{ "title": "Structured data", "seo_title": "Structured data: definition, JSON-LD and WordPress", "h1": "Structured data", "description": "Structured data: what schema.org markup in JSON-LD is for, what it does and doesn't guarantee, and how to manage it cleanly on WordPress.", "lead": "Structured data is standardized markup, most often in JSON-LD format with the schema.org vocabulary, that explicitly describes a page's content: article, product, recipe, organization or author. It helps search engines interpret the page and can make it eligible for Google's rich results.", "language": "en", "locale": "en-US", "type": "definition", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/structured-data/", "canonical": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/structured-data/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/structured-data/index.md", "json": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/structured-data/index.json", "published": "2026-10-28T08:00:00+00:00", "modified": "2026-10-28T20:02:34+00:00", "site": { "name": "WP Masquerade", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/" }, "translations": [ { "language": "en", "hreflang": "en-US", "title": "Structured data", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/structured-data/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/structured-data/index.md", "json": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/structured-data/index.json" }, { "language": "fr", "hreflang": "fr-FR", "title": "Données structurées", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/fr/definitions/donnees-structurees/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/fr/definitions/donnees-structurees/index.md", "json": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/fr/definitions/donnees-structurees/index.json" }, { "language": "es", "hreflang": "es-ES", "title": "Datos estructurados", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/es/glosario/datos-estructurados/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/es/glosario/datos-estructurados/index.md", "json": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/es/glosario/datos-estructurados/index.json" }, { "language": "de", "hreflang": "de-DE", "title": "Strukturierte Daten", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/de/glossar/strukturierte-daten/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/de/glossar/strukturierte-daten/index.md", "json": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/de/glossar/strukturierte-daten/index.json" }, { "language": "it", "hreflang": "it-IT", "title": "Dati strutturati", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/it/glossario/dati-strutturati/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/it/glossario/dati-strutturati/index.md", "json": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/it/glossario/dati-strutturati/index.json" }, { "language": "pt", "hreflang": "pt-BR", "title": "Dados estruturados", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/pt/glossario/dados-estruturados/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/pt/glossario/dados-estruturados/index.md", "json": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/pt/glossario/dados-estruturados/index.json" }, { "language": "nl", "hreflang": "nl-NL", "title": "Gestructureerde data", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/nl/woordenlijst/gestructureerde-data/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/nl/woordenlijst/gestructureerde-data/index.md", "json": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/nl/woordenlijst/gestructureerde-data/index.json" } ], "headings": [ { "level": 1, "text": "Structured data" }, { "level": 2, "text": "How structured data works" }, { "level": 2, "text": "What it brings, and what it doesn't guarantee" }, { "level": 2, "text": "For WordPress" }, { "level": 2, "text": "A common mistake: revealing login usernames" } ], "body": "A human reader effortlessly understands that a page presents a recipe, a $49 product or an article written by a given person. A crawler has to guess all of that from the HTML. Structured data hands it this information in an explicit, standardized form, which reduces misinterpretation and unlocks certain enhanced displays in [search results pages](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/serp/).\n\n## How structured data works\n\nThe markup pairs a type (Article, Product, Organization, BreadcrumbList, Event…) with properties (headline, author, date, price, availability). The most widely used vocabulary is schema.org, maintained jointly by several search engines. Google supports three syntaxes, JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa, and treats them as equivalent as long as the markup is valid. It does, however, recommend JSON-LD, which is easier to maintain because it sits in a script block separate from the visible content.\n\n```\n\n```\n\nFor Google Search features, Google's own documentation is the reference: when it differs from schema.org (required or recommended properties), follow Google's version first.\n\n## What it brings, and what it doesn't guarantee\n\n- **Better understanding** of the page: who publishes it, what type of content it is, and when it was published.\n- **Eligibility for rich results** (breadcrumbs, reviews, products, events…). Eligibility only: Google never guarantees they will be shown, and markup that doesn't follow its guidelines can make a page ineligible.\n- **No bonus for generative AI.** Google's guidance on its AI features states that structured data is not required to appear in them and that no special schema.org markup is needed. It still advises continuing to use it for rich results. The topic is covered in our definition of [GEO](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/generative-engine-optimization/).\n\n*Video: “Structured Data for beginners” (Google Search Central)*\n\n## For WordPress\n\nWordPress doesn't output JSON-LD on its own. SEO plugins (Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO…) and some themes generate a graph describing the site, the organization, the page and the author. A few good habits:\n\n- **A single source of markup**: a theme and a plugin that each describe the article produce conflicting duplicates. Turn one of them off.\n- **Visible content only**: don't mark up reviews, prices or questions the reader can't see on the page.\n- **Test after every change** with Google's Rich Results Test, then keep an eye on the dedicated Search Console reports.\n- **Keep the plugin up to date**: SEO plugins run on millions of sites and have had vulnerabilities too, as [Yoast SEO's security history](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/yoast-seo-security-vulnerabilities/) shows.\n\n## A common mistake: revealing login usernames\n\nThe Person type that describes the author often contains the URL of their author archive, whose last segment is the login username by default. That is a gift for [user enumeration](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/user-enumeration/) by attack bots. Point the author to an “About” page instead, and give them a display name different from their username: you keep a trust signal that supports [E-E-A-T](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/e-e-a-t/) without handing out half of the login credentials. Our article on [getting a secure WordPress site ready for GEO](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/geo-secure-wordpress-llms-txt/) covers these settings in detail.\n\n## Related terms\n\n- [SERP](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/serp/)\n- [Featured snippet (position zero)](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/featured-snippet/)\n- [GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/generative-engine-optimization/)\n- [E-E-A-T](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/e-e-a-t/)\n- [User enumeration](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/user-enumeration/)\n\n\n## Sources\n\n- [Google Search Central : présentation des données structurées](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data)\n- [Google Search Central : optimiser votre site pour les fonctions d’IA générative de la recherche Google](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide)", "definition": "Structured data is standardized markup, most often in JSON-LD format with the schema.org vocabulary, that explicitly describes a page's content: article, product, recipe, organization or author. It helps search engines interpret the page and can make it eligible for Google's rich results.", "group": "SEO and marketing", "aka": [ "schema.org", "JSON-LD", "schema markup", "microdata", "rich snippets markup" ], "related": [ { "title": "SERP", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/serp/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/serp/index.md" }, { "title": "Featured snippet (position zero)", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/featured-snippet/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/featured-snippet/index.md" }, { "title": "GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/generative-engine-optimization/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/generative-engine-optimization/index.md" }, { "title": "E-E-A-T", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/e-e-a-t/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/e-e-a-t/index.md" }, { "title": "User enumeration", "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/user-enumeration/", "markdown": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/user-enumeration/index.md" } ], "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Central : présentation des données structurées", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data" }, { "title": "Google Search Central : optimiser votre site pour les fonctions d’IA générative de la recherche Google", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide" } ], "format": "application/json" }