Google’s FAQ Schema must be selective

Google advises using FAQ schema to work on only some questions. The topic was up for decision on January 14. It was during the Google Search Central SEO hangout.

John Mueller explains the impact of FAQ schema markup on web pages. The question was whether to mark all FAQs or the most important ones.

Google does follow firm guidelines. Mueller advises to mark some but not every question. One must use the FAQ schema on questions visible on the website. The question and answer should add value to the website.

It is also applicable even to structured data. The guidelines don’t show a clear picture. He cites an example of “how-to markup”. This depends on how-to instruction on a page.

Review markup must be put to use on reviews for the page. It is necessary for visible customers. Structure data requires visibility on the page. But, again, not all data need markup. One has to choose between the content. You must put important information visible.

Even if there are individual pieces, it is always a good idea to divide the content. Make a decision for structure data. Choose the right content for your page. Not all pieces of content require visibility on a webpage.

Mueller goes on to explain that “if you have 20 FAQs and you mark up five of them, that’s totally up to you. You can even use the data-nosnippet to kind of completely block some of these other items from appearing in a snippet if that’s something that you’d like to do.”

He also explains the mechanism behind data snippets. It is an HTML attribute. Data snippets function on specific pieces of content. It prevents it from appearing in search results. Content in search snippets can configure meta tags. They are particularly robot meta tags. You can use it if you don’t want Google to give more content. Therefore, one should always selectively mark Q&As.