9 Most Popular Types of Semantic Markups That You Should Know About

If you’ve been planning to do SEO for some time, learn from the leading SEO company in Mumbai. You may have heard about semantic markups and wondered how they could help you optimize your website. Google uses semantic markups as a way to sort web pages meaningfully.

When used, they can be an important step in helping users find what they look for and have a better online experience. In this blog, we will know how to use semantic markups to boost our SEO.

So, let’s get right into it.

 

What are Semantic Markups?

Schema markup is a way for search engines to better understand your content. It’s a way of marking up your data so that search engines (and Google) can more efficiently understand it.

Schema markup is used on structured data pages to mark up the information with additional information about what it is, how it relates to other things in the page’s context, and where it came from. Our SEO services include these schema markups, as its essential to add them to your website which helps search engines to crawl and understand your business.

Google uses schema markup to help them identify the best results when crawling your content.

 

The 9 Most Popular Types of Schema Markup

Schema markup code is added to your website, which adds additional information below the title tag.

It allows search engines to better understand your content and improve their search results to provide additional information to users.

Three types of schema markups are most common in search engines.

• JSON-LD
• Microdata
• RDFa

Instead of learning new programming skills, you can use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper instead. Select the content you wish to markup and manually enter the URL and data.

You can also use the Google Structured Data Testing tool to check if a website contains schema markups.

792 Schemas are depending on what type of content you want. This list has been reduced to nine Schemas with the highest SEO value. One of the best website developers in Mumbai agrees that these 9 types are one of the most popular types of Schema markups:

• • Person

• Local Business
• Product
• Breadcrumbs
• Article
• HowTo
• FAQPage
• Recipe
• video object

Let’s take a closer glance at each Schema type.

1.     Person markup

The Person markup provides basic information about the individual appearing on the page for search engines.

This markup can be applied to the author’s bio on a blog, the About Us pages, and any other page on your website that mentions team members or partners.

SEO is a valuable tool

Google can identify an individual using the Person markup. You can help Google establish relationships between entities by adding schemas like Organization. The Person Schema, in simple terms, is the first brick of a large database you are building.

A comprehensive Knowledge Graph containing all details about a person may be the tangible benefit of using the Person Schema.

You might also have heard of Google’s E-A–T. Google can feed all information about the authorship and expertise of the person using the Person markup.

Person markup example:

This code snippet, in addition to what we’ve seen in JSON -LD examples, has the same property. This section allows you to share links to your social profiles and any authoritative sources mentioning the person’s name.

These properties will help you increase your site’s E.A-T.

• Alumni of. A person who is an alumnus.
• A person who has won an award.
• A credential that is awarded to a person.
• Honorific prefix. A prefix honorific is preceding a person’s name, such as Dr/Mrs./Mr.
• Honorific suffix. An honorific suffix after a given name, such as M.D. /Ph.D./MSCSW.

The Merkle Schema Markup Generator is the best way to implement Person markup.

 

2. Local Business markup / Organization

If you are a company, one of the most important schemas that you can add to your website is Organization or Local Business.

These Schema types can be added to your homepage, About Us page, or Contact Us section. They help establish your business details on Google.

Google can understand basic information about your company very well, but the Organization / Local Business Schema is the final proof that the algorithms work as expected.

SEO is a valuable tool

The next stage of entity-building around your site is the Organization / Local Business markup.

Google will reward you with a Knowledge Graph if you provide all details about your brand or company.

Local businesses can also benefit from the Local Business markup. This will increase your chances of being featured in the Knowledge Graph for someone searching for your store, restaurant, or other business.

Properly applied Organization/Local Business markup can greatly improve your E-A-T efforts.

Although the Organization markup example above is more complex than what we have seen before, it still has a simple structure.

The most important element here is the same property. This property allows you to list all sources that mention your company. You should link to Wikipedia, Crunchbase, and official company listings. This will be a third-party confirmation of your business details and greatly increase your credibility with Google.

The Local Business markup is exactly the same. You will only need to modify the @type property. Here you can also indicate the niche of your business (restaurant, bakery, dentist, nail salon, etc.).

These properties can be added to a restaurant you own, for example.

• Review rating. Your business’s rating.
• The geolocation of your company.
• Your restaurant’s cuisine.
• The price range for the business, such as $$$.
• Opening hours specification. Your restaurant’s opening hours.
• This link will take you to the menu of your restaurant.
• Accepts reservations. This indicates whether reservations are accepted at your restaurant.

How can you create the Organization / Local Business Schemas?

I recommend Merkle Schema Generator because it offers both types of Schemas. However, if you are a local business, you can jump to the Google Structured Data Markup Helper. You can also use my JSON-LD sample to replace the red values.

 

3. Product markup

The Product Markup is an extension to your product pages and improves the appearance of items in search results.

