Schema.org — What is it?

Decision rule and boundaries

Schema.org is a shared vocabulary for structured data that lets a page describe its entities and relationships in machine-readable form. Schema.org provides a vocabulary for describing visible entities and their relationships in structured data. It helps machines interpret a page, while eligibility and presentation in a search feature remain separate decisions made by the search system.

Conceptual diagram explaining Schema.org. — The diagram maps visible page facts to the structured-data properties that describe them.

How to inspect it

Inspect the rendered page and generated graph together. Validate type names, identifiers, references, required properties for any claimed feature, and whether every important value is visible and current on the page.

Practical workflow

Start from the page’s real entity—for example an article, product, or organisation—then add the smallest accurate graph. Re-test after templates or content change and investigate conflicting duplicate markup.

Common mistakes and measurement limits

A valid graph does not guarantee a rich result, indexing, or ranking. Markup for hidden, unavailable, or fabricated facts can create a policy problem rather than a useful enhancement. The common failure mode is adding markup for a rich-result feature the page does not qualify for or treating validation as a display guarantee.

FAQ

Schema.org is a shared vocabulary for structured data that lets a page describe its entities and relationships in machine-readable form.

Inspect whether the markup parses, matches visible content, uses the right type and property values, and has no conflicting graph, then record the source, date, configuration, and missing evidence.

Do not confuse one observation with a guarantee. A common error is adding markup for a rich-result feature the page does not qualify for or treating validation as a display guarantee.