Lesson 8 / 32

Schema.org Structured Data

Use JSON-LD and microdata to markup content and help search engines understand your pages.

What is structured data?

Structured data is markup that tells search engines the exact meaning of your content. Instead of just reading "John Doe — 5 stars," Google sees: Person name="John Doe", Rating=5. This enables rich snippets, knowledge panels, and better ranking.

JSON-LD example: Article

JSON-LD is the preferred format for structured data. It goes in the <head> and describes the page content clearly.

<head>
  <script type="application/ld+json">
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "Article",
    "headline": "Mastering HTTP Status Codes",
    "description": "A developer's guide to understanding HTTP status codes and when to use them.",
    "image": "https://example.com/http-codes.jpg",
    "datePublished": "2025-10-01",
    "dateModified": "2025-10-15",
    "author": {
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Jane Developer",
      "url": "https://example.com/author/jane"
    },
    "publisher": {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Tech Blog",
      "logo": {
        "@type": "ImageObject",
        "url": "https://example.com/logo.png"
      }
    },
    "mainEntityOfPage": {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://example.com/http-codes"
    }
  }
  </script>
</head>

JSON-LD example: Product

For e-commerce sites, markup products with ratings, prices, and availability. This enables Google Shopping integration and rich snippets.

<head>
  <script type="application/ld+json">
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org/",
    "@type": "Product",
    "name": "Mechanical Keyboard RGB",
    "image": "https://example.com/keyboard.jpg",
    "description": "Premium mechanical keyboard with RGB lighting",
    "brand": {
      "@type": "Brand",
      "name": "KeyMaster"
    },
    "offers": {
      "@type": "Offer",
      "url": "https://example.com/products/keyboard",
      "priceCurrency": "USD",
      "price": "129.99",
      "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock"
    },
    "aggregateRating": {
      "@type": "AggregateRating",
      "ratingValue": "4.5",
      "bestRating": "5",
      "worstRating": "1",
      "ratingCount": "248"
    }
  }
  </script>
</head>

Validate your markup

Always validate structured data with the Schema.org validator or Google's Rich Results Test. Invalid markup is ignored; valid markup gets you rich snippets.