Let’s take a look at the Yoast Structured data blocks in the new WordPress Gutenberg editor. We’ll look at how to use the How-to and FAQ content blocks for creating structured data that improves your SEO. You can watch the video and look at examples below.
Today I’m going to show you some special content blocks you’ll find in the new WordPress Gutenberg editor. If you have the Yoast SEO plugin installed, look for a section called Yoast Structured Data Blocks.
Yoast Structured Data Blocks
If you’ve got a page or post open for editing, you’ll find two content blocks under Yoast Structured Data Blocks:
- How-to
- FAQ
Now for fun, I’ve put both of these types of blocks in this post so you’ll have an idea of what the end product looks like. However, the video above shows me creating a block from scratch.
How to use Yoast Structured Data Blocks
Hint: Below is an How-to block so you can see how it looks:
Time needed: 2 minutes.
Here’s step-by-step instructions on how to add Yoast Structured Data Blocks to your page or post using the WordPress Gutenberg editor.
- Add block
Add a block by clicking the plus icon button either in the toolbar or on the page.
- Open the Yoast Structured Data Blocks category
If you have the Yoast SEO plugin installed, look for a section called Yoast Structured Data Blocks. It usually appears underneath the core categories at the bottom of the list.
- Select either How-to or FAQ
Select the How-to or FAQ block. If you already have one of these block types, the selection may be greyed out, since Yoast recommends only one of each kind per page or post.
- Add the appropriate content to your block
Fill out the content based on the block you selected. You have the option of adding images, although the image formatting options are limited.
Common questions about Yoast Structured Data Blocks
Okay, these aren’t “common” questions, but rather an excuse for using the FAQ block as seen below.
Yoast recommends you only put one of each block per page or post. For example, if you already have a How-to block on a post, if you try to add another How-to block, the icon will be greyed out as you’re trying to add it from among the content blocks.
There’s more to these than having a nice interface. Using these blocks organizes the data so they’re more optimized for search engines.
Ever asked a question using a search engine and discovered FAQs or step-by-step instructions appear at the top of the results? That’s because those results are using structured data that helps search engines show results. You usually don’t see this structured data in the editor, but you will see it if you look at the source code of the page.
If you want to read more, check out this article from Yoast: How to Add HowTo Schema.org to a how-to article
You can add total time, a description, and individual steps with a title, description and optional image.
The FAQ content block looks like the How-to block, but lists a series of a question followed by an answer with an optional image.
More resources to help with using WordPress
Here’s some more resources to check out: