How to add how to schema to your WordPress website for free

Do you want to know about how to schema and its use cases? Are you looking for a tool that can handle all the technical aspects while adding how to schema markup to your WordPress website?

Adding structured data to posts or pages can automatically generate the extra how to information that Google features in the SERPs. The content generally contains a set of steps to complete a task and it could include text, images and video.

If you want more click through rates and organic traffic, using how to schema can help visibility in search results.

There is no guarantee that using schema will ensure a higher ranking or boost traffic. Schema works as an additional ingredient that helps in SEO metrics, that’s why we recommend you use it.

In this article, you’re going to learn how to add how to schema to your WordPress website for free.

We’re using our own Spectra page builder to do it. It comes with a dedicated schema block that automatically generates Google-compliant schema so you don’t need to add it manually.

Before we dive into the guide, let’s learn a little more about schema.

What is how to schema?

How to schema is structured data added to posts or pages that tells Google your content is ‘how to’ content.

Google likes this type of content as it breaks down complex tasks into sequential steps which help users understand what to do.

If your content is properly marked up and follows general structured data guidelines, Google may consider the content to be featured in rich results.

Here’s what how to schema looks like in search results.

It’s not guaranteed that Google always picks your content in SERPs. But if you use the schema, you stand a far higher chance of it happening.

Benefits of using how to schema

These are a number of benefits of using how to schema on your website:

• Help Google better understand your content
• Improve your chances of being featured in rich results
• Increase the organic click-through rate
• Enhance on-page SEO
• Helps prepare your site for AI and voice search

There are many more benefits to using schema, but those are what we think are the most important.

How to schema examples

Here are some real world examples of how to schema:

Astra

If you search for the ‘how to create a law website’ in Google, you’ll see an Astra post got featured in the SERPs. Google has picked the ‘how to’ part of this post and placed it on the first page of the search result.

If you open the post then you’ll see Astra uses the schema in the post.

There’s a heading called ‘How to create a law firm website with WordPress in 5 easy steps’.

Under this heading, there are 5 steps that break down the whole website creation process.

As you can see, Google has taken those steps from the post and used it in the search results.

Someone searching for how to build a law firm website can instantly see the post has what they are looking for and are far more likely to click.

That’s the power of how to schema.

Spectra

This is another great example of schema markup. Spectra used this SEO schema in their documentation and Google considered their post in the SERPs for the keyword ‘content timeline.’

You might notice that Google also picked tutorial images of this post in the search result.

Now you know what schema is and what it looks like, let’s show you how to add schema to your own posts and pages.

How to add how to schema to WordPress

We’ll use our Spectra plugin to add the schema as WordPress doesn’t have a dedicated block for it.

The schema block has the added benefit of formatting how to content in an attractive way while also including how to schema.

Let’s do it!

Open a post or page with the WordPress block editor where you would like to add your how to schema markup.

Press the ‘+’ icon from the left side top to open the blocks window. You’ll see all the Spectra blocks under the blocks section.

Select the How to block.

Once you’ve added the block, you’ll see a default design but you can customize it as you like.

Use the General block settings to change the heading tag and text alignment.

If you want to remove a particular option, you can use the right side setting.

Open an option and click the switch button to disable it.

Navigate to the Style > Heading area to customize the heading.

Now set the text color and add your preferred font for the heading.

You can also customize the subheading and description like the heading. The settings are similar so we won’t repeat the process.

If you go to the Style > Spacing area, you’ll see many options for managing the spacing.

It lets you manage the margin of time, cost and set row gap and the gap between steps with ease.

The block comes with three steps by default. You can add more according to your needs.

Click the ‘+’ icon to add a new step.

Now, you can add all of your steps.

Now time to add the required information under each step.

Use the General > Image setting to add and customize the step image.

You can manage the image side and define its position. The setting allows you to set the image position above the title, right of title and left of title.

We’ve also added the other steps, images and content to complete the post.

To customize the steps, you navigate to the Style section.

You can change the text color and typography of the title and description as you like.

Once you’re happy with the results, select the blue Publish button at the top right. This will make your page live.

As we mentioned before, Spectra automatically adds the how to schema so you don’t have to.

Once published, Google should pick up the schema when it crawls your site, increasing your chances of being featured in rich results!

How to validate your how to schema using Google Rich Results Test

Once you’ve created your how to schema, we recommend performing a Google Rich Results Test for validation.

Visit the Google Rich Results Test website.

Now insert the URL of your page or post and click the yellow Test URL button.

The system will take a couple of minutes to complete the test then you’ll see the results.

You see our post is successfully validated and one how to item is detected.

If your guide is really helpful for readers then Google may consider placing it in the rich results within SERPs.

Use cases for how to schema

Here are 4 relevant use cases of how to schema. But you can use your own creativity and try the schema on different content so it’s not restricted to what we showed.

1. Article

Articles are the most common place where people use how to schema. It helps readers to learn a topic very easily because it comes with a series of easy steps.

2. Restaurant

Many restaurants use this schema markup on their websites to share recipes in a how to format.

3. Software applications

You often see a use case of the schema on a software company website. In the above example, you notice Skype uses the schema to show you how to make a call.

4. Products

Astra is a digital product (WordPress theme) that uses the schema in its documentation with simple steps so users can learn how to use their product properly.

Wrapping up

Before Spectra, adding how to structured data to a WordPress website with the block editor was very complicated. You had to manually put schema code on your website, which took time and effort.

Thanks to Spectra for developing an amazing block that comes with full schema support and lets you add how to schema in minutes!

We also recommend using modern tools like Schema Pro that allow you to add schema markup to your WordPress website for different types.

Now it’s your turn to make your how to content stand out!

Do you like the Spectra block and will you use it in your future projects? Let us know in the comment below.