By SitemapFixer Team
Updated April 2026

Structured Data and Schema Markup: Complete Guide

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Structured data is code you add to your pages to help search engines understand your content better. When Google understands your content, it can display rich results in search - star ratings, FAQs, product prices, recipes, and more - which dramatically improves click-through rates.

JSON-LD: The Recommended Format

Google recommends JSON-LD for structured data. It is added as a script tag in the head or body of your page and does not require modifying your HTML. This makes it the easiest format to implement and maintain. Example for an Article: add a script tag with type application/ld+json containing your Schema.org Article object with headline, author, datePublished, and image properties.

High-Impact Schema Types

Article and BlogPosting: shows article metadata in search. Product: enables price, availability, and review stars. LocalBusiness: displays address, hours, and phone in the Knowledge Panel. BreadcrumbList: shows your site hierarchy in the URL display. Organization: feeds your brand's Knowledge Panel details. Two types are commonly still recommended in older guides but no longer earn rich results for most sites: FAQ, which Google restricted in August 2023 to well-known authoritative government and health sites, and HowTo, which Google deprecated in August 2023 and no longer shows on desktop or mobile. The WebSite sitelinks search box was retired in November 2024. Keeping FAQ or HowTo markup on the page is harmless, but do not expect it to change how your result looks - budget your effort for the types that still render.

How to Test Structured Data

Use Google's Rich Results Test at search.google.com/test/rich-results to check if your markup is valid and eligible for rich results. Use the Schema Markup Validator at validator.schema.org for general validation. In Google Search Console, check the Enhancements section for detected structured data types and any errors Google found when crawling your pages.

Structured Data and Sitemaps

Pages with structured data must be indexed to benefit from rich results. Ensure pages with your most important schema markup are included in your sitemap and not blocked by robots.txt or noindex tags. SitemapFixer checks your sitemap coverage so your structured data pages are always crawlable.

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