Schema Markup

Schema Markup is a markup code [^markup code] that helps search engines understand information on your webpage.

Schema Markup represents information on the page in a structured form, so it can be read by machines. The structure is called schema in which data is presented.

As with any other markup code, schema markup is not visible in the rendered form of a webpage as shown by a web browser. Schema markup describes a family of codes with very different ways to mark up the information (see below).

Schema Markup and Structured Data ¹ are two sides of the same coin. Schema markup on the process of marking up information on a web page. Structured data focuses on the information extracted from the page when reading only the markup code.

Schema markup and structured data require common vocabulary ² to be useful at scale, such as for search engines. The most prominent vocabulary is schema.org.

For example, schema markup can convey exact information about the publisher of a webpage, including name, address, and contact information. Another example is the markup of an event with name, location, performers, dates, ticket offers, and where to purchase.

Types of Schema Markup

There are three main types of schema markup for web pages:

• JSON-LD
• Microdata
• RDFa

The Role of Schema Markup in KGO

A knowledge graph can be built from text on a web page or from the schema markup. As schema markup is machine-readable data, it is much easier than extracting the data from text on a page.

If you publish schema markup alongside your page content, search engines understand the semantics of your page much better.

Google publishes a list of schema markup required for inclusion in rich results [^richt_results] in the SERP.

Footnotes