What Is Schema Markup?
Schema Markup for contractors refers to structured data that follows a specific microdata vocabulary known as schema.org. This vocabulary was developed as a joint venture between Google, Yahoo, and Bing to help search engines better understand and market website content.
How Does Schema Markup Help Contractors?
Including schema markup on your contractor’s website provides various benefits. Check out some of the primary advantages of schema markup below:
- Conversion Rate Optimization: Increase your conversion percentage by appealing to more users, specifically relevant ones with buyer intent
- Search Optimization: Increase click-through rate and decrease bounce rate, a combination that enhances SEO
- SERP Presentation: Present a more appealing listing on Google search results pages
- Traffic Relevance: Attract relevant users, which decreases bounce rate and increases CRO
How to Implement Schema.org
Google offers a Structured Data Markup Helper to keep websites on an even playing field. It would be a shame if companies with the most marketing resources, capital, etc., could buy their way into more appealing search results.
This would threaten the legitimacy of search engines, as organic results would more closely resemble pay-per-click. Contractor Webmasters also helps fight against that by offering structured data markup services for optimal SERP enhancement.
There are several types of content categories that can be marked up with schema.org. As a contractor, you will not be interested in many of them, and your website will have no use for them. Things like Movies, TV Episodes, and Book Reviews apply to opinion editorial-driven sites.
Instead, your focus will be on the products/services category. Here you can break down your individual services (i.e., residential, commercial, repair, restoration, etc.) and reach niche markets.
Does Schema Markup Affect Search Rankings?
Schema markup is not considered a direct ranking factor, but it can impact bounce rate, CTR, and SERP enhancements, ultimately influencing rankings. Some of the ways schema.org contributes to SEO include:
- Bounce Rate Decrease: More detailed search results mean fewer users will visit your site out of curiosity and, therefore, exit immediately — bounce rate is known to influence search rankings.
- CTR Increase: Results that display rich snippets are known to increase click-through rate, a metric that directly influences search rankings
- Rich Snippets: The enhancement of your result with the aforementioned rich snippets (additional info that accompanies your search result) markets your website more effectively
Though rich snippets have technically been around since 2009, there is still an excellent opportunity to acquire them for high-volume keywords, particularly in the contractor industry. If you can create a more appealing search result with rich snippets, you can start your marketing and conversion process before a user ever enters your website.