This Schema is essential if you have an ecommerce website. It can help you to stand out in SERPs by highlighting your products.

SEO is a valuable tool

Google will award you a detailed search result snippet if you have applied a Product Schema to one of your product pages.

Fig: 9 Most Popular Types of Semantic Markups: Product markup

This snippet contains more information than an ordinary blue link. Users can also easily access the basic information about the product (ratings, prices, availability) without having to leave the SERP.

You can also get the Product badge in Google Images by completing the Product Schema. This will help you stand out and encourage more people to click on your image.

You can create your product markup using Google Structured Data Markup Helper or Merkle Schema Markup Generator. Editing the code sample, I have provided is easier than you think.

 

4. Breadcrumbs markup

Breadcrumbs make navigating your site easier and show users the page’s position in the hierarchy. This experience is transferred to Google’s search snippet via Breadcrumbs.

SEO is a valuable tool

Google can now easily recognize the hierarchy of pages on your site and display breadcrumbs by breaking down the URL. These breadcrumbs are often not user-friendly because they lack the Breadcrumb Markup.

Proper Breadcrumbs markup improves the appearance and results in more clicks to your website.

Breadcrumbs can also increase the internal linking structure of your website. This is a great way for you to spread the link juice on your site and improve rankings.

Google suggests that you approach your Breadcrumbs markup by keeping a typical user path to each page in mind. This means you don’t need to copy the URL structure in your Breadcrumbs markup, as many elements have little or no meaning for users.

To create your own Breadcrumb Markup, visit Merkle Schema Generator. You can also use the code example I have provided.

 

5. Article markup

The Article Schema can be used to add to articles or blog posts.

It allows Google to pull information about your content, such as headlines, author information, publication date, and so on. Hence the leading web development company in Mumbai states Article markup as the most essential markup amongst 9 types of semantic markups.

These are the most popular types of Article markup:

• Article.
• A news article that reports on current events.
• Blog posting. A blog post.
• Report.
• A scholarly article.
• TechArticle. A technical article could include how-to topics, step-by-step procedures, specifications, and so on.

While the most common use of the first three options is the most popular, Google suggests you choose the most applicable type. If your article is news-related, choose NewsArticle. Blog posting is the best option for blog posts.

SEO is a valuable tool

Google’s Article markup allows it to better understand your content. It also gives it additional information about the headline text, image, and publication date that should be displayed in search results.

The Article markup can increase your chances of being featured in the Top Stories Carousel if your site has strong HTML-A-T signals and your page experience is good.

This carousel can be found at the top of a SERP and is a great place to get tons of traffic.

If you wish to improve your website’s EA-T, you can add a few properties to this type of markup.

The Citation property is the first thing that you need to do. This allows you to list trustworthy sources which are included in your article.

The reviewed property is the second, and it is particularly useful for YMYL sites. If your article is focused on financial, legal, or medical topics and has been reviewed by experts, mention this on the page and in the Article markup.

Finally…

Merkle Schema Generator is a good choice for generating an article markup. It allows you to choose the type of article you want. You can also use Google Structured Data Markup Helper to mark general articles.

 

6. HowTo Markup

The HowTo is a markup you can use to create how-to pages for your website. This markup can be used to create a page that explains how to reach a specific goal through a step-by-step process. You could say, “How to replace a tire” or “How to change a bulb.”

You can add images and videos to your text with the HowTo markup.

SEO is a valuable tool

If you correctly mark your how-to pages, Google will award you a rich snippet. This describes your steps.

 

 

 

The How-to rich Snippets offer a clear advantage over standard search results and can be a significant traffic booster for your website.

 

7. FAQPage markup

The FAQPage markup can be used to create pages that include a list of frequently asked questions and short, comprehensive answers.​​

 

 

SEO is a valuable tool

The FAQPage Schema combines the FAQ pages’ questions and answers into a rich snippet for search results.

Users can get answers quickly without leaving Google.

What’s the point of using this markup if it will likely reduce your traffic?

Rich snippets that include FAQs have higher CTRs. This case study shows that a website experienced a 50% increase in clicks when using FAQ search snippets.

If you answer users’ questions accurately, your answer may be ranked very high in a SERP.

This search snippet is not only the first, but it also makes use of a lot more SERP real estate, which makes it stand apart from other search results.

Google picks up FAQPage Schema much faster than other types of markups. A few SEOs reported that they were able to obtain an FAQ-rich snippet within 30 minutes of applying the markup.

Although the FAQPage markup has many benefits, only 1% of online businesses actually use it. It is a simple way to get a competitive edge.

 

8. Recipe markup

If you have a cooking blog, the Recipe markup is something you should be interested in. This markup allows you to add structured data to recipes and to better communicate your cooking process to Google.

