How to add Schema Markup to WordPress without plugin (Structured Data, for Free!)

Best trick to Add structured data to wordpress!

You might have heard about schema markup or structured data, Schema.org, and JSON–LD. But what do these terms mean anyway? What is structured data? What does structured data do? Is structured data good for SEO? For all of you who care about your website’s SEO and don’t know what structured data is, this post will make it clear to you, how to use the FAQ Schema markup! Moreover, stick on to this post, as you will quickly discover an easy way, completely free, to add structured data to every WordPress site, at every new Post you write, without any cost or serious programming skills.

What is structured data, also called schema markup?

Structured data is code in a specific format (standardized)  — in this case Schema.org –, in such a way that search engines understand it. Search engines read the code and use it to display more info at search results in a specific and much richer way.

There are all kinds of structured data, like Recipe, Book, Product, FAQ and many more. Structured data is always a code format. You can learn a lot, like how to markup your FAQs with structured data and what is FAQ rich result, directly from Google, on their developer‘s guide to reaching more people through Google Search at the FAQpage  or get more info about Schema markup at the related FAQPage.

Unfortunately, Search Engines, like the forementioned Google, do not always create a rich snippet of your page, even if you’ve added the structured data. No one guarantees the time or even if Google will ever pick it up. The only thing you can do is add it to your page, and hope they see it!

What does structured data do?

Structured data are used to “talk” to the search engines. They are used to enrich the results shown to the user, including information in a way that  search engines understand. Normally, schema data give direct answers to questions related to the article shown (let’s say about a recipe for delicious Greek food), like: which ingredients there are in the recipe or how long the preparation time is or how many calories the dish will contain. Google will be able to grasp all that information instantly and can decide to show it in the search results. A rich snippet can give you a significant SEO boost and increase your rankings.

What is JSON-LD? Add Schema to WordPress without plugin!

JSON–LD is one of the markups of Schema.org. It’s just a way to write code. On Schema.org, you’ll also find other markups like Microdata or RDFa. For this post, I use JSON–LD to add structured data to wordpress, because it does not break your site as easily as other markups do. Moreover, it’s Google’s preferable format.

What is Schema.org? Add structured data to WordPress, today!

I bet you have a big question, what is anyway this Schema.org? Well, all big search engines developed a project called Schema.org. On Schema.org you can find all the structured data markup supported by the search engines. This makes Schema.org a large collection of pieces of code.

You can use Schema.org to find the markup you need for a particular page. For instance, if you sell Greek Traditional Food Products on your site, you could show what is the region of each Feta cheese barrel you sell, who is the producer for each one of your excellent Red Wines or what kind of Greek Honey you offer in a small snippet. You can investigate Schema.org/Product and find out the possibilities.

On Schema.org, you can copy code examples. After copying it, you’ll have to adapt the code to your specific preferences.

Why is structured data important for SEO?

Structured data is important for SEO because it makes it easier for Google to understand what your pages and your website are about. Google needs to find out what a page is about to show it in the search results. Using structured data is like talking to Google, telling Google what your site is about. That’ll help with your rankings.

On top of that, structured data will change the way your snippet (your search results) will look like. It’ll show more information to your customer. More specific information. And this will increase the likelihood a customer will click on your results. More clicks will eventually lead to even higher rankings!

In conclusion, Schema markup is totally necessary because it makes the job of the search engine even easier. You’re including extra detail and not changing your content in any way.

Step HERE for The quick, easy, free way to implement Structured Data for SEO [ FAQ data type ]

However, time is money and reading takes time, here you will learn easily and quickly a free way to improve your website’s ranking visibility, by using a JSON-LD structured question, with its respective answer, which, for SEO purposes, can fit at any blog post. For our example, the first thing to do is find the best question, which a user might ask, in order to provide the information you serve through your article. As you can assume, we will implement an FAQ schema without plugin!!!

A FAQ schema markup  can fit in every post, because every post serves an answer….

What is an FAQ? FAQ stands for frequently asked questions.

FAQ schema markup is JSON-LD code, which you place on your website. This tells search engines “this content is a question and an answer, that can’t be answered other way”. When the content is correctly marked up, it means your pages «can» be eligible for rich snippets in the search results and «may» appear in Google Assistant searches. Basically, you’re helping search engines analyze your content more easily. This is super important. If it’s easy for search engines to crawl your website, you’ll get an SEO advantage.

For example, my post starts like: How to add Structured Data without plugin in WordPress? The full answer is what you read, but in the FAQ schema markup I mention only a small excerpt.

Try to be descriptive, accurate with no way for users to submit alternative answers or in the answer give a few details and provide the link to satisfy the user’s main intention, thus providing the best UX you can.  If your page has a single question and users can submit alternative answers, use QA data type.

How do I add a schema markup to my WordPress website with JSON-LD code for SEO? Example shown

If you’re one of the millions of people who use WordPress for a website, then utilizing schema markup will be extremely easy for you. There are several dedicated plugins that you can use. But…It’s really simple to use my example, so if you use WordPress, I recommend using the following script, instead of adding extra plugin’s code.

So, At the end of your WP post, switch from “Visual” to “Text” tab of your classic Post Editor (or add an HTML block, for those who use Block Editor…) on WordPress and add the following code, which represents an example of the FAQ Schema markup:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How to add Structured Data to WordPress without plugin?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Learn easily and quickly a free way to improve your website’s SEO and ranking visibility, by using a JSON-LD structured data question, with its respective answer. A FAQ structured data type can fit in every post, because every post serves an answer. Add this Schema Markup code."
      }
    }
  ]
}
</script>

This method will work (especially for wordpress structured data) on any site, no matter where you host it or what kind of site it is.

Remember to replace the question & the answer with those of yours.

It’s really simple to use, so if you use WordPress, I recommend using this method.

Final thoughts…

You don’t really have to be a Developer, now you know how to add schema markup to wordpress without plugin! My tip is straightforward to use, and you can manually edit the markup yourself. From a SEO-point-of -view, without the use of a fancy plugin, your website will perform the same or even better. Every plugin adds many lines of coding text, which respectively increase the overall size in bytes and the site loading speed.

Any Questions about Structured Data for SEO or Schema Markup?

You can send me your questions about schema markup or any other message related to SEO, for a quick advice, through the contact page

Photo credit Photo by freepik

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