Schema markup checklist

Ground rules before you add anything

• Use JSON-LD in the page head or body. Our note: Google recommends it, and it keeps markup out of your visible HTML.
• Mark up only what a visitor can see. Our note: hidden prices or reviews are a policy violation and a common cause of manual actions.
• Keep the data in sync with the page. Our note: a price in markup that differs from the page is worse than none.
• Add one primary type per page, with related types nested. Our note: do not stack five unrelated types to look complete.
• Remember that markup helps understanding and eligibility, not rank. Our note: a rich result is never promised.

Which type goes on which page

What no longer earns a rich result

Schema advice ages quickly. Check these before you spend time on them.

• FAQ rich results are now limited by Google to a small set of well-known government and health sites. Our note: you can still use FAQ markup for clarity, but do not add it for a visual boost.
• HowTo rich results were withdrawn in 2023. Our note: keep your numbered steps as visible content; skip the markup.
• Self-serving reviews on your own business page do not trigger star ratings. Our note: do not mark up testimonials as aggregate ratings.
• Sitelinks search box markup no longer does anything. Our note: remove it from old themes.

These rules change. Re-read Google's structured data documentation before a large rollout; we do it at the start of every markup project.

Ecommerce and catalog pages

Catalog sites are where schema mistakes multiply, because one template runs on thousands of pages. A manufacturing site like Asian Packaging, with 67 products across styles, plies and flutes, is a good example of a catalog where one broken field is repeated 67 times.

• Check one product page per template, not every page. Our note: fix the template and the rest follow.
• Give each variant its own Offer only if each has its own URL or price. Our note: otherwise use the lowest price with a clear range.
• Do not mark up a quote-only product with a price you do not publish. Our note: leave the Offer out and let the page explain how to ask.

Test routine

1. Validate syntaxPaste the code or URL into the Schema Markup Validator to confirm it is valid JSON-LD with real types and properties.
2. Check eligibilityRun the page through Google's Rich Results Test to see which rich results it qualifies for and any warnings.
3. Compare to the pageRead the markup next to the visible page. Every price, name and date should match.
4. Watch Search ConsoleThe enhancement reports for products, breadcrumbs and others list errors by template within days of Google recrawling.
5. Re-test after changesTheme updates, plugin updates and migrations quietly break markup. Add it to your launch checklist.

You can draft starter code with our schema markup generator. A downloadable copy of this checklist is meant to sit on this page for your developer.