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Technical SEO

What Is Structured Data?

Structured data is code (typically JSON-LD format) added to web pages that helps search engines understand the content in a machine-readable way. It uses the Schema.org vocabulary to describe entities like articles, products, FAQs, events, and organizations, enabling rich results in search.

Why Structured Data matters for SEO

Structured data enables rich results (star ratings, FAQ dropdowns, recipe cards, event listings) that increase click-through rates by 20-30%. In 2026, structured data also improves AI citation rates by approximately 30%, as AI search engines use schema markup to understand and extract content.

Pro tip on Structured Data

Add JSON-LD structured data to every page. Use Article schema on blog posts, Product schema on product pages, FAQPage schema on FAQ sections, HowTo schema on tutorials, and BreadcrumbList for navigation. Validate with Google's Rich Results Test.

Related terms

Schema MarkupSchema markup is the vocabulary; structured data is the implementationRich ResultsStructured data enables rich results in Google search

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