Here’s why structured data matters, the key schema types to use, and advanced techniques to boost visibility in rich results. Many search engines now depend on structured data to improve user experiences, and this reliance will likely grow even more in 2025.
As a result, structured data is no longer optional but a crucial part of any solid SEO strategy.
Let’s dive into the key information about structured data, including why it’s important, major trends, key schema types, advanced techniques, and more.
What is structured data?
Structured data is a standardized way of organizing and labeling your page content, helping search engines understand it better.
Google uses structured data to generate enhanced listings, rich results, and various features in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Appearing in these features can improve your site’s visibility and organic reach, especially in entity-based searches.
Vocabulary
Schema.org is the most commonly used vocabulary for structured data. It’s an open-source framework that provides a vast library of types and properties.
Schema.org offers hundreds of predefined types, such as Product, Event, or Person, and properties like name, price, and description.
Format
The preferred format for structured data is JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data). This format is supported by Google and other search engines.
JSON-LD keeps structured data within a <script> tag, separate from the HTML, making it easier to implement and more flexible, especially for large websites with dynamic content.
Validation
To make sure your structured data is eligible for rich results, correct implementation is essential.
Tools like Google’s Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator can help check for errors or missing elements, ensuring your schema is properly set up.
Why Structured Data Matters More Than Ever
Structured data allows search engines to understand your website’s content in greater detail, which can improve indexing and how your pages are displayed in search results.
It also provides opportunities for websites to tap into new, less competitive areas of search, such as voice and image search, driving traffic and engagement beyond traditional SEO methods.
Zero-Click Search and Brand Authority
Many SERP features—such as knowledge panels and featured snippets—depend heavily on structured data to deliver answers directly in search results.
The rise of “zero-click searches,” where users get the information they need without visiting a site, has made structured data indispensable for SEO and while these features might not always lead to visits, they can still boost brand visibility, impressions, and recognition.
Consistently appearing in rich results keeps your brand top of mind and reinforces trust, which is critical in today’s SEO landscape where brand authority is key.
Key Schema Types to Use in 2025
While new schema types are regularly developed, certain evergreen types remain essential and should be considered:
Ecommerce
Product schema, often paired with Offer and Review schema, is crucial for ecommerce websites. It provides important product details like price, availability, and reviews, contributing to rich snippets like product carousels and review stars.
Merchant listings (combining Product and Offer schema) are great for new ecommerce sites seeking early visibility via Google Shopping.
Aggregate The Offer: Schema is the most ideal for marketplace websites, allowing them to display offers from multiple vendors for a single product, which help users compare prices.
Informational
FAQ schema is perfect for providing answers to common questions directly in search results, boosting engagement. It can also appear in voice search and rich results.
Q&A schema works similarly but is tailored to pages where users submit questions and receive multiple answers, typically in forums. It powers the Q&A carousel and enhances visibility for long-tail queries.
Article and WebPage schema can increase your visibility in Google News, Discover, and top stories carousels, as well as in voice search.
Events
Event schema is used to mark up information for both virtual and in-person events, such as webinars, concerts, or any type of meetup or engagement. It will provide key details like the event date, location, ticket availability, and performers, that will ensure your event is featured in Google’s event listings.
Google now supports additional properties like BroadcastEvent and ScreeningEvent, improving how live events and screenings are shown in search results.
How to Use Structured Data in 2025
As user behavior evolves, certain structured data applications will play an increasingly important role in SEO:
Entity-Based Search
Search engines are now prioritizing entities, such as people, places, and concepts—over individual keywords. When use schemas, like Person, Organization, or Place, you can clearly define entities and improve their visibility in Knowledge Graphs and entity-based results.
The SameAs schema can help search engines understand that an entity on your site matches one mentioned elsewhere. Linking your entity to trusted external sources like Wikipedia or authoritative social profiles can strengthen its association and improve its recognition in rich search results.
Speakable
Speakable schema (still in beta) is vital for optimizing content for voice search. It helps search engines identify which parts of your page are best suited for audio playback through devices like Google Assistant.
This is especially useful for publishers and news websites, as they can mark up content to be featured in spoken responses.
Multimodal Search
Multimodal search allows users to search using a combination of inputs like text, images, and voice. AI models that process multiple data types at once are driving this trend.
Using VideoObject and ImageObject schemas ensures multimedia content is properly indexed and ranked, improving your site’s performance in various types of searches.
Schema Nesting
Schema nesting allows for complex relationships within structured data. For instance, you can nest a Product schema within an Offer schema, which is then nested within a LocalBusiness schema.
This communicates information about product availability, pricing, and location, offering more contextually rich search results like local availability for specific products.
Another great example that I can touch upon is nesting a Recipe schema within a HowTo schema, which is then nested in a Person schema. This setup would allow search engines to show rich snippets containing recipe steps, ingredients, and the person who created the recipe. Nesting provides flexibility for different search intent, enabling search engines to prioritize relevant information based on the user’s query.
Maximize Your Search Visibility with Structured Data
Structured data has become a critical component of SEO success for both small and large websites and with hundreds of schema types, growing applications in AI, and evolving SERP features, structured data’s importance will continue to grow through 2025.
By leveraging structured data creatively and strategically, you can stay ahead of the curve, ensuring visibility in today’s search features while preparing for future opportunities.
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