Testing Structured Data: Does FAQ Schema Increase CTR?

If you’ve been implementing structured information utilizing our schema builder tool, you’ve joined a assemblage of thousands of users who person captured greater hunt visibility with ease.

Schema Builder provides users with the quality to easy physique validated JSON-LD structured information markup for immoderate webpage, based connected schema.org specification.

It comes arsenic nary surprise, however, that an awesome solution comes with immoderate questions astir the challenges clients are facing. One absorbing usage lawsuit came to america precocious wherever a lawsuit asked, 

How agelong does it instrumentality for FAQ schema to amended visibility successful the SERP and subsequently amended CTR for a circumstantial page?”

Importance of Schema Markup

We’ve covered however structured information tin assistance your site’s hunt visibility before, but arsenic a refresher, schema (otherwise known arsenic structured data) is simply a acceptable of tags that you see wrong your leafage codification to supply the idiosyncratic with much accusation astir its content. 

This helps with a mates of things: 

1. Gives the idiosyncratic a amended knowing your page’s content
2. Enhances your hunt listing successful hunt results

Some of the astir commonly seen examples of structured information successful the SERPs (search motor results page) are: 

• Contact accusation successful the Knowledge Panel
• Links to a company's societal profiles wrong the Knowledge Graph
• Local concern information, important for section SEO strategies
• Product and reappraisal information

As 1 mightiness beryllium capable to determine, structured information provides discourse close wrong the SERP, making it easier for a idiosyncratic to determine wherever to click.

Recommended Reading: Schema SEO: A Guide to Incorporating Schema Markup to Boost Your SEO

Our FAQ Schema Tests: Improving Keyword Visibility and CTR

Test #1: Optimizing Content and Applying Schema

For our archetypal test, we decided to amusement the worth of FAQ Schema was by taking an already ranking word and adding FAQ schema to its associated blog post.

For the purposes of this test, we chose the word best seo platform(s) which, astatine the commencement of the trial was ranking 5 and did not look supra the fold. 

(Our effect for “best SEO platform” connected September 14, 2020. We were successful presumption 5 successful the SERP.) 

The people leafage for this word is our blog astir the best SEO platforms. This page, portion ranking successful the apical 10 for its people term, needed immoderate betterment to look astatine the apical of the SERP.

Additionally, we wanted to spot if we could besides improve the CTR for this blog post. 

We utilized the pursuing methodology to find the champion mode to trial the FAQ schema implementation. 

Methodology

First, we utilized Search Analytics successful the seoClarity level to rapidly look up question words utilizing a elemental RegEx signifier circumstantial to the station successful our test. Question words similar how, why, and what arsenic good arsenic words with informational intent similar see and find were included successful this pattern. 

This helped america spot what was receiving impressions and what users were searching for successful uncovering this blog post. The phrases and presumption with the highest impressions year-to-date (January 1 to present) were included successful our FAQ schema test. 

From there, we besides included immoderate questions that appeared successful the People Also Ask diagnostic wrong Content Fusion.

The phrases present matched the precocious content phrases from Search Analytics and we noticed a fewer different questions that we did not observe successful our archetypal research. 

We narrowed our often asked questions for trial down to the following: 

• What are SEO platforms? [IN TEXT arsenic “What is an SEO platform?”]
• What is the quality betwixt a level and a tool?  [IN TEXT]
• What should beryllium included successful each SEO platform?  [IN TEXT]
• How to take SEO bundle [NOT IN TEXT]
• What is the champion SEO software? [NOT IN TEXT]

For the phrases supra that were listed arsenic “not successful text”, we looked again to Content Fusion to adhd sections to our contented to guarantee that each of the suggested presumption and phrases were utilized wrong the content.

Once everything was ensured to beryllium optimized for the people word without structured information markup, we turned to the schema builder instrumentality to instrumentality our FAQ schema. 

Notice however nary circumstantial FAQ leafage is required for this. You tin instrumentality the schema connected immoderate page.

The Test

Using the our Chrome plugin, we manually added each question and reply to Schema Builder.  Users of the instrumentality tin besides adhd schema by pointing and clicking connected applicable elements connected the page.

For the intent of this test, we chose to bash this portion manually to recreate the client's experience.

Once completed, we saved the markup and added the snippet of codification to our site. 

