Schema markup is structured data code you add to your website's HTML that tells search engines exactly what your content means, not just what it says. Instead of guessing whether '5' on your page means five dollars, five stars, or five items in stock, search engines read the schema markup and know precisely what you're communicating. The most common format is JSON-LD, which sits in a script tag and doesn't affect your visible page content. You can mark up products, reviews, articles, local businesses, events, FAQs, how-tos, recipes, job postings, and dozens of other content types. When implemented correctly, schema unlocks rich results in Google search, like star ratings under product listings, recipe cooking times with images, or event dates and locations displayed directly in the SERP. The direct SEO benