Schema Markup
Structured data added to a page to help search engines understand its content.
Key takeaways
- Schema Markup is structured data added to a page to help search engines understand its content.
- Start with Organization and WebSite markup sitewide, then add types that match each page.
- Avoid: marking up reviews, FAQs or ratings that aren't shown on the page.
What is Schema Markup?
Schema (schema.org) describes entities, articles, FAQs, products, reviews and more. It powers rich results and is increasingly used by AI engines to verify claims on a page.
The full vocabulary lives at schema.org, and Google explains which types it supports in its introduction to structured data.
Why Schema Markup matters for SEO in 2026
Schema tells search engines exactly what a page contains: an article, a product, a business, a person. It makes pages eligible for rich results and helps AI systems connect your content to the right entities.
For a wider view of where this fits, see our full SEO glossary or explore the SEO and GEO service we run for clients.
How to apply Schema Markup on your site
Knowing the concept is only half of it. Work through these steps in order to put Schema Markup into practice on your own pages:
- Start with Organization and WebSite markup sitewide, then add types that match each page.
- Describe only what's visible on the page, in JSON-LD.
- Validate with the Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator after every change.
Common mistakes to avoid
Most sites that struggle with Schema Markup fall into the same traps. Check your pages against each of these before moving on:
- Marking up reviews, FAQs or ratings that aren't shown on the page.
- Copying schema templates without updating names, URLs or dates.
- Adding every type you can find instead of the ones that describe the page.
Questions about Schema Markup
Structured data added to a page to help search engines understand its content.
Schema tells search engines exactly what a page contains: an article, a product, a business, a person. It makes pages eligible for rich results and helps AI systems connect your content to the right entities.
Start here: start with Organization and WebSite markup sitewide, then add types that match each page. Then describe only what's visible on the page, in JSON-LD.
The most common is marking up reviews, FAQs or ratings that aren't shown on the page. Another is copying schema templates without updating names, URLs or dates.