SEO and FAQ markup
With structured data for the FAQs and instructions, webmasters get a good opportunity not only to optimize their own content for the search engine, but also to present a good structure of their own content.
At the same time, good positions in Google are achieved on the one hand, and users who benefit from extensive results or assistant actions are reached on the other.
This aspect makes it clear once again that webmasters must use different markups in the context of structured data in order to ultimately be recognized as a relevant source that deserves a top position in Google.
What are FAQ pages?
Let’s return to our hot topic – the FAQ pages.
What can I do with the FAQ on Google? With the FAQ markup, you can display questions and related answers directly in extensive snippets.
This not only increases the size of your snippet – specific questions can be answered in advance.
You also have the option of including links to other pages in your reply texts.
What do you need to do?
As described above, you must implement the following Javascript in the HTML code of your site.
It does not matter whether the script is embedded in the header or in the body.
If you do not want to write the code yourself, you can alternatively use a tool with which you can create a script easily and free of charge. Then implement the script anywhere in the HTML code.
When inserting a link, make sure that you mark the link with single quotation marks (‘), otherwise syntax errors may occur.
Once you have inserted the script into your code, you will need to validate the document again using Google ‘s structured data validation tool.
If you have done everything correctly, you will not receive an error message here.
Last but not least, you should look at the search console and manually index the URL again so that your page is crawled as quickly as possible.
After a while you will receive an excerpt with frequently asked questions.
FAQs ask readers a few questions, which you answer yourself.
You give them the right code according to the Google specifications and you already have the possibility that your answers will be displayed as frequently asked questions in the search results.
By implementing a schema markup for your FAQ page, you can improve the visibility of your website and increase the authority of your webpage.
Very few websites seem to utilize this simple, yet incredibly effective SEO hack.
According to Neil Patel, less than 1% of online businesses seem to be doing this.
Now it’s time to get on board and make sure the schema markup is set up on your FAQ page.
When should you use FAQ markup?
FAQ markups are more or less versatile and can be used for a variety of content types.
The FAQ section is suitable for the most informative content on a page. Just add a FAQ section with related questions to your article or page, make sure you use the right markup and you’re good to go.
Of course, you can also try out the FAQs and the markup for your company’s man page.
When should you use the HowTo markup?
Any HowTo article with multiple steps is ideal for the HowTo markup.
The HowTo snippet is the brightest of all extended description formats! If your content fits, we strongly recommend you try this out.
Are you a WordPress user?
Then add HowTo and FAQ markup with Yoast.
If you use WordPress with a standard block editor, you can use the Yoast plugin to add the right schema markup for HowTos and FAQs.
You can read how to do this in the Yoast manual.
Recipe pages
Do you have recipes on your website?
There is also an extended snippet for this, which makes your pages even more visible in the search results: Rich Snippet Recipe.
The recipe schema markup also qualifies your website for the “Recipes” section, which is displayed above the regular organic search results on Google.
What is a FAQ snippet and the FAQ schema markup?
With the help of a snippet, a user can find the direct information they were looking for on Google on the one hand and explore additional facts on your website on the other.
A piece of text is highlighted in a special form using structured data.
Schema markup is a powerful but underutilized code for SEO that you can use to increase your website’s presence in the SERPs.
This code is placed on your website to help Google and other search engines provide better results for consumers.
Search engines crawl your website, it is indexed, and when someone performs a relevant search, your content may be displayed.
The schema markup provides context to the content. A markup can provide context by telling search engines what the content means.
Schema.org explains this as follows:
“Most webmasters are familiar with HTML tags on their pages. Normally, HTML tags tell the browser how the information contained in the tag should be displayed.
For example Avatar
Tells the browser to display the text string “Avatar” in a format of heading 1. However, the HTML tag does not contain any information about what this text string means – “avatar” may refer to the highly successful 3D movie or to some kind of profile picture – and this can make it difficult for engines to intelligently display relevant content to a user. “>For this reason, the context provided by adding schema markup to your FAQ page can help increase your presence in search results.
How FAQ schema markup helps you rank better
Having your FAQs in featured snippets on Google can lead to a huge increase in organic traffic.
By adding the schema markup, you improve your chances of this happening.
An important metric in the Search engine optimization is the click rate (Click-through rate).
This is measured by the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions a result receives. For example, if you had 55 clicks and 890 impressions, your click-through rate would be 6.17%.
By using a FAQ schema markup, you increase the visibility of your Websiteby selecting a larger selection of Keywords are displayed.
This means that more traffic can potentially be converted into paying customers.
How do I implement an FAQ schema?
