Multiple Cards Per Post - Go or No Go?
Have you ever wondered if you can use more than one Create card in a single post? With Create, you absolutely can! There are a few important things to know to make sure you are doing it right. In this article, we'll cover all the basics!
The most important thing to remember is the general best practice is to output only a single instance of one of the three Schema types offered by Create.
This means one Recipe, one How-To, or one List. Not two Recipes, or one How-To and one List, for example.
With Create, we've provided a couple of different solutions for this so that you can use more than one card in a single post without doubling up on Schema.
Solution 1: Canonical Linking
Create uses canonical linking so each card can be reused, but only outputs Schema from one original post.
Basically, if you use multiple cards in a single post, and one card is canonically linked to a different post, only one card will be outputting Schema in that post. This achieves the desired goal, so this setup works perfectly.
Read more about reusing cards and choosing canonical posts in this help article!
Solution 2: Disabling Schema
The second solution Create provides is the ability to disable Schema in an individual card. If you want to put two cards in a post that aren't in any other posts, the best practice is to disable Schema for one card.
You can disable Schema in a card by editing it and scrolling down to the "Utilities" section. Uncheck the box for "Use Schema (LD+JSON)." (The default for this setting is for Schema to be on.)
You'll want to keep in mind that if you turn Schema off in a card, then reuse that card in another post, it will not be outputting Schema in any post. If you want that card to output Schema in a post, you'll instead turn Schema back on and select a canonical post.
Does It Matter Which Card Outputs Schema in My Post?
In short, yes it does matter, but it's really not too complicated!
You want the card that outputs Schema to be whatever is most relevant to the subject of the post. Think of this card as your "main idea."
Remember that Schema gives Google information to use in Rich Results which can include an image and other key information. A good question to ask yourself is "Would it make sense for the info from this Create card to show in Rich Results for this post?"
As an example, let's say you are writing a post for a craft tutorial. You want to include a How-To card containing the steps to make the craft, and you also want to include a Create List at the end to link to other popular posts on your site, including recipes and other craft tutorials.
Would it make sense, if the post appears in Rich Results, for an image of a recipe or a different craft tutorial to appear as the thumbnail image for your post? No, probably not.
The List contains content that is not relevant to the post itself. The How-To card is relevant to the content. This means that you'd disable Schema for the List card and keep Schema enabled for the How-To card.
In Summary: Here's What You Need to Know
You CAN use more than one card in a post! But you should only output one instance of Schema from Create per post. Choose the card most relevant to the post's content.
For additional cards in the post that are not to output Schema, make sure they either have a different canonical post set or that you disable Schema for the card.
To read more information on using Create cards in multiple posts, please see this post from our blog.