Is your FAQ schema markup not delivering rich results in Google Search? There are three reasonable explanations.

John Mueller, Google’s Search Advocate, suggests three reasons why your FAQ schema markup isn’t delivering rich snippets in search results.

To understand better, let’s discuss what is FAQ Schema Markup.

FAQ schema is specialized markup you can add to a webpage’s code that contains a list of questions and answers. Google then reads this markup and uses it to generate a rich snippet.

Now FYI, Rich snippets are any type of organic search result with enhanced information displayed alongside the URL, title, and description. Rich cards are a separate result, often with visual enhancements, that appear above the other organic results.

During the Google Search Central SEO office-hours hangout, this information is shared.

A site owner asks why Google isn’t displaying rich results for web pages that use the FAQ schema markup.

They point out that there are no technical faults with the markup in Google Search Console, and they question if there are any non-technical reasons why rich results aren’t appearing.

The website owner is afraid that this indicates Google does not trust the content on their site.

Is it possible that this is the case?

Mueller’s response is below, along with the three reasons why Google won’t show rich results in SERPs.

FAQ rich results, like other types of rich results, will only display in Google Search if THESE conditions are met.

Mueller states:

“FAQ rich results are essentially similar to other types of rich results in that we have several levels that we take into account before we show them in the search results.”

On a technical level, the FAQ markup must first be implemented correctly.

You can utilize Search Console to see if there are any issues in the markup implementation.

Considering Mueller pointed out, this is unlikely to be the case here, as the site owner stated that no mistakes were seen in Search Console.

“On the one hand, they need to be technically correct. It sounds like these are technically correct.”

In addition to being technically correct, the markup must adhere to Google’s structured data policies.

The primary rule to follow when it comes to FAQ markup is to make sure the questions and answers are displayed on the page.

Mueller continues:

“On the other hand, they need to be compliant with our policies. I don’t think we have any kind of significant policies around FAQ-rich results other than that the content should be visible on the page.”

If the markup is technically correct and follows Google’s rules, the only remaining question is whether Google trusts the content.

In this scenario, Mueller believes Google isn’t completely convinced of the website’s quality and, as a result, is hesitant to display FAQs in search results.

“And the third issue that sometimes comes into play here is we need to be able to understand that this website is kind of trustworthy in that we can trust this data to be correct.

And that is sometimes something where, from a quality point of view, we’re maybe not convinced about a website and then we wouldn’t show it. But those are the three steps that I would look at.

Like, technically correct. Is it compliant with our policies? And then, if that’s all correct, I would think about what I can do to significantly improve the quality of my website overall?”

In conclusion, there are three reasonable explanations why Google doesn’t show FAQ snippets in search results:

• From a technical sense, the markup is improperly implemented.
• The markup isn’t used in a way that complies with Google’s requirements.
• Your website isn’t considered high-quality by Google, and it isn’t trusted enough to offer rich results.

Source – Search engine journal