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How to Use the New 'How To Schema'

How to Use the New ‘How To Schema’

Google recently demonstrated some new ways sites can have their content highlighted in search results as a “featured snippet.”

A featured snippet is a block of content taken from a web page and displayed at the top of a list of search results, alongside a link to that page. Its placement is sometimes called “position zero” because it supersedes the page that is otherwise ranked first. How-To schemas, therefore, represent an opportunity to one-up your competition, and should be targeted on your site where practical.

One of the new types of featured snippets is a how-to. This means that content Google recognizes as a procedure may be highlighted for queries pertaining to it.

Create how-to content particular to your expertise, rather than more common content such as “how to choose a lawyer.” You might explain wow to file for a patent, how to litigate probate, or the chapter 11 bankruptcy process.

The more closely your content matches a given Google query, the more likely it is to become a featured snippet for that query. Try to imagine the way a layman interested in hiring a lawyer might phrase the query. Then tailor the content to directly answer that query and title it using that same phrase.

Creating content that Google can recognize as a how-to requires adding certain code to your pages’ HTML. If you are used to working with your site’s code, you can learn about creating a how-to at: https://schema.org/HowTo. Otherwise, talk to your SEO expert about creating content aimed at the various types of featured snippets and capture that coveted “position zero.”