Structured data is a standardized code format (usually JSON-LD) added to a webpage that explicitly labels what different pieces of content mean — this is a review, this is a price, this is a recipe’s cook time — rather than leaving search engines to infer it from surrounding text.
Schema.org is the shared vocabulary most structured data follows, giving search engines a consistent way to interpret content across the entire web.
Why it matters: Structured data is what enables rich results in search — star ratings under a review, a recipe card with cook time and calories, an FAQ dropdown directly in the search listing, or a job posting with salary and location visible before a click. These enhanced listings typically stand out more and can improve click-through rates.
High-value schema types to start with: - Article schema for blog posts and news content - Product schema for e-commerce, including price and availability - FAQPage schema for FAQ sections (directly relevant for Discover and “People Also Ask” visibility) - Organization and LocalBusiness schema for brand and location information - BreadcrumbList schema to show a page’s site hierarchy in search results
Implementation: Add JSON-LD markup inside the page’s <head> or body, then validate it using Google’s Rich Results Test before publishing. Many CMS plugins (Yoast, RankMath) generate common schema types automatically.
Structured data doesn’t directly boost rankings, but it significantly improves how a listing looks and performs in search results.
