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Yoast Schema Markup

Tells a search engine the page type, content relationships, and site identity by adding JSON-LD structured data to WordPress pages through the Yoast SEO plugin.

If you have ever assumed schema markup automatically guarantees rich results, you already know the markup is only a signal, not a promise.

Key points

  • Define your site identity as Organization or Person in Yoast's Site Representation before any other schema settings.
  • Match the assigned schema type to the page's actual content — a landing page is not an Article.
  • Validate schema output with Google's Rich Results Test after every major plugin or theme update.
  • Keep schema simple: Yoast's defaults cover most needs; custom schema blocks are for specific rich result use cases.

The same content, different schema outcomes

A travel blog initially set Yoast's site representation to Person, missing the organisation logo. Blog posts were tagged as WebPage, not Article. After switching to Organization and adding a logo, the About page gained a logo-rich result in search, but posts still lacked Article rich results. Validation with Google Rich Results Test caught the mismatch. The site's rich content seo improved only after correcting the schema type assignment.

Three common schema mistakes

  • Wrong site identity Choosing Person when the business is an Organization breaks logo and contact schema, preventing organisation-level rich results. It also confuses the schema graph.
  • Incomplete author data Leaving author name or profile URL empty in Yoast's Person schema creates weak markup. Fill in the author's full name and a link to their author page.
  • Mismatched page type Assigning Article schema to a landing page or a product page confuses the search engine and may disqualify the page from relevant rich results. This misrepresents the page purpose.

Three settings that affect every page's schema

  • Site representation Defining your site as Organization or Person sets the central node for all schema graphs, affecting how entities are linked across pages. This choice also determines required fields like logo or personal name.
  • Default schema types Posts and Pages can be assigned default schema types (Article, WebPage, etc.) in Yoast's Search Appearance settings, applied automatically unless overridden. This is a foundational step in schema implementation.
  • Schema controls in metabox Each post or page has a metabox where you can override the default schema type and article type, giving per-page control. Unlike google microformat, Yoast uses JSON-LD, so this control is critical for fine-tuning.

Common questions

How do I add schema markup in WordPress with Yoast?

Yoast SEO adds schema automatically. Go to SEO > Search Appearance > Schema to set defaults, and use the post metabox for per-page overrides.

How do I add structured data in WordPress?

The Yoast SEO plugin adds JSON-LD structured data automatically. You can control it via the Schema Settings in the plugin's dashboard.

Sources

  1. Yoast Help: Implementing schema with Yoast SEO Official guide to configuring schema in Yoast SEO
  2. Google Search Central: Structured data Google's overview of structured data and its purpose
  3. Schema.org The vocabulary source for schema types used by Yoast
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