Schema.org: The Vocabulary Behind Structured Data
Schema.org is the shared vocabulary that powers structured data across the web. Learn what types look like and how to pick the right one for a page.
Schema.org is the shared vocabulary of structured data, created by the major search engines so any site can describe content the same way.
Who Built Schema.org
Schema.org was launched jointly by Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex so that one vocabulary could serve the whole web instead of every engine inventing its own.
Because the vocabulary is shared, markup written once is understood by all major engines, which made Schema.org the default for structured data.
Types and Properties
The vocabulary is organized into types like Article, Product, and FAQPage. Each type describes a kind of thing, and each type has properties that fill in the details.
Types can nest, so a Recipe can contain a Review, and both can belong to the same page entity.
How to Use It
In practice you write Schema.org as JSON-LD in the page head and choose the single type that best matches the content.
The rich results test and the schema validator catch missing or misapplied properties before the markup goes live.
The Limits
Not every type has a defined rich result, and search engines will ignore or penalize markup that contradicts the visible page.
The vocabulary changes constantly, so the official docs are the place to check what is currently recommended.
The page: a recipe blog wants its posts to show cook time and ratings in search.
The reading: the Recipe type provides cookTime, recipeYield, and aggregateRating, exactly what the page displays.
The fix: the blog adds Recipe markup in JSON-LD with those properties filled in.
Why it works: the result can show the time and stars, making the recipe far more clickable.
Quick Tip
One accurate type beats five guessed types; search engines reward markup that matches the page exactly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Schema.org, Bottom Line
Schema.org is the common language that lets sites describe content once and have every search engine understand it.
Pick the right type, fill it honestly, and let the vocabulary do the talking.