Glossary › Schema Markup
What Is Schema Markup?
Schema markup is structured data code added to a webpage that helps search engines understand its content. It uses a standard vocabulary from schema.org to label things like business hours, reviews, FAQ answers, and product prices — enabling richer, more informative search results.
Plain-English Definition
Search engines read HTML, but HTML doesn't always make meaning clear. Is “4.8 stars” a rating or a size? Schema markup answers that question by tagging data with explicit labels: this is a review rating, this is a business address, this is an FAQ answer. Google reads those labels and can show them visually in search results — star ratings, FAQ dropdowns, event dates, and more.
The most common format for schema markup is JSON-LD, a small block of JavaScript embedded in the page's HTML that Google reads without affecting the visible content.
Why It Matters
Rich results — search listings that display star ratings, prices, FAQs, or images alongside the title and description — consistently earn higher click-through rates than plain blue links. Schema markup is the prerequisite for most of them. It also feeds AI-generated answers. When Google's AI Overview pulls a structured answer from your page, that's often possible because your schema told it exactly what the page covers.
For local businesses, LocalBusiness schema is especially valuable: it confirms your address, phone number, hours, and service area to Google in a machine-readable format.
Example
A roofing company adds FAQ schema to their “roof repair cost” page. When someone searches that question, their result can expand to show two or three Q&A pairs directly in Google — taking up more real estate on the page and answering the searcher's question before they even click. That visibility builds trust and increases the likelihood of a click.
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