SEO is a valuable tool

Recipes that have proper markup may be displayed at the top of a SERP in our Recipes carousel.

This has the obvious advantage that users will click on the featured Snippet more often than scrolling down the search results pages.

Google Images also offers the Recipe badge for recipes that have markup applied.

Recipe markup example:

<script type=”application/ld+json”>

{

“@context”: “https://schema.org/”,

“@type”: “Recipe”,

“name”: “Party Coffee Cake”,

“image”: [

“https://example.com/photos/1×1/photo.jpg”,

“https://example.com/photos/4×3/photo.jpg”,

“https://example.com/photos/16×9/photo.jpg”

],

“author”: {

“@type”: “Person”,

“name”: “Mary Stone”

},

“datePublished”: “2018-03-10”,

“description”: “This coffee cake is awesome and perfect for parties.”,

“prepTime”: “PT20M”,

“cookTime”: “PT30M”,

“totalTime”: “PT50M”,

“keywords”: “cake for a party, coffee”,

“recipeYield”: “10”,

“recipeCategory”: “Dessert”,

“recipeCuisine”: “American”,

“nutrition”: {

“@type”: “NutritionInformation”,

“calories”: “270 calories”

},

“recipeIngredient”: [

“2 cups of flour”,

“3/4 cup white sugar”,

“2 teaspoons baking powder”,

“1/2 teaspoon salt”,

“1/2 cup butter”,

“2 eggs”,

“3/4 cup milk”

],

“recipeInstructions”: [

{

“@type”: “HowToStep”,

“name”: “Bake a cake”,

“text”: “Bake a cake following the recipe”,

“url”: “https://example.com/party-coffee-cake#step1”,

“image”: “https://example.com/photos/party-coffee-cake/step1.jpg”

},

{

“@type”: “HowToStep”,

“name”: “Enjoy”,

“text”: “Allow to cool and enjoy.”,

“url”: “https://example.com/party-coffee-cake#step2”,

“image”: “https://example.com/photos/party-coffee-cake/step1.jpg”

}

],

“aggregateRating”: {

“@type”: “AggregateRating”,

“ratingValue”: “5”,

“ratingCount”: “18”

}

 

}

</script>

You may notice the recipe markup resembles the HowTo markup if you pay closer attention.

Most properties are clear from the names. RecipeYield is the only property that requires clarification. This refers to the amount of the recipe that is produced (e.g., how many people were served, how many servings, etc.).

As with the HowTo markup, I recommend using Merkle Schema Markup Generator. Writing the entire code manually can be daunting when there are many steps to a recipe.

 

9. VideoObject markup

The VideoObject Schema has been added to your videos.

This schema gives basic information about your videos that Google can access. You can specify video description, length, thumbnail URL, upload date, and more.

SEO is a valuable tool

Videos that have properly applied markup may be included in the Videos block at the top of SERP.

Schema can also be used to markup your videos in other places. Google says that marked-up videos may also be displayed in video search results, Google Images, and Google Discover. This is a great way for your content to reach more people.

VideoObject markup example: I will show you another scaled-down version and use the VideoObject type.

<script type=”application/ld+json”>

{

“@context”: “https://schema.org/”,

“@type”: “VideoObject”,

“name”: “Cute puppy playing”,

“duration”: “P10M”,

“uploadDate”: “2021-07-19”,

“thumbnailUrl”: “http://www.example.com/puppy.jpg”,

“description”: “Watch this cute puppy playing with the ball”,

“contentUrl”: “http://www.example.com/puppy_video.mp4”,

“hasPart”: [{

“@type”: “Clip”,

“name”: “Puppy barks”,

“startOffset”: 30,

“endOffset”: 45,

“url”: “http://www.example.com/example?t=30”

},

{

“@type”: “Clip”,

“name”: “Puppy plays with the ball”,

“startOffset”: 111,

“endOffset”: 150,

“url”: “http://www.example.com/example?t=111”

}]

}

</script>

The hasPart property is the most important in this code sample. You will need to highlight the most important parts and indicate the start and end times (and offset) of each. You will find the Key Moments panel underneath your video in search results.

The hasPart property is the most important in this code sample. You will need to highlight the most important parts and indicate the start and end times (and offset) of each. You will find the Key Moments panel underneath your video in search results.

Video object schema is very intuitive. You can use my sample to replace the values. Or you can use Merkle Schema Markup Generator.

These are the nine Schemas that have the highest SEO value. You can find more Schemas that are SEO-friendly by visiting Google Search Gallery.

 

10. Other Schema Markups

Other Schema markups are available for different websites. Schema software markup allows app-rich snippets, and the Site Navigation schema markup provides users and search engines with a clear site structure. This can have an impact on organic site links.

Some schema markups highlight features of other schemas like the Rating Schema. It is used to evaluate a business on a numerical scale.

