Structured Data

Definition

Structured data is a standardized way (commonly schema.org) to describe the entities and relationships on a page. It helps search engines and AI systems understand content more accurately and may unlock rich results (e.g. FAQ, breadcrumbs) when eligible.

Why it matters

• Improves understanding and disambiguation of entities
• May unlock rich results that improve CTR
• Helps AI systems cite and answer from your content (AEO)
• Establishes relationships between entities (author, organization, product)
• Feeds data to Google Knowledge Panel
• Supports voice search and AI assistant answer generation
• Same markup serves multiple search engines (Google, Bing, Yandex)

How to implement

• Choose schema types that match visible content
• Add JSON-LD (script type="application/ld+json")
• Validate syntax and required properties
• Keep markup consistent with what users can see
• Prioritize types documented in Google's supported list
• Keep data fresh (dates, prices, availability)
• Monitor structured data errors in Search Console

Examples

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
  "itemListElement": [
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 1,
      "name": "Home",
      "item": "https://example.com/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 2,
      "name": "Learn",
      "item": "https://example.com/learn"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 3,
      "name": "SEO Basics"
    }
  ]
}

// HowTo structured data (for tutorials)
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "HowTo",
  "name": "How to implement JSON-LD",
  "description": "Step-by-step guide to adding JSON-LD structured data to your pages",
  "step": [
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "name": "Choose Schema type",
      "text": "Select the appropriate Schema.org type based on page content"
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "name": "Write JSON-LD",
      "text": "Create JSON object following Schema.org specification"
    }
  ]
}

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