Google’s John Mueller answered a question about FAQ structured data, which significantly expands the type of content that FAQ structured data can be applied to, and now includes content that isn’t even in FAQ format.
Structured Data FAQ
FAQ(Frequently Asked Questions) is a content format consisting of answers with questions. It is designed to be a resource for questionable website visitors.
FAQ content can be in the format of an entire Q&A page, or it can be a small part of a page consisting of a Q&A format.
Publishers usually add FAQ section to the web page.
One of the benefits of using the FAQ format is that it can double or even triple the amount of space taken up by the search results list.
Not only does this make the search presence more visible, but it also removes a competitor or two from the first page of search results.
Finally, FAQ structured data can be used in web forum content for enhanced listings in Google.
John Mueller explains how to use FAQ structured data
Until Mueller answered this question, these two content scenarios were the only types known to work with FAQ structured data:
- FAQ Content Format
- Internet Forum
The question asked wanted to know if it was possible to use FAQ structured data outside of the traditional FAQ content format, where a section of the page is marked as FAQ and lists a series of questions and answers.
This is a good question because using this structured data outside of FAQs and forum setups FAQ Structured Data Guide.
Google’s guidelines specifically recommend this structured data for FAQ pages:
“Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages contain lists of questions and answers related to a particular topic. A properly labeled FAQ page may qualify for rich results in searches”
Can FAQ structured data be used outside of the FAQ content format?
Here is the question being asked:
“Is it possible to use an FAQ pattern to mark questions and answers that appear in different sections of a blog post and are not formatted as a traditional FAQ list?
For example, an article might have ten different section headings. Some of these are questions with answers. “
Google’s John Mueller replied:
“So I double-checked the official documentation, and I suggest you go there to answer these kinds of questions as well, it looks ok.
In general, an important part of FAQ snippets and structured data is that the content should be visible on the page.
So, when someone visits the page, both the question and the answer should be visible, not hidden in a section of the page.
But it’s fine if the question and answer are visible on the page, even if they’re in different places on the page. “
Structured data does not guarantee enhanced lists
At this point, John Mueller could have put down the microphone and moved on to the next question, as his answer greatly expands the application of the FAQ structured data.
However, he went on to answer to provide more information about structured data in general.
Mueller continued:
“Another thing to keep in mind is that, like all structured data, FAQ snippets are not guaranteed to show up in search results.
Essentially, you qualify your page to display these FAQ snippets.
But that doesn’t guarantee that they will be displayed.
So you can use testing tools to make sure everything is implemented correctly.
If the test tool says it’s ok, you’re probably on the right track.
But you may still have to wait and see how Google actually interprets your pages and processes them to see what actually shows up in search results.
For structured data, I think that’s the case with the FAQ, but at least for some other types, there are also specific reports in Search Console that can give you information about the structured data that has been found and the actual structured data that shows up in search results so that you can roughly judge whether it’s working the way you want or not.
For something like this, I suggest you try it out and make a test page on your site, see how it goes in the search results, double check if it’s really what you want to do, and then start actually working on your site the rest of the implementation. “
Structured Data Quality Guidelines
What Mueller didn’t mention but didn’t mention is that structured data has quality guidelines.
To avoid being penalized for manual actions, there are a number of rules that need to be understood.
One of the rules specifically prohibits the use of content that is not on the web page.
Publishers who abuse structured data by inserting content invisible to users may be subject to manual action.
Therefore, anything in the FAQ structured data should exactly match the content of the page itself.
Google’s structured data quality guidelines Precautions:
“Breaching the quality guidelines may…may result in it being marked as spam.
Don’t mark up content that the reader of the page cannot see. For example, if the JSON-LD markup describes a performer, the HTML body must describe the same performer. “
Citation
Read Google’s FAQ structured data documentation
Mark up your FAQs with structured data
Read Google’s structured data guidelines
General Structured Data Guidelines
Watch the Google Office Hours Hangout
Watch John Mueller answer questions at 05:18 minutes:
