Understanding Structured Data
Structured data is a standardized way to provide information about your page content in a format that machines can understand. The most common implementation uses JSON-LD with Schema.org vocabulary.
Why Structured Data Matters
- Rich Results: Enable enhanced search appearances (ratings, prices, FAQs)
- AI Understanding: Help AI systems accurately interpret your content
- Entity Recognition: Connect your content to knowledge graphs
- Citation Accuracy: Improve how AI systems cite your content
Common Schema Types
- Article/NewsArticle: Press releases and news content
- Organization: Company information and credentials
- Person: Author expertise and credentials
- FAQPage: Question and answer content
- Product: Product information and pricing
- HowTo: Step-by-step instructions
Implementation Formats
- JSON-LD: Recommended. Script tag in head or body.
- Microdata: Inline HTML attributes
- RDFa: Similar to Microdata, less common
Key Takeaways
- Structured data helps machines understand page content
- JSON-LD with Schema.org is the recommended format
- Enables rich results in search and better AI interpretation
- Key types: Article, Organization, Person, FAQPage, Product
- Essential for AI discoverability in the Citation Economy