Understanding Structured Data

Structured data is information added to a webpage in a standard format to help search engines understand its content. Many sites use Schema.org vocabulary, often in JSON-LD format.

Why it matters

Valid structured data may make a page eligible for certain enhanced search appearances. It does not guarantee rich results, higher rankings, or more traffic.

Example

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Example Business",
  "url": "https://example.com/"
}
</script>

Use real details that accurately describe the organization.

How to investigate

1. Review the audit evidence to see whether markup was detected and what format it used.
2. Inspect the page source or CMS/SEO plugin for JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa.
3. If relevant markup is missing, choose a schema type that matches the actual page.
4. Ensure details match information visible to visitors.
5. Use Google's Rich Results Test for supported rich-result types and Schema.org's validator for broader markup validation.
6. Review Search Console after Google recrawls the page, if the relevant report is available.

What if it is missing?

Not every page needs structured data. Missing markup is not automatically an SEO error. Detection alone also does not prove the markup is valid or eligible for a rich result.