the best schema tools, here are a few more notable options.

Think of a schema generator like a chairlift; they can take you past the most treacherous terrain in a fraction of the time, risk-free, with minimal effort.

JSON-LD Generator

There are three different formats or encodings for schema markup: microdata, RDFa, and JSON-LD. 

The latter is considered the most user-friendly and is, naturally, the most popular.

If you want a free tool for creating JSON-LD schema markup, check out the JSON-LD Generator. 

The tool is designed to support multiple schema types including:

  • Article
  • Event
  • FAQ page
  • Breadcrumb
  • How-to
  • Job posting
  • Local business
  • Person
  • Organization
  • Product
  • Recipe
  • Video
  • Website

Just select your markup type, then plug in the details. 

The code will generate in real-time as you add info about your content. Then copy + paste that code into the appropriate place in your site’s infrastructure, which in the case of JSON-LD would be directly in the page source code, anywhere within the <head> or <body> of your page.

WordPress Plugins for Website Schema

Chances are, you’ll encounter WordPress site builders at some point in your web publishing and content creation journey.

Not to worry, though. 

Unlike encounters in the wilderness, you won’t need bear spray to manage a run-in with a wild WordPress site, just a good, old-fashioned plugin.

Here are some of the best WordPress Plugins for website schema:  

  • Schema & Structured Data for WordPress & AMP: This schema code generator automatically suggests markup based on your content.
  • WP Recipe Maker: Some WordPress schema tools are designed specifically for specialized website types such as WP Recipe Maker by Bootstrapped, which generates schema markup specifically for recipes.
  • SEO Ultimate: This plugin offers general SEO tools including a schema markup generator.
  • Yoast SEO: Yoast is one of the most popular SEO plugins for WordPress. It provides publishers with a wide range of SEO tools including an automatic, fully customizable schema markup generator. 
  • Rank Math: Rank Math is an SEO plugin that includes a structured data generator.

Get Where You’re Going Faster With Playwire

Mastering SEO to reach your revenue goals can sometimes feel like a never-ending journey. But it doesn’t have to be so challenging.

If you’re into the blisters, bug bites, and bragging rights, then by all means: carry on.

But if you’re looking for a quicker path to revenue success, Playwire can show you the way.

We amplify your ad revenue by providing you with all the tools, tech, and resources you need to reach your destination faster.

So, if you’re ready to skip the sweaty stuff, contact us today.

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