Term
Schema markup (structured data)
Updated · 2 min read · By The ParSEO team
The short answer
Code added to a page, usually JSON-LD, that describes its content in the schema.org vocabulary so search engines understand it.
Schema markup, or structured data, labels the content of a page in a standard vocabulary (schema.org): this is a business, this is its address, this is an article and its author. Google recommends the JSON-LD format.
It helps search engines understand pages and makes some pages eligible for richer results. It doesn't guarantee any special display, and Google has cut back some rich results: FAQ rich results no longer appear in Google Search (from May 7, 2026), and HowTo rich results were retired in 2023.
The key rule: markup must describe what's visible on the page. Marking up hidden or misleading content breaks Google's guidelines.
In practice
In practice, most small businesses need only a few types: Organization or a specific LocalBusiness type on the home and contact pages, BreadcrumbList across the site, Product where you sell products, and Article on blog posts. Test the live page with Google's Rich Results Test after any change, and update the markup whenever the visible details change.
Sources
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