Schema.org: structured data explained

Schema.org is a shared vocabulary you use in your website's code to state what is on a page. Not just "there's text here", but: this is a business with this address and these opening hours, this is a product at this price, this is an article by this author, these are frequently asked questions. Search engines and AI systems don't have to guess.

Schema.org was set up in 2011 by Google, Microsoft (Bing), Yahoo and Yandex, and has since been maintained by an open community. So it isn't a tool you install, but a standard you apply. Applying it is called structured data.

Why it matters

• Rich results. Review stars, product prices and stock, event dates or breadcrumbs. They stand out and often get more clicks.
• Clarity for AI. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity read pages to give answers. Structured data makes facts like your name, address, services and authors unambiguous. That helps with GEO, though it's no guarantee of being cited.
• Your business as an entity. With Organization or LocalBusiness and references to your profiles elsewhere (sameAs) you connect your website to your Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and other sources.

The types you need most

• Organization / LocalBusiness: name, logo, address, contact, opening hours and profiles
• WebSite and BreadcrumbList: your site's structure and where a page sits
• Article / BlogPosting: title, author, publication and modification date
• Product and Offer: price, availability, brand and reviews for webshops
• FAQPage: questions and answers on a page
• Service: what you offer and where
• Person: authors and experts, important for E-E-A-T
• Event: date, location and tickets

How to apply it

1. Use JSON-LD. That's the format Google recommends: a separate block of code in your page, apart from the visible content.
2. Describe only what's visible. Reviews or FAQs in your markup that visitors can't see count as misleading and can lead to a manual action from Google.
3. Be specific. Choose the most precise type, for example ProfessionalService instead of just LocalBusiness.
4. Test. Check with Google's Rich Results Test and schema.org's Schema Markup Validator.
5. Monitor in Search Console. There you see per type whether there are errors or warnings.
6. Keep it current. Outdated prices or opening hours in your markup do more harm than good.

Common mistakes

• The same LocalBusiness markup on every page with different details
• Plugins generating duplicate or conflicting markup
• Forgetting required fields, such as a price or image for a product
• Expecting markup to automatically lead to rich results; Google decides whether to show them

Schema.org and the rest of your site

Structured data works best on a site that's otherwise technically sound too: fast, accessible and logically built. Check your speed with Google PageSpeed Insights and your accessibility with WAVE. Want to know which markup delivers most for your site? Book a free strategy session.

Frequently asked questions

Is Schema.org a ranking factor?

Not directly. It helps search engines and AI understand your content and can lead to rich results, which often get more clicks.

Which format should I use?

JSON-LD. Google recommends it and it's the easiest to maintain.