Schema markup

Schema.org is a shared vocabulary started by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Yandex and maintained with the wider web community. It defines types such as Organization, Article, Product, SoftwareApplication, BreadcrumbList and FAQPage, each with properties like name, author, price or date. Schema markup applies that vocabulary to a page so its meaning is explicit rather than inferred.

Google supports three formats: JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa. It recommends JSON-LD, a block of script in the page that sits apart from the visible HTML and is easiest to maintain. Two rules matter most. Markup must describe content visible on the page, and a page must include all required properties for a type to be eligible for a rich result. Google’s Rich Results Test shows whether the markup parses and which rich results it qualifies for.

Why it matters for a SaaS website

Structured data removes guesswork about who published a page, when, and what it is about. Article markup with an author and dates, Organization markup with your logo and profiles, BreadcrumbList for site structure and SoftwareApplication for the product give search engines consistent facts to work with. Some types still earn visible rich results; others simply make the page easier to classify.

Rich results change, though. In 2023 Google limited FAQ rich results to authoritative government and health sites and stopped showing HowTo results entirely, and from May 2026 FAQ rich results stopped appearing for anyone. Markup is worth adding for clarity, not for a specific snippet that can disappear.

How DesignMe handles it

We add structured data that matches what each page actually is. Insight articles carry Article markup with author and dates, and our glossary pages describe each entry as a DefinedTerm with breadcrumbs and an FAQ block. In Framer and Webflow we add JSON-LD through custom code; on Astro and Next.js builds it is generated from the same data as the page, so it never drifts from the visible content. On migrations, rebuilding schema is part of carrying over on-page SEO.

Example

Say a SaaS blog has 200 posts and no structured data. Adding an Article template with headline, author, publish date, updated date and image, plus BreadcrumbList on every post, takes one template change in the CMS. Google’s Rich Results Test confirms the markup parses, and search engines get the same author and dates the reader sees.

Common mistakes

• Marking up content that is not on the page. Google’s guidelines rule it out, and it can cost eligibility.
• Copying old snippets. Plugins and templates often ship outdated types or missing required properties.
• Adding FAQ markup for the snippet. Google no longer shows FAQ rich results, so add it only where it genuinely describes the page.
• Letting markup drift. Hard-coded JSON-LD with an old price or date contradicts the page. Generate it from the same source.