The FAQ schema can be implemented in two ways: Microdata or JSON-LD.
No matter which one you choose, we strongly recommend that you stick to one. It is not a good idea to mix them on a website.
Microdata
This is the more complex of the two options.
To implement schema markup with microdata, elements must be coded into your website.
If you don’t have a web developer on your team, this can be quite a lengthy and challenging process of adding the code to the main body of your site.
How do I validate the implementation of the FAQ schema?
Checking the implementation of your FAQ scheme is a three-step process.
1.testing – To ensure that you have implemented the code correctly on your site, you should use the Google Structured Data Testing Tool. You can add your code snippet here or the page URL and the test tool will inform you whether you have done it correctly or not. There is the added bonus that it also provides all the necessary feedback.
2. preview with the Rich Result Tester from Google – This tester not only informs you whether your page is suitable for extensive results, but also shows how the data looks in the SERPs.
3. re-index the page – Once the code has been added and you have run the tests and the page is ready to go, there is one final step: you ask Google to re-index the page.
To do this, you need to log in to the Google Search Console, enter the changed URL in the top search bar and press Enter.
You should then select the option to request indexing.
In some cases you can see that the effects set in quite quickly.
Well, pretty fast for search engines. If you have done this for a page that already ranks on page 1, you should see the results update on the SERPS within 20 minutes.
Successful positioning in the SERPs of Google searches requires complex SEO measures.
However, structured data is particularly important for the Googlebot in order to understand websites and their content and to integrate them into the context of increasingly comprehensive Google search results.
This structured data is now available for the Google FAQ and tutorials.
In this way, webmasters can optimize these page areas for Rich Results or Google Assistant.
Which pages can the schema markup be applied to?
If you want to add FAQ schema markup, it’s important to understand Google’s content guidelines.
The first and most obvious guideline is that a list of questions with answers must be attached to the page.
If your page contains questions to which users can send their answers, you can use a different type of markup.
Instead of using the FAQPage, you should use a QAPage: This is a different type of schema markup.
Some valid uses of the FAQ schema markup are:
A page with frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the website.
Users cannot submit alternative answers on these pages.
Product support pages with frequently asked questions (FAQs) where users cannot submit different answers.
Frequently asked questions: The secret weapon of SEO 2020/21?
Excerpts with Google ‘s frequently asked questions are on everyone’s lips.
Every website operator wants to stand out in Google results.
A lot has changed with the new BERT algorithm.
As Google announced a few years ago, the algorithm is becoming increasingly semantic.
Google wants to provide its users with facts so that they no longer have to click on the relevant website in the search results.
You can use FAQ snippets to create useful content for users so that they can quickly find the right answer to their questions using Google search.
You can save information for Google search results in a snippet.
Snippets are normally managed via meta tags.
What you save as a title and description is sometimes displayed in Google in the same way.
Depending on the search term, Google will randomly display information from your website in the search results, but not always exactly what you have saved in the meta tags.
With the so-called FAQ fragments you can create informative content for the user.
However, these questions and answers are only relevant if you already have the top 10 positions for similar keywords.
Structured data provides you with detailed information
Many users visit Google to get an overview of their concerns as quickly as possible.
Rich snippets already provide these users with comprehensive information in Google.
Webmasters can now add structured data for the Google FAQ so that these pages are displayed as an advanced result in Google Search or as an option in Google Assistant as an action.
Google provides detailed information and the FAQ markup requirements in the developer blog.
Website content can also be displayed with Google Assistant thanks to structured data.
Developers can also optimize their content for linguistic user interaction by creating a FAQ on Google.
FAQ at Google
The Google Search Console now also offers a separate status report for such instructions, in which all markup problems are listed.
Among other things, the relevant elements for training websites with structured data are displayed.
Google has recently announced updates to the Search Console, particularly in relation to structured data.
You can use the structured data for frequently asked questions in the search and in the wizard.
In addition to the instructions, FAQs for optimized markups are now also available.
Frequently asked questions are important for many users, as they quickly provide all the answers that users would otherwise have to search for on the entire website.
Therefore, the positioning of these pages in the search is extremely important – especially to attract new users.
With the structured data for the FAQ pages, you can make this content available for display in Google search results or for presentation via the Assistant.
This data is only permitted for official questions and answers, as specified by Google.
Q & A markups should be used on pages where users can ask questions themselves.
Frequently asked questions in Google Search can help users with their searches on Google.
However, access to this format can also be guaranteed in other ways via the Google Assistant.
If users ask very specific questions, your FAQs may be displayed as answers after they have created the corresponding markup, and frequently asked questions are also relevant for access via the wizard.
