Glossary
Schema Markup
Schema markup is a standardised code format (based on the schema.org vocabulary) added to a webpage that tells search engines exactly what the content means (for example, that a block of text is a business's opening hours, a review rating, or a question-and-answer pair) rather than leaving them to guess from plain text.
Why it matters
Search engines can read plain text, but schema markup removes the guesswork. A page with FAQ schema, for instance, can have its questions shown directly in Google's results as an expandable list, and AI-driven search tools rely heavily on structured data to extract accurate answers rather than misreading a page.
It doesn't guarantee better rankings on its own, but it does make a page easier to understand correctly, which matters more as AI search answer engines summarise pages rather than just linking to them.
Common mistakes
- Marking up content that isn't actually visible to users (Google's guidelines treat this as spam)
- Copy-pasting schema from another site without updating the actual business details inside it
- Adding schema once and never updating it as the page content changes, so the two drift out of sync
- Assuming schema alone will improve rankings without addressing content quality
Related terms
Schema Markup FAQ
Do I need schema markup on my website?
It's not mandatory, but it's a low-cost, no-downside addition that helps search engines and AI tools represent your business accurately. Most professionally built sites include it as standard.
Does schema markup replace good content?
No. It describes content that already exists. It won't rescue a thin or unhelpful page; it just makes accurate content easier for machines to interpret correctly.
Where this applies
See this term in practice on Kwise Web's own pages.
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