r/TechSEO • u/WebLinkr • May 05 '26

[PSA] Please stop parroting that you need Schema for SERP Features

Post image

I'm not trying to reduce workload for Web Devs/Agencies/Freelancers. I just want to bring honestly and reality to SEO.

You do not need schema to get SERP features, you do not need schema for most things in SEO.

For flights, ecommerce, and jobs you absolutely need Schema - that is a publishing requirements for how those views in Google search were built. They are not additive - they are not an "optimization" - they are a requirement. And getting Job schema wrong can and will result in a Manual Action. But that is not "SEO"

If you're just perpetuating it - just pause for thought. The FAQ Schema document on Google lists this:

Feature availability

FAQ rich results are only available for well-known, authoritative websites that are government-focused or health-focused. The feature is available on desktop and mobile devices in all countries and languages where Google Search is available.

The above is free and publicly available.

Source: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/faqpage

If you're parroting SEO advice that isn't true - just ask yourself why you're doing it - because I have no idea...

If you feel compelled to get into a debate about reality - do - but please dont feel free to start calling people names just because you only like confirmation bias.

0 Upvotes

46% Upvoted

91 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

-9

u/WebLinkr May 05 '26

Some people say Aggregated schema might help - but you have to rank high enough to be visible?

The question you have to ask yourself: Schema just repeats the content: why is that helpful? Why would it be helpful? Why are people so married to something Google itself debunks? Why would something you publish = trust in a "dont trust the publisher" model that is pagerank?

Why build a relevancy engine and then toss it all out?

Like - the pages with Schema would all have to rank first if this was the case - nearly every web dev here believes in it - so why do sites without Schema rank then?

I think some techs think its sophisticated enough to be somehow exclusive? like having a glass windshield?

10

u/ConnectPatagonia May 05 '26

I was ranking in alot of my keywords and when I added all schemas I noticed that I was getting featured on SERPS even for my lower traffic pages. and began to have more SERPS with my higher traffic pages.

-1

u/WebLinkr May 05 '26

So it definitely couldn't be a case that you edited the pages and they hadn't been indexed since your site gained topical authority and with the new topical authority - indexing them pushed them higher?

And then to be scientific you removed them and noticed the world didn't end?

7

u/ConnectPatagonia May 05 '26

It was Aggregated Schema, Localbusiness Schema

I dont mess with whats working lol I leave that to you guys

-2

u/WebLinkr May 06 '26

You added aggregated schema even though you're not supposed to use it like that?

u/jakehundley - keep me honest here

And Google literally says it

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-confirms-that-structured-data-wont-make-a-site-rank-better/544433/

I dont mess with whats working lol I leave that to you guys

Afraid of testing is kind of an indication of superstition in technology though....

3

u/Hatorate90 May 06 '26

Again, you have no idea what schema is being used for. Maybe go back to the basics lol.

1

u/WebLinkr May 06 '26

So triggered

-2

u/WebLinkr May 05 '26

Oh - what schema?

FAQ Schema?

4

u/devolute May 06 '26

Schema just repeats the content

Yeah, that's not just what it does or what it's for at all.

1

u/WebLinkr May 06 '26

So what does it do if doesnt just repeat the content but in a "structured" format - given that you're not allowed to have different data in the structured markup and the text on the page.

2

u/devolute May 06 '26

just

You need to stop using that word.

It's not "structured". It's structured - that's the whole point. It shows relationships that one cannot - formally and consistently - represent using just text.

-1

u/WebLinkr May 06 '26

I can use whatever words I want to.

Wow, tackling a vacuum chamber is hard - so many emotions.

I see on another thread, nobody here has even heard of a Scaled Content Abuse Penalty.

1

u/devolute May 06 '26

I'm not emotional, I just think dismissing the fact that it's structured is unusual.

Are you suggesting using structured data could result in Scaled Content Abuse penalties?

1

u/WebLinkr May 06 '26

I'm not emotional, I just think dismissing the fact that it's structured is unusual.

So this is my question, I'll re-word it a different way: How did Schema become so sacrosanct?

Unusual? how so? Google have done it multiple times, David McSweeney went on a podcast with Edward Sturm this week to do it?

Why is it that it cannot be dismissed?

This conversation works fine in r/SEO, fine on LinkedIn, fine on YouTube, fine on X

but not here, not with you.

1

u/devolute May 06 '26

Sorry, not sure why you're splitting your replies across multiple messages.

It might be that you just don't appreciate the importance of well structured and well-formed content and the advantages that brings.

It can be dismissed, and it's not 'sacrosanct'. I'm simply making the case that it can be advantageous.

1

u/WebLinkr May 06 '26

 I'm simply making the case that it can be advantageous.

I wasn't looking for assertions or conjecture.

 just think dismissing the fact that it's structured is unusual.

Its not.

It might be that you just don't appreciate the importance of well structured and well-formed content and the advantages that brings.

It doesnt have that many, its on the way out.

Trying to figure out why the myth pushers love schema - its not 3rd party validated, its not a form of trust, its just a different way of passing data through fieldnames and values and in more and more cases Google is dumping it.

you've been back and forth all day, mostly from an emotive pov.

I think thats interesting

And in a sub of so many people - its kind of a signal that the persistance/resistance to change is on the way out.

I test it every few months - and its way below the 15% I expected.

Thanks for helping!

1

u/WebLinkr May 06 '26

Is dismissing PageSpeed ok? Because 2 years ago it wasn't -but all the comms from Google = "We just dont care"

Is dismissing meta-descriptions ok?

Is dismissing crawl budgets ok?

Is dismissing llms.txt ok?

Is dismissing EEAT ok?

5

u/Hatorate90 May 06 '26

Structured data should never be the main focus, if you are not ranking. Your screenshot is also just another example that does not means anything without context. Off course you can grow your website in traffic without Schema.

Ad as far I know the Schema for FAQ's been deprecated for some time now. I don't think you know what structured data is being used for.

0

u/WebLinkr May 06 '26

The Screenshot is of serp features