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Structured data

From the SEO Wiki, published by Magnetize ME

Structured data is, in Google's definition, a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying its content.[1] Search engines use it to understand pages and, in some cases, to display rich results with extra details such as ratings, events or business information. Most structured data on the web uses the schema.org vocabulary.[2]

Schema.org

Google announced schema.org on June 2, 2011, as a joint initiative with Bing and Yahoo! to create a common set of schemas for marking up web pages.[3] Its sponsors are Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Yandex, and the project was initiated by R. V. Guha.[6] Schema.org says its vocabulary is used on more than 45 million web domains.[2]

Formats

Structured data can be written in JSON-LD, Microdata or RDFa.[2] Google supports all three when valid but generally recommends JSON-LD,[1] a JSON-based format for linked data that became a W3C Recommendation in version 1.1 in July 2020.[7]

Rich results

Google's search gallery lists the structured data types it supports for rich results, including articles, breadcrumbs, events, local businesses, organizations, products, recipes, review snippets and videos.[8] Google has also reduced some rich result types: in August 2023 it limited FAQ rich results to well-known, authoritative government and health websites and stopped showing HowTo rich results.[9] Google's case studies report higher click-through rates on pages with rich results, such as 25% for Rotten Tomatoes.[1]

LocalBusiness and Organization markup

LocalBusiness markup can tell Google a business's address, opening hours, departments, coordinates and price range; name and address are the required properties.[10] Organization markup helps Google distinguish an organization from others and can influence the logo and details shown in search results and knowledge panels.[11]

Main article: Local SEO

Guidelines

Valid markup does not guarantee a rich result. Structured data must describe content that is visible on the page and must not be misleading, such as fake reviews; violations can lead to a manual action that removes a site's eligibility for rich results, though not its ranking.[12]

Testing tools

Google's Rich Results Test checks a URL or code snippet and reports which rich result types it detects and any errors.[4] Google retired its older Structured Data Testing Tool in favor of the Schema Markup Validator, which schema.org launched in May 2021.[5] After launch, Search Console's rich result reports monitor markup across a site.[1]

References

  1. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ "Introduction to structured data markup in Google Search". Google Search Central, updated December 10, 2025. developers.google.com
  2. ^ ^ ^ ^ "Schema.org". schema.org, version 30.1, September 16, 2026. schema.org
  3. ^ ^ Goel, Kavi; Gupta, Pravir (June 2, 2011). "Introducing schema.org: Search engines come together for a richer web". Google Search Central Blog. developers.google.com
  4. ^ ^ "Rich Results Test". Search Console Help. support.google.com
  5. ^ ^ Levering, Ryan (December 15, 2020). "The Structured Data Testing Tool is moving to schema.org". Google Search Central Blog. developers.google.com
  6. ^ "About Schema.org". schema.org. schema.org
  7. ^ "JSON-LD 1.1: A JSON-based Serialization for Linked Data". W3C Recommendation, July 16, 2020. w3.org
  8. ^ Mueller, John (August 8, 2023). "Changes to HowTo and FAQ rich results". Google Search Central Blog. developers.google.com
  9. ^ "Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data". Google Search Central, updated September 8, 2026. developers.google.com
  10. ^ "Organization structured data". Google Search Central, updated September 8, 2026. developers.google.com
  11. ^ "General structured data guidelines". Google Search Central, updated July 10, 2026. developers.google.com
Categories: Search engine optimization · Semantic Web · Metadata