In SEO, there are very few black and white answers. It’s a practice filled with nuance, which is why Foodie Digital’s SEO services<\/a> are hands-on and custom to each community member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Understanding the different types of schema at your disposal, and when to use a schema type to your advantage is key to a successful SEO strategy for food blogs<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But there\u2019s a lot of blanket advice about schema out there, and it\u2019s tempting to assume that this advice applies to your content strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re confused or unsure about which type of JSON Schema to use in your recipe posts\u2014and non-recipe posts\u2014keep reading! <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this post we:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding multiple types of schema to a post is a perfectly acceptable SEO practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But there are some do\u2019s and don\u2019ts for achieving the desired result when it comes to earning clickthroughs and conversions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To grow your traffic, you must earn clickthroughs and conversions. A post can be highly ranked on Google’s first page but if it fails to earn clickthroughs and conversions it won’t earn much traffic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Choosing the right type of schema(s) to use on a page boils down to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n With respect to relevance, Google’s John Mueller<\/a> advises that the structured data on the page should always match the primary element on your page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From our guidelines we want to make sure that the structured data you have on your page matches the primary element on your page. So if you\u2019re saying that you can add an FAQ to a random page on your website, sure you can do that. But is this FAQ the primary part of the page? Or relevant for the primary part of the page? That\u2019s something that you kind of need to figure out.<\/em><\/p>\n– John Mueller<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Unequivocally for a recipe site, the primary element on the page is a recipe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s why recipe schema should always be output when a single recipe is published on a recipe site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s look at each schema type individually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you use a WordPress recipe card plugin, like WP Recipe Maker<\/a> or Tasty Recipes<\/a>, the plugins automatically generate recipe structured data on your behalf (more specifically JSON-LD recipe schema markup). This is what makes a recipe published online eligible for a recipe rich snippet<\/a> in desktop and mobile search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three most important fields to include in your recipe card for valid recipe structured data are the recipe name, the recipe card image, and the ‘yield’ or ‘servings’ field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The recipe name and recipe image are required fields<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And, Google Search Console has recently been reporting recipe structured data errors when the \u2018servings\u2019 or \u2018yield\u2019 field in a recipe card is empty, even though it\u2019s still documented<\/a> as a recommended field only (not required). <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you use Yoast SEO, it adds article schema to posts by default, even when recipe schema is present. Why is article schema important? <\/p>\n\n\n\n The answer is really simple\u2014it gives basic information to Google about the content. For instance, that a piece of content is not a web page or an e-commerce product. It also uniquely identifies the author of the post, which is very important for E-E-A-T and authorship<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To verify that Yoast SEO is correctly configured and outputting the correct article schema for posts on your food blog, log in to WordPress and go to Yoast SEO > Settings > Content Types and make sure the default article schema<\/a> is selected for posts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n ItemList schema allows a recipe roundup post and\/or category archives to display as a carousel in the mobile search results. Searchers can swipe through up to 10 cards in a carousel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s an example of The Toasted Pine Nut’s recipe roundup post<\/a> that’s outputting Carousel structured data in the mobile search results:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re ready to output Carousel structured data for a roundup post, here’s what we recommend broken down by recipe card plugin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you use WP Recipe Maker<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n All versions of WP Recipe Maker<\/a> support ItemList schema in addition to recipe schema. If you use WP Recipe Maker to output recipe schema, we recommend you use the round-up blocks that are already available in the plugin’s product offering to output ItemList schema. The plugin’s default round-up blocks can easily be customized<\/a> to suit your food blog’s branding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you use Create by Mediavine<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Create<\/a> supports ItemList schema in addition to recipe schema. If you already use Create to output recipe schema, we recommend you use the round-up blocks (called Create Lists!<\/a>) that are already available in the plugin’s product offering to output ItemList schema. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you use Tasty Recipes<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Food bloggers who use Tasty Recipes<\/a> to output recipe schema can use Tasty Roundups<\/a>, the paid plugin from Tasty Recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In August 2023, Google announced<\/a> it will restrict what kinds of sites are eligible to show FAQ rich results in the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google is downgrading FAQ rich results to provide users with a cleaner and more consistent search experience and confirmed it will only show FAQ rich results for high-authority websites in the health space and for government websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does this mean that food bloggers need to hurry to remove unnecessary FAQ schema added in posts? No. Google says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n While you can drop this structured data from your site, there\u2019s no need to proactively remove it. Structured data that\u2019s not being used does not cause problems for Search.<\/em> (Reference<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, if posts are over-optimized with unhelpful or redundant FAQs and marked-up with FAQ schema, a content quality issue persists and should be addressed regardless of the changes announced by Google to do with FAQ rich results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the desired result is to better your chances of earning clickthroughs and conversions for a single recipe, output recipe schema via a recipe card plugin like WP Recipe Maker<\/a> or Tasty Recipes<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Outputting recipe schema makes a single recipe eligible for the featured recipe results<\/a> on both desktop and mobile, which is where the vast majority of clicks for a query are earned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of August 2022, FAQ schema and recipe schema cannot be combined into a single rich result in the search results. When different types of schema can\u2019t be combined into a single rich result, Google has to pick one of them to show in the search results. If you’re a recipe site there\u2019s little point in muddying the schema waters or making Google choose between recipe + FAQ schema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe one day Google will introduce a recipe rich result sandwiched together with a FAQ rich result, but that day is not here yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, to earn clicks for a recipe output recipe schema only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the desired result is to better your chances of earning clickthroughs and conversions for an article or blog post that contains no recipe or roundup post list items, output article schema only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the desired result is to strengthen a roundup post’s potential to earn clickthroughs and conversions by displaying a swipeable mobile carousel on mobile, output ItemList schema via WP Recipe Maker, Create or Tasty Recipes’ new Tasty Roundups plugin. See The Toasted Pine Nut example<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, there are countless ways to boost your food blog SEO and recipe SEO. Using schema correctly\u2014and to your advantage\u2014is just one slice of the pie!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
But first, schema basics for food bloggers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The 4 types of schema used most often on food blogs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. Recipe schema<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
2. Article schema<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/foodiedigital.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Screenshot-of-where-to-configure-article-schema-for-posts-in-Yoast-SEO.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n3. ItemList schema (also known as Carousel structured data)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/foodiedigital.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/carousel-example.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n4. FAQ schema<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
At Foodie Digital we\u2019ve audited hundreds of food blogs. In our experience, the desire to add FAQ schema to a recipe post sadly causes a lot of food bloggers to over-optimize their blog posts. This is not good and definitely not what Google wants. Answering a few recipe specific questions for readers in a post is valuable! These Q&As simply do not need to marked up with FAQ schema.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Examples to help you understand\/decide which type of schema to use use and when to use it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Example 1 – single recipe<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Example 2 – article or blog post with no recipe<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Example 3 – recipe roundup post<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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