What is Structured Data?

What Is Structured Data?

Structured data refers to information that is created and stored in a standardized format that search engines can easily understand. This ensures that different sites can provide the same information to search engines, irrespective of the site’s design or the language or format in which the content is published.

Bloggers typically create their structured data using the vocabulary specified by Schema.org, which was jointly launched by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Yandex in 2011. Any structured data that uses the vocabulary defined by Schema.org is called a Schema-Markup.

In this article, we’ll cover:

Why Structured Data Is Important
Difference Between Schema and Structured Data
Common Structured Data Formats
How to Identify Structured Data on a Webpage

Why Structured Data Is Important

Structured data allows search engines to understand a page’s purpose and content. This reduces the chances of guesswork and allows the search engine to better index and rank the page for relevant search queries.

Structured data also improves the chances of your content appearing as rich results, which makes your listings more informative and visually appealing on the search results page. For example, the star ratings and cook time on the search results page in the image below are rich results.

Search engines like Google and Bing even require you to include structured data in the content you want them to display as rich results. These rich results can, in turn, lead to better visibility, greater engagement, and a higher click-through rate.

Difference Between Schema and Structured Data

Schema and structured data are often used interchangeably, but they are not exactly the same. For clarity:

Schema refers to the vocabulary or standard that defines the specific types, properties, and relationships used in structured data (e.g., Schema.org).
Structured data is the actual implementation of that schema—code (typically in JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa) that’s added to a webpage to help search engines understand its content.

In other words, Schema provides the blueprint, while structured data is the coded content on your website that follows that blueprint.

For example, consider this breakdown:

Type: Article
Properties:
  headline (Text)
  author (Person oder Organization)
    name (Text)

This isn’t schema or structured data by itself—it’s a description of how the Schema.org vocabulary is structured.

Art indicates the content is an article
headline indicates that the article’s headline should be specified using text, for example, “How to Bake a Cake”
Autor indicates that the author should be a person or an organization
Name indicates that the author’s name should be specified using text, for example, Alison Doe

To convert this into actual structured data, you’d implement it like this (typically using JSON-LD):

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "How to Bake a Cake",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Alison Doe"
  }
}

Common Structured Data Formats

There are three main formats for adding structured data to content. They are listed below, starting from the most desired to the least desired:

JSON-LD
Mikrodaten
RDFa

1 JSON-LD

JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is a specialized version of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). JSON itself is a lightweight data format used to store and exchange information between systems.

JSON-LD is the most common and widely supported format for adding structured data to a webpage. Google recommends it, and it is the format that Rank Math uses to add structured data to your webpages.

The JSON-LD code is added inside a <script> tag within the <head> oder <body> tag of the page’s HTML code. The opening <script> tag should contain the type="application/ld+json" attribute and value.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "How to Bake a Cake",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Alison Doe"
  }
}

2 Mikrodaten

Google recommends using Microdata when you cannot implement JSON-LD. Microdata is specified using special HTML attributes such as itemscope, Gegenstandsart, und itemprop, which helps define and describe the structured data embedded within the content.

Microdata is added directly to the <body> tag of a webpage, meaning it is tied closely to the visible content on the page. While this makes the markup easy to associate with on-page elements, it can become challenging to manage and maintain on larger sites and complex webpages.

<div itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Article">
  <h1 itemprop="headline">How to Bake a Cake</h1>
  <div itemprop="author" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person">
    <span itemprop="name">Alison Doe</span>
  </div>
</div>

3 RDFa

Google recommends using RDFa (Resource Description Framework in Attributes) when you cannot use JSON-LD or Microdata.

You can add RDFa to the <head> und <body> tags of the page’s HTML code. Die <head> tag will usually contain metadata like the content title, author, and publication date, while the <body> tag will contain attributes like Eigentum und typeof.

<div vocab="https://schema.org/" typeof="Article">
  <h1 property="headline">How to Bake a Cake</h1>
  <div property="author" typeof="Person">
    <span property="name">Alison Doe</span>
  </div>
</div>

How to Identify the Structured Data on a Webpage

You can detect and inspect the structured data on a webpage using Rank Math, Google’s Rich Results Test tool, or by directly viewing the page’s HTML code. The specific method you use will vary depending on your needs.

Use Rank Math to preview the structured data in your content
Use the Rich Results Test tool to see your structured data exactly as Google sees it
Use the page source to see whether the page contains structured data

1 Using Rank Math

If you configured your Schema using Rank Math, head to the WordPress-Dashboard → Beiträge oder Seiten.

Head to Posts or Pages from your WordPress dashboard

Once done, select the post or page containing the Schema you want to inspect.

Select the post or page containing the Schema you want to inspect

Now, from the post or page editor screen, click the Rank Math-SEO icon.

$Click the Rank Math SEO icon on the post editor screen$

Once done, click the Schema icon.

You will be presented with all the structured data on that webpage. Click the View icon of whichever one you want to inspect.

The structured data will be displayed to you in JSON-LD format.

Overview of the JSON-LD code on your webpage

2 Using Google’s Rich Results Test Tool

The Google’s Rich Results Test tool allows you to see the structured data exactly as Google sees it. This is crucial for identifying potential errors in your structured data. It also lets you view the structured data on your competitor’s pages.

To get started, head to the Google Rich Results Test tool and enter the page’s URL into the available field. Once done, click Test URL.

Enter the URL into the Google Rich Results Test tool and click Test URL

Next, scroll to the Detected structured data report. You will see all the Schema Google found on the page. You can click on any one to further inspect it.

Scroll to the Detected structured data report and click on any structured data

3 Using the Page Source

The page source is a straightforward method of identifying the structured data on any webpage. To get started, right-click anywhere on the webpage and click “View Page Source.” (The exact wording may differ depending on the browser.)

Right-click and select View Page Source

Once done, click Ctrl + F on your keyboard and search for keywords like:

application/ld+json (for JSON-LD structured data)
itemscope, Gegenstandsart, und itemprop (for Microdata)
vocab, typeof, und Eigentum (for RDFa structured data)

Your browser will highlight the relevant structured data on the page.

Your browser will highlight the structured data on the page