As a business owner, you need to focus on search engine optimization (SEO) and maybe even local SEO (LSEO). It’s what drives traffic to your site, improves your click through rate (CTR), and ultimately can lead to new customers. However, your SEO toolbox needs to be packed well, and that includes using “Schema” to make it happen. This sole tool can better direct targeted traffic to your site, converting “potential customers” into full blown leads.
Schema consists of a certain data markup structure that all the major search engines have embraced since 2011. Whether your customers use Bing, Yahoo!, Google or maybe even 
Yandex, these search engines are leaning on Schema structures more than ever before. If your SEO incorporates it, you automatically make your SEO better. It all starts with Schema’s focus on “rich snippets” which better catch the reader’s eye, whether you’re number one or number three on Google search results.
Get Rich Quick
“Snippets” are those (aptly named) snippets of information you get about certain links when searching online. Let’s say you’ve Googled “florist Salt Lake City.” You’re going to get dozens of Google pages, but (studies show) you’re never going to look beyond the first page and probably not beyond the first five results. You’ll notice the results have a link, URL, and a few words displayed about the page. However, not all snippets are created equally.
A “rich snippet” that utilizes Schema might have reviews, a complementary photo, and a drastically improved link visibility. Studies using eye tracking heat maps show that people are more inclined to click on a rich snippet than a regular one, even if the rich snippet is number four on Google search results. You may not be able to make it to the number one spot for your keywords of choice, but you can certainly employ rich snippets to get more CTRs.
Great Things Come in Small Packages
Schema is a way to increase your organic leads—ultimately helping your business grow. It’s made up of “microdata” which is read and translated by every big search engine. “Microdata” is created via “tag sets” (which were released with HTML 5) and allows you to mark up your website using vocabulary that engines like Google and Yahoo! understand. For the most part, this microdata is either Microformats or RDFA.
Algorithms that translate data, and determine your SEO standing, prefer simplicity and to-the-point information. Don’t make search engines “guess” what your content is. They want things to be structured and easy, and Schema gives you the tools necessary to properly label content and categorize them. Schema is the Martha Stewart of SEO, it makes sure things are incredibly organized but looking gorgeous, too. Get those ratings, breadcrumbs, images, and relevant listings in the public eye with Schema—it’s an accessory to your SEO campaign that you simply can’t go without.