Regarding frequently asked questions, the Search Console now offers a report on errors, warnings and more related to markup websites.
Structured data for questions and answers in search results
To display this data, Google requires so-called structured data so that it can be read correctly and displayed accordingly.
This is where schema.org comes into play – all standardized structured data types can be found there – including for the FAQ page type.
The structured data can be inserted into a page in JSON format, for example, and then read by Google.
Structured data is not normally displayed on a website, but only in the original text of the website.
The content of frequently asked questions must also be available on the website
For extended FAQ snippets, it is important that the questions and answers are not only structured, but also visible/integrated 1:1 on the website.
This is usually done with chord elements, which modern WordPress page builders normally have on board as elements.
To automatically generate JSON code for an FAQ, there are several online generators that will do the code for you. T
here, questions and answers can be easily inserted into the code and new questions can be created with a single click.
All you have to do is insert the finished code into your WordPress site (as HTML code).
Obviously, the number of structured data pages for frequently asked questions has increased considerably in recent times.
This is one of the reasons why Google cannot display extended FAQ results for all pages.
Adding FAQ markups has long been a great way to rank higher in Google search results.
For a long time, the chances were good that Google would display relevant results for a website with structured data for frequently asked questions.
What will the trends for structured data look like in 2021/22?
Layout trends change regularly – and it’s worth keeping an eye out for changes.
Which trends are of interest here depends very much on your company, but there are aspects that can be of interest in many industries, and Google in particular is always making changes in relation to schema.org.
For example, Google changed the markup algorithm for surveys in September 2019: Since then, companies and local businesses can no longer receive their own rankings as comprehensive snippets in Google search results.
However, this approach still works for Bing.
A trend at Google that has been going on for months is the markup for instructions (how-tos) and questions and answers.
Search engine optimizers and webmasters can take up a lot of space in regular search results if they include this structured data.
In addition, links can even be included in frequently asked questions, and the structured data trends and innovations of 2020 are still strongly linked to the coronavirus.
For example, new markups have been introduced that can be used to provide information about canceled or postponed events, changes to opening hours or special events.
But let’s start from the beginning.
What exactly is structured data?
Structured data are tags in your HTML code that you can use to help the search engine better understand the context of your page.
With the help of structured data, rich snippets can display additional content, e.g. rating stars or the Google FAQ.
In order to provide a single standard for these labels, major search engines such as Google, Bing, Yandex and Yahoo have launched the Schema.org project.
This is a glossary of different labeling options.
Labels can be integrated into an HTML document in various ways: Json-LD RFD Microdata
The newest and simplest form (also recommended by Google) is Json-LD, which is implemented in HTML using Java script.
The advantage here is that the script can be displayed anywhere in the code.
Are too many FAQs a sign of content that is difficult to understand?
Too many frequently asked questions may indicate that the page content is difficult to understand.
Frequently asked questions on websites are now very popular.
One reason for this, of course, is that when FAQs are used in conjunction with relevant structured data, there is the potential for advanced search results, which Google also displays for some of its FAQ pages.
Frequently Asked Questions can also be a real help to website visitors, as they can help them find answers to important questions quickly and easily without having to read the entire page.
One expert explained that in conversations with some tech writers at Google, he had heard that too many FAQs could be a sign that the content of a page is difficult to understand.
It remains unclear whether Google actually counts the number of FAQs on a page as a quality factor.
In summary, it can be said that frequently asked questions can offer added value if they help visitors to obtain the information they need more quickly.
On the other hand, it is not advisable to create many FAQs for SEO reasons alone.
FAQ
How do I integrate the FAQ snippets into my website?
As described above, there are various ways to do this. Schema.org can help you create the right code for FAQ snippets.
How do I integrate FAQ snippets into my WordPress site?
There are 2 possibilities. You can either use a special plugin for this or insert the code directly into the page.
How can I determine whether I have integrated the markup correctly?
Use Google’s testing tool to check your FAQ markup.
Does Google give you guidelines for your FAQ pages?
You may not use the FAQ snippets for advertising.
What is the disadvantage of FAQ snippets?
The weakness of the FAQ snippet is that the user no longer clicks on your website to get their questions answered. If you make your snippet attractive enough, the user will be attracted to your site and visit it.
How can you make your snippet more attractive?
On the one hand the text should sound good, on the other hand you can decorate it with stars, ticks or hearts. If too many of these characters are used consistently, this can mean that Google no longer displays the characters in the search results.
How can I simplify my snippets?
Over the years, Schema.org has provided detailed information on how to properly tag content to provide a foundation for finding rich snippets.