Structured Data & Schema Markup: Rich Results Guide

Structured data is a standardized format (usually JSON-LD) that you add to your HTML to explicitly tell search engines what your content is about. Instead of making Google guess, you're labeling things: "this is a product," "this costs $29," "this has 4.8 stars."

The main vocabulary used is Schema.org, a collaboration between Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex. When Google understands your structured data, it can display rich results — enhanced search listings with ratings, prices, breadcrumbs, images and more.

• Rich results — Review stars, product prices and availability, breadcrumbs and event dates make a listing stand out and earn more clicks. FAQ and HowTo rich results are gone: Google retired HowTo in 2023 and stopped showing FAQ results in May 2026.
• Who you are — An Organization block with your logo and sameAs links to your official profiles is how Google and AI assistants connect your site, your brand name and your social accounts into one entity.
• Facts machines can read — Prices, opening hours, addresses and authors in structured form are easier for search engines and AI systems to pick up correctly. Keep them identical to what the page shows.

JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is Google's preferred format for structured data. You add it as a <script> tag in your page's <head>:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "SEO Basics Guide",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Webmatik"
  },
  "datePublished": "2026-01-15",
  "dateModified": "2026-03-01"
}
</script>

You can include multiple JSON-LD blocks on a single page — for example, Article + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage together.

Focus on these high-impact schema types:

• Organization — Brand name, logo, contact details and sameAs links to your official profiles. The one every site needs, on the homepage.
• Product (with Offer) — For e-commerce: price, availability, reviews and ratings shown in results.
• LocalBusiness — For businesses with physical locations: address, hours, reviews.
• Article / BlogPosting — For blog posts and articles, with the author and dates. Helps with Google News and Discover.
• BreadcrumbList — Navigation breadcrumbs shown in search results.
• WebSite — Tells Google your site name for results. (The sitelinks search box it once powered was retired in November 2024.)
• FAQPage — Still valid schema that AI systems can read, but Google no longer shows FAQ rich results (May 2026). Add it only for real, visible questions and answers.

Always validate your structured data before deploying:

• Google Rich Results Test — Shows exactly which rich results your page is eligible for.
• Schema Markup Validator — Checks syntax against the Schema.org vocabulary.
• Google Search Console — Shows structured data errors and enhancements across your entire site.

Common mistakes: missing required fields, incorrect data types (string instead of number), nesting errors, and using deprecated schema types.