What Is Schema Markup?
Definition
A vocabulary of structured data tags added to HTML that helps search engines understand page content and display rich results like star ratings, FAQs, and breadcrumbs.
Why It Matters
Schema markup enables your content to stand out in search results through rich snippets — visual enhancements like star ratings, FAQs, and product prices that significantly increase click-through rates without requiring higher rankings.
How It Works
Markup is added using JSON-LD (Google's recommended format), Microdata, or RDFa — placed in the HTML of the page and referencing Schema.org vocabulary. You declare the content type (Recipe, Product, Event, FAQ, etc.) and its properties. Google then decides whether to use this data to generate enhanced search result displays.
A recipe website adds Recipe schema to all posts. Results now show cooking time, calorie counts, and star ratings directly in Google — click-through rate improves by 28% with no change in rankings.
Quick Facts
- JSON-LD is Google's preferred and easiest-to-implement format for schema markup
- Not all schema types guarantee a rich snippet — Google decides when to display them
- Schema can be validated for free using Google's Rich Results Test tool
- FAQ schema can expand your search result to take up significantly more screen space
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