What is structured data?#
Search engines are good at reading text but benefit from explicit labels. Structured data says, in machine-readable form, “this is an Article, written by this Person, published on this date”. Google recommends the JSON-LD format, placed in a script tag:
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "BlogPosting",
"headline": "On-Page SEO Guide",
"author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Iftikhar Qureshi" },
"datePublished": "2026-10-01"
}
</script>Why it matters#
- Makes pages eligible for rich results such as breadcrumbs, product ratings, prices, events and videos.
- Clarifies entities — who you are and how your pages relate — which also helps AI-powered search.
- It doesn’t directly boost rankings, but better understanding and richer listings can improve click-through.
Useful schema types#
| Type | Use on |
|---|---|
| Article / BlogPosting | Blog posts and news |
| BreadcrumbList | Pages with breadcrumb navigation |
| Organization / Person | Homepage and About page |
| LocalBusiness | Physical businesses (or specific types like Dentist) |
| Product, Review | Product pages with genuine reviews |
| FAQPage | Genuine Q&A content (rich results now mostly limited to authoritative government and health sites) |
Rules#
- Mark up only content that is visible on the page.
- Keep information accurate and consistent with the page.
- Validate with Google’s Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator.
- Monitor the Enhancements reports in Search Console.
This theme outputs a connected schema graph (WebSite, Person, BlogPosting, BreadcrumbList, DefinedTerm and FAQPage where relevant) automatically. Related: SERP features.