Quick answer: what is schema markup?

Schema markup is code—commonly JSON-LD—that labels information such as an organization, local business, article, product, event, person, breadcrumb trail, or other supported entity. Search engines can use that structured information to understand the page and, for supported features, determine eligibility for enhanced search appearances.

Does schema improve rankings?

Do not treat schema as a ranking button. Structured data helps with interpretation and can support eligible search features, but the page still needs strong content, clear relevance, crawlability, and credibility. Incorrect schema does not make weak content strong.

Which schema types matter for a typical business?

• Organization or LocalBusiness: describes the company and core business details.
• BreadcrumbList: communicates the page’s place in the site hierarchy.
• Article: useful for substantive resource and editorial content when the required properties are present.
• Product or Service-related markup: only where the content and Google’s supported structured-data features actually fit.
• Event: useful for real public events that meet the requirements.

What should you avoid?

Do not mark up information that users cannot see, invent reviews, mislabel a page type, or add every schema type you can find. Structured data should accurately describe visible page content.

What about FAQ schema?

FAQ content can still be valuable because customers ask questions, but the presence of FAQ-style content does not mean it will produce a special search result. Google has reduced or retired several rich-result treatments over time, so build FAQ sections for users first rather than chasing a visual result that may change.

How do you test schema?

Use Google’s Rich Results Test for structured-data features Google supports, and validate the underlying JSON-LD. Search Console can also surface structured-data issues for supported enhancement types.

Google maintains the current structured-data feature documentation in Search Central’s structured data gallery.

Want to know what your own website is missing?

Run the MSQ2I Website Visibility Analyzer for a practical look at the technical, search, and AI-visibility signals on your site. Then decide what actually needs fixing.