Results: Improved Visibility SERP Visibility and Top Ranking Position

Following our 2-week test, we noticed a higher ranking successful the SERP for the word “best SEO platform”.

While our archetypal trial was conducted implicit 14 days, we did not announcement the higher ranking until 2 days aft the trial concluded, wherever the fertile accrued from 5 to 2 successful the SERP by October 1. 

(Our fertile for “best SEO platform” aft the FAQ schema was implemented to the people page.)

We besides noticed different pages ranking successful the SERP that were not successful the apical of the SERP erstwhile we initiated our test. This is apt owed to different sites moving to vie for this word done their ain optimization techniques. 

Additionally, we saw an summation successful CTR for the word "best SEO platform" from 1.02% to 2.22% successful the 2 weeks wherever we conducted the test.

Recommended Reading: How to Find Your True CTR successful SEO (And What to Do With It) 

We were not capable to render an Google affluent effect for this term, however. This is due to the fact that we did not archetypal guarantee that "best SEO platform" was a word wherever an FAQ affluent snippet would appear. So, unfortunately, we person to behaviour different test.
 

Test #2: Testing Additional Questions to Improve CTR

Due to the mistake successful the archetypal test, we had to commencement implicit to effort for an FAQ featured snippet for a antithetic word and a antithetic portion of content.

Methodology

To find wherever to commencement connected our ain site, we went into Rank Intelligence and filtered by the Ranking URL arsenic good arsenic wherever the Ranking URL Features FAQ. 

From there, we identified the pages that were showing that FAQ driblet down for our managed presumption successful the past month. Remember, these don't ever person to beryllium a dedicated FAQ page.

Now that we narrowed the scope a bit, our adjacent measurement was to stitchery each the keywords that matched our selected ranking URL and enactment them successful a tag successful our level to way their show implicit the investigating period. 

We besides looked astatine each of the People Also Ask questions for those keywords to spot the apical question asked that could trigger an FAQ featured snippet successful the SERP. 

Wanting to guarantee the content's quality, we archetypal performed the aforesaid archetypal measurement arsenic our archetypal FAQ trial to optimize the chosen contented portion for the people word earlier applying the FAQ schema.

This progressive updating the H1 tags to marque definite our question was close wrong the text. 

The Test

Again utilizing the elemental Chrome plugin, we added the apical question that appeared the astir successful our probe of top-impression presumption into our schema builder.

From there, we simply checked successful Google's Rich Results Test to spot if our markup was close earlier adding the snippet of generated codification to our site.

Once completed, we saved the markup and added the snippet of codification to our site. 

Results: Improved CTR Thanks to Greater SERP Real Estate

When FAQ schema was correctly applied, the further existent property connected the SERP led to a higher click-through-rate. The leafage we tested was already receiving traffic, but the overall postulation improved by astir 25% from the erstwhile period erstwhile the schema was applied. 

(Site Analytics information for some trial results erstwhile the tested leafage erstwhile FAQ schema markup was applied.) 

The bluish enactment represents the postulation pursuing our 2nd test. There was a noticeable highest and drop, but we judge this is owed to the contented optimization efforts that occurred successful the archetypal test. 

Looking astatine the information astatine the extremity of our trial period, the contented we tested saw a 350% summation successful postulation implicit the erstwhile period.

What We Learned From Testing FAQ Schema

While our archetypal trial contained an mistake successful implementing FAQ schema, we were capable to find the value of optimizing our contented to amended align with idiosyncratic hunt demand.

By utilizing Search Analytics and applying a RegEx signifier with apical question hunt terms, we were capable to spot the champion questions to target. We spent excessively overmuch effort optimizing the content, but we did announcement results from that portion of our process. 

When we correctly applied the schema markup and optimized our contented for the presumption that were driving impressions, we saw an summation successful wide postulation than with conscionable doing 1 oregon the other. 

Going backmost to our archetypal question of however agelong it takes for FAQ schema to amended CTR, we experienced an betterment erstwhile the featured snippet appeared successful the SERP and the effect took up greater existent estate.

While we can't find precisely however agelong this takes, our trial lasted 2 weeks and the information we've shared is based connected a that clip frame.

Applying FAQ schema markup and optimizing your contented to beryllium applicable to your assemblage is simply a elemental and effectual mode to marque your SERP effect basal retired among your competition.