Common Pitfalls & How to Fix Marking Up Hidden Content The Mistake: Adding Schema for content that isn't visible to the human user (e.g., fake reviews in JSON-LD that don't exist on the page). The Fix: Google issues manual penalties for this. Ensure all structured data matches the visible content on the screen. Broken Syntax The Mistake: Missing a comma or curly brace in the JSON. The Fix: One syntax error invalidates the entire block. Always use the Rich Results Test tool or Mygom's validator. Using Deprecated Formats The Mistake: Using old Microdata or RDFa inline HTML attributes. The Fix: While still technically supported, they are messy and hard to maintain. Switch to JSON-LD for cleaner code separation. How to Audit with Mygom Mygom extracts the JSON-LD from your page and verifies: It parses correctly as valid JSON. It contains the required @context and @type fields. It identifies which high-level entities (Organization, Product, Breadcrumb) are present.","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Mygom.tech"},"datePublished":"2025-11-24T13:20:07.538Z","dateModified":"2025-11-25T10:09:46.489Z","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://mygomseo.com/glossary/structured-data"}}
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Structured Data (Schema.org)

FigureHow Schema transforms data. HTML is just text; Schema is meaning.

What is Structured Data?

Search engines are good at reading text, but they struggle with context. Structured Data translates your human content into machine-readable JSON-LD code. It explicitly tells Google: "This string of numbers is a price," "This date is an event start time," or "This image is a product thumbnail."

Why it Matters for SEO

1. Rich Snippets (The "Click Magnet")

This is the biggest advantage. Structured data powers the visually enhanced results in Google, such as:

  • Star Ratings: Increases trust and CTR.
  • Product Info: Price, availability, and reviews shown directly in search.
  • Recipe Cards: Images, cooking time, and calories.
  • FAQ Blocks: Expandable questions/answers that take up more screen real estate.

2. Voice Search Optimization

Voice assistants (Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant) rely heavily on structured data to answer direct questions like "How long does it take to cook a turkey?" or "What is the price of the iPhone 15?"

Code Implementation (JSON-LD)

JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is Google's preferred format. It lives in a <script> tag in your <head>.

Organization Example:

json
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Mygom SEO",
  "url": "https://mygomseo.com",
  "logo": "https://mygomseo.com/logo.png",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://twitter.com/mygomseo",
    "https://linkedin.com/company/mygom"
  ]
}
</script>

Common Pitfalls & How to Fix

Marking Up Hidden Content

The Mistake: Adding Schema for content that isn't visible to the human user (e.g., fake reviews in JSON-LD that don't exist on the page).

The Fix: Google issues manual penalties for this. Ensure all structured data matches the visible content on the screen.

Broken Syntax

The Mistake: Missing a comma or curly brace in the JSON.

The Fix: One syntax error invalidates the entire block. Always use the Rich Results Test tool or Mygom's validator.

Using Deprecated Formats

The Mistake: Using old Microdata or RDFa inline HTML attributes.

The Fix: While still technically supported, they are messy and hard to maintain. Switch to JSON-LD for cleaner code separation.

How to Audit with Mygom

Mygom extracts the JSON-LD from your page and verifies:

  1. It parses correctly as valid JSON.
  2. It contains the required @context and @type fields.
  3. It identifies which high-level entities (Organization, Product, Breadcrumb) are present.