Hunting for FAQ Schema Overuse

Overusing FAQ schema on a webpage can negatively impact user experience and search engine optimization (SEO). While FAQ schema helps with visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) and boosts rich snippets, having more than 5 FAQs per page could be considered overuse. FAQ content should remain concise, useful, and relevant to the topic.

FAQ Schema

How to Use Screaming Frog to Count FAQs on a Page

Here is how to use Screaming Frog to scan a website and count FAQs on a page within minutes:

1. Inspect your webpage’s FAQ section using Google Chrome Developer Tools, and identify a unique class name (e.g., class=”accordion-title”) within your FAQ schema markup.

inspect

2. Open Screaming Frog and go to ConfigurationCustomCustom Search.

custom search navigation

3. Name your search, input the unique class identifier (e.g., class=”accordion-title”), and scan the website.

Custom Search

4. After the scan, sort the results by the number of FAQs to find pages with potential overuse.

FAQ Count

This technique ensures your FAQ schema is optimized for SEO, user engagement, and search rankings without being flagged as spammy or negatively affecting your site’s click-through rate (CTR).

How to see if your FAQ adds value

Tools like Clearscope or Surfer SEO can help identify unnecessary FAQs by checking if removing them impacts the SEO score. If it doesn’t, the FAQ might be irrelevant. Additionally, focus on value for the end user rather than solely optimizing for Google’s search results.

FAQ Schema Best Practices

  1. Relevance: Ensure all frequently asked questions serve a purpose and enhance the user experience.
  2. SEO Tools: Use tools like Clearscope or Google Search Console to measure performance.
  3. Structured Data: Implement FAQ schema using JSON-LD, microdata, or schema.org to help with indexing and visibility in rich results and featured snippets.
  4. User Engagement: Monitor your CTR to assess if your FAQ section drives engagement.

By properly managing FAQ schema, you can improve search rankings while delivering meaningful content that benefits both search engines and searchers.

FAQ

  • Can you be penalized by Google for Schema Overuse?

Published on: 2024-09-17
Updated on: 2024-09-17

Avatar for Isaac Adams-Hands

Isaac Adams-Hands

Isaac Adams-Hands is the SEO Director at SEO North, a company that provides Search Engine Optimization services. As an SEO Professional, Isaac has considerable expertise in On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, and Technical SEO, which gives him a leg up against the competition.
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