Structured Data
Machine-readable markup added to web pages that explicitly describes the content's meaning and relationships to search engines. Structured data uses standardized formats like JSON-LD to enable rich search results and knowledge graph inclusion.
Structured data transforms your page content from ambiguous text into explicitly typed information that search engines can reliably parse. Instead of inferring that a page contains a recipe, product listing, or FAQ, you declare it explicitly using Schema.org vocabulary in JSON-LD format, which Google strongly prefers over Microdata or RDFa.
For growth-focused sites, structured data is the gateway to enhanced SERP visibility. Product schema enables rich results with pricing, ratings, and availability. FAQ schema can win expandable answers directly in search results. Article schema helps content appear in Google News and Discover. How-to schema generates step-by-step visual results. Implement structured data server-side in your page templates to ensure search engines see it on first crawl. Validate with Google's Rich Results Test and monitor performance through the Search Console Enhancements reports. Focus on structured data types that match your content and have visible SERP features, as not all schema types trigger rich results.
Related Terms
Core Web Vitals
A set of three Google-defined metrics that measure real-world user experience for loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability. Core Web Vitals are a confirmed ranking factor in Google Search.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
A Core Web Vital that measures the time from page load start until the largest visible content element (image, video, or text block) is rendered on screen. Good LCP is 2.5 seconds or less.
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
A Core Web Vital that measures the latency of all user interactions (clicks, taps, keyboard input) throughout the page lifecycle, reporting the worst interaction. Good INP is 200 milliseconds or less.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
A Core Web Vital that measures the total amount of unexpected layout shifts that occur during a page's entire lifespan. Good CLS is 0.1 or less, where layout shifts are calculated from the impact and distance of moving elements.
Time to First Byte (TTFB)
The duration from the user's request to the first byte of the server response reaching the browser. TTFB measures server-side processing speed and network latency, directly impacting all subsequent loading metrics.
Crawl Budget
The number of pages a search engine bot will crawl on your site within a given timeframe, determined by crawl rate limit and crawl demand. Crawl budget optimization ensures important pages are discovered and indexed efficiently.