Structured Data Is Free SEO: A Guide to JSON-LD Schema Markup

Google's search results have evolved far beyond ten blue links. Rich snippets show star ratings, price ranges, recipe calories, FAQ accordions, event dates, and job listings directly in the results page. The mechanism behind all of these is structured data, specifically JSON-LD schema markup. What schema markup does Schema markup is a vocabulary (defined at schema.org) that tells search engines what your content means, not just what it says. A page about a recipe contains ingredient lists, cooking times, and nutritional information. Without schema, Google sees text. With schema, Google sees structured data it can display as a rich result. The impact is measurable. Pages with rich snippets typically see 20-30% higher click-through rates than plain results at the same position. An FAQ schema can add 2-4 additional lines to your search result, pushing competitors further down the page. JSON-LD is the preferred format Three formats exist for structured data: JSON-LD, Microdata, and RDFa. G