To ensure that your schema markup is correct before you apply it, remember to use the Google Structured Data Testing tool. You will be considered Spammy structure markup if you don’t follow Google’s guidelines. This will impact your website’s search results.

The most popular Schema types

• Entity WebPage Schema
• Blog Schema Entity
• Organization Schema Entity
• Person Schema Entity
• BlogPosting Schema Entity
• Product Schema Entity
• Schema Entity Offer
• Article Schema Entity
• SearchAction Schema Entity
• CreativeWork Schema Entity
• AggregateRating Schema Entity
• Local Business Schema Entity
• WebSite Schema Entity
• Review Schema Entity
• Thing Schema Entity
• Rating Schema Entity
• Brand Schema Entity
• Place Schema Entity
• Event Schema Entity
• NewsArticle Schema Entity
• Recipe Schema Entity
• Movie Schema Entity
• MobileApplication Schema Entity
• Sport Schema Entity
• Game Schema Entity
• SportsEvent Schema Entity
• AlbumRelease Schema Entity
• Url Schema Entity
• Address Schema Entity
• SportsTeam Schema Entity
• VideoGame Schema Entity
• Periodical Schema Entity
• Action Schema Entity
• SportsOrganization Schema Entity
• MusicComposition Schema Entity
• Entity with Series Schema
• BookSeries Schema Entity
• Currency Schema Entity
• MusicRelease Schema Entity
• MovieSeries Schema Entity
• VideoGameSeries Schema Entity
• ActionStatusType Schema Entity
• RoleName Schema Entity
• Coach Schema Entity
• Entity ControlAction Schema Entity
• DatedMoneySpecification Schema Entity
• Amount Schema Entity
• FailedActionStatus Schema Entity
• Athlete Schema Entity
• HomeTeam Schema Entity
• AwayTeam Schema Entity
• IneligibleRegion Schema Entity
• Entity of the RsvpResponse Schema

Now let’s see what is JSON-LD, Microdata, RDFa.

What are RDFa, JSON-LD, and Microdata?

These languages can all be added to HTML to embed metadata on a website document (schema).

RDFa is short for Resource Descriptive Framework In Attributes. It’s a type of code that can be added to any HTML, XHTML, or XML-based document.

RDFa — Resource Descriptive Framework in Attributes

RDFa’s attributes are:

• About— To specify the resource that metadata is about
• rel, rev — To specify a relationship or reverse relationship with another resource
• src href and resource are available to indicate a partner resource
• content — To override the element’s content when using the property attribute
• datatype — To specify the datatype for text to be used with the property attribute
• type of — To specify the RDF type for the subject or partner resource

Microdata

Microdata implementation resembles RDFa. It includes the following attributes:

• itemscope — To create an item and indicate that other elements contain information about it
• itemtype — to describe the item and properties with a valid URL of a vocabulary (for example, “https://schema.org”)
• itemprop — To indicate that the containing tags have the value for a specific item property (ex. itemprop=”name”)
• itemid — to identify a unique item identifier
• itemref — To refer to properties of elements that are not included in the itemscope. This allows you to see a list of element ids that have more properties than the itemscope.

Javascript Object Notation For Linked Objects — JSON -LD

JSON-LD Javascript Object Notation For Linked Objects stands for Javascript Object Notation. This annotation style allows you to implement schema by simply pasting directly into the Or Tag of a web page. To specify the vocabulary (schema.org), the notation uses “@context” and “@type” attributes. It can be used in the JSON-LD tag as the most straightforward way to implement schema.

Examples:

The following is a simple example of how the “Book” markup type would appear on a website with microdata:

Without markup:

<div>

<h3>Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets</h3>

<table summary=”Bibliographic Details”>

<tr>

<th>Main Author: </th>

<td>Rowling, JK</td>

</tr>

</table>

</div>

<table summary=”Holdings details”>

With Microdata markup:

<div itemscope itemtype=”http://schema.org/Book”>

<h3 itemprop=”name”>Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets</h3>

<table summary=”Bibliographic Details”>

<tr>

<th>Main Author: </th>

<td itemprop=”author”>Rowling, JK</td>

</tr>

</table>

</div>

<table summary=”Holdings details”>

And here is the same example in JSON-LD:

<script type=”application/ld+json”>

{“@context”:”http://schema.org/”,

“@type”: “Book”,

“name”: “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”,

“author”: “Rowling, JK”,

“offers”:{“itemOffered”: “#record”}}

</script>

 

Conclusion

These were just a few of the different types of semantic markup you can leverage on your site to make it better for both Google and other users looking for information on it. Semantic markup is not a difficult process; if you use it, it may even help your SEO strategy. if you want to read more about such topics, check out our latest blog on H1 Tag SEO: Optimizing Your Header for Better Search Engine Ranking.