What Is Schema Mark Up & Why Should I Use It?
The luxury brands that master their search engine optimization (SEO) will come out on top of search engine results pages (SERP) — quite literally. As you’ll likely know, attaining that top spot is critical to driving brand awareness and orders.
SEO best practice encompasses various aspects of a website, from leveraging your content strategy for search intent and keyword optimization to maximizing page speed and accessibility to mobile SEO optimization and local SEO techniques.
One other critical component of SEO that luxury brands need to focus on is schema markup. If you’re not familiar with schema markup, don’t worry. Here, we deep dive into what it is, how it helps your website’s SEO, and how you can implement it.
What Is Schema Markup?
Schema markup, also known as structured data, is code added to your website that helps search engine crawlers better understand your content.
It essentially adds markers into your website that are specifically designed for the search engine crawlers that say to crawlers “You’re looking at [X] right now”. You can think of structured data as a translator that provides explicit information about what each element on a web page represents, such as products, reviews, or events.
Does Schema Markup Help SEO?
Schema markup is beneficial for a website’s SEO. Think of it this way: a search engine’s crawlers might work out what’s on your page themselves, but just in case they can’t, schema markups provide an extra layer of content to make sure they can.
With this extra information, the crawlers can enhance your website's visibility in search results. It also means that search engines can deliver more accurate and relevant results to users which can improve your site's ranking over time.
Schema markup can also help your content to appear in rich snippets, where it can pull in your images, reviews, and extra information directly into your search listings in SERPs, making your content stand out.
This can give your website a much needed competitive edge, particularly in the crowded luxury market. These enhanced listings can significantly improve your click-through rates, as users are more likely to engage with listings that provide more detailed information at a glance.
Types of Schema Markup Luxury Brands Should Implement
There are various types of schema markup that websites can implement. Here are some of the most effective schema types to consider for luxury brands:
PRODUCT SCHEMA
For luxury brands selling online, product schema might just be the most valuable schema markup. Product schema allows search engines to pull extra product information into Google Search, Google Images, and Google Lens, allowing potential customers to see your offerings before visiting your site. This can entice customers in and significantly increase your click-through rates.
Product schema info includes:
Product name
Product description
Product images
Price
Availability
Brand
Reviews
Shipping info
And even delivery info
Showcasing key details such as prices, availability, and product descriptions, makes it easier for customers to find exactly what they’re looking for, reducing the time taken to purchase and driving up conversion rates.
REVIEWS AND RATINGS SCHEMA
Reviews are crucial for building consumer trust, especially when it comes to big ticket and luxury items. More than 90% of luxury shoppers carry out in-depth research before they purchase a product and reviews are a key aspect of that research. They want to know what fellow customers thought of their purchase, as well as the rating given.
Displaying these reviews on search results can also be an easy win in increasing conversion rates. One report found that consumers are 270% more likely to purchase a product that has five reviews compared to the same product without reviews. It’s all about reducing buyer hesitation and making it as seamless as possible for the customer. For luxury brands, positive reviews and high ratings are even more critical, as they reinforce the brand's reputation for quality and exclusivity.
VIDEO SCHEMA
In the era of social media, video is taking over. Many consumers would prefer to watch a video that explains or reviews a product, as it allows them to see the product in action. Knowing this, many luxury brands use videos to showcase their products, from detailed unboxings to behind-the-scenes looks at craftsmanship.
Using video schema can help these videos appear in Google Search results, video search results, Google Images, and Google Discover, providing a dynamic and engaging way for customers to learn about your products. This ensures that your high-quality video content reaches a broader audience and stands out in the search results — even more so than images — increasing engagement and conversion rates.
Video schema markups display:
Video description
Thumbnail URL
Video duration
A LIVE badge (if you’re live streaming)
Key moments
Date of upload
ORGANIZATION OR LOCAL BUSINESS SCHEMA
Whether your luxury brand is solely e-commerce or has a store location, this schema markup is important to include. Online only brands can share:
Brand name
Brand logo
Contact number
Founder info
Awards received
For luxury brands with physical stores, organization or local business schema is invaluable. It helps shoppers find your store locations and provides extra information, like business hours and contact details.
You may not think that optimizing information about your store’s physical location is that important for consumers that are browsing online, but it’s possible they may be looking you up just to visit the store. Over 30% of luxury shoppers visit a luxury store at least once a month because they want the personalized service and tactile experience of high-end products that isn’t always attainable online. So, ensuring that your store information is easily accessible in search results is necessary to drive more foot traffic to your stores.
FAQ SCHEMA
Most users turn to Google to find answers to their questions. Not everyone wants to do a deep dive on a brand’s website to get answers, so if you can answer them in an even more convenient way for your customer, you’ll be far more likely to win their business.
FAQ schema transforms your frequently asked questions into rich results, appearing as dropdowns in Google Search or Google Assistant. This is particularly useful for addressing common brand or product-related questions.
While the above schema markups are particularly relevant for luxury brands, there are many other kinds out there that could be beneficial for your brand specifically. You can find out more about other kinds of schema markups here.
We Can Help With Your Schema Markup Strategy
Implementing schema markup in the right way is critical to ensuring that your products actually show up in the rich snippets described above. When they do, it can be beneficial to your brand’s SEO strategy and directly impact your conversion rates.
If you need a hand with your schema markup strategy, the experts at Block & Tam are here to help. We can develop a tailored schema markup strategy to help your luxury brand achieve higher visibility, better engagement, and greater success in the competitive online marketplace.
