Search engine optimization is a field that never stops changing. Focusing on keywords and meta tags alone is no longer enough to succeed. Today, using structured data so that search engines like Google understand your content properly is critical. In this guide we set out how to make your content clearer to them and how to stand out in the results.

Update: because this article was more than 10 years old, it was rewritten against current practice on 12.08.2025. Structured data matters a great deal in technical SEO.

What Structured Data Is and Why It Matters

Structured data is a standardized format that presents the information on your web page (prices, products, article titles, author names, customer ratings and so on) to search engines far more clearly.

The main things structured data gives you:

  • Rich results: it lets your product pages appear in the results with extra information such as price, stock status and star ratings. That catches the eye and lifts your click-through rate (CTR).
  • Better understanding: it helps search engines understand your content in context. Alongside “what?”, your site becomes one that can also answer “who?”, “when?” and “where?”.
  • Fit for voice search: structured data makes your content more reachable for voice services such as Google Assistant.

From Microdata to JSON-LD: The Current Standard

In 2015 microdata was in wide use; today the format Google recommends and the one most widely accepted is JSON-LD.

What JSON-LD gives you:

  • Cleaner code: JSON-LD does not get mixed into the page HTML. Sitting inside a <script> tag in the head, it keeps your HTML cleaner and easier to read.
  • Easier to manage: instead of marking up data separately in different parts of the page, it lets you manage all the structured data in one block.
  • Supported by Google: Google officially recommends JSON-LD for rich results. Using it raises the chance your pages qualify for them.

Common Schema.org Types, With Examples

Structured data uses a library of schemas called Schema.org, which forms the common language of the search engines. Here are some of the types used most often:

1. Article: used for your blog posts or news.

JSON

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "Güncel SEO Rehberi: 2025 Trendleri",
  "image": "/images/seo-rehberi.jpg",
  "datePublished": "2025-08-12T17:00:00+03:00",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Tahir Dinç"
  },
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Türk SEM"
  }
}
</script>

2. Product and Review: essential for an e-commerce site. It shows information such as the product price, its rating and its reviews in the search results.

JSON

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org/",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "Türk SEM SEO Danışmanlık Hizmeti",
  "image": "/images/seo-danismanlik.jpg",
  "description": "Profesyonel SEO Danışmanlığı ile işinizi büyütün.",
  "sku": "TS-SEO-001",
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "priceCurrency": "TRY",
    "price": "5000.00",
    "itemCondition": "https://schema.org/NewCondition",
    "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock"
  },
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "4.9",
    "reviewCount": "25"
  }
}
</script>

How to Test Your Structured Data

Once the code is on your page, always test it with Google’s official tools:

  • Rich Results Test: paste in your URL or your code and check which rich results your page qualifies for.
  • Schema Markup Validator: used purely to check whether your schema code is written correctly.
  • To generate JSON-LD for a restaurant, you can use our Türk SEM tool.

Conclusion

When we first wrote about this it was called microdata; today the same thing goes by structured data or JSON-LD. If there is another sweeping change in the years ahead, we will revise this article again. This piece was revised after a Turksemveri warning.

Structured data is one of the cornerstones of modern SEO. It gets your content understood more accurately by the search engines and gets it more attention in the results. Using JSON-LD as of 2025, you can prepare your site for what is coming and get a step ahead of the competition.

At Türk SEM we are ready to help with your structured data strategy. For professional support, send us whatever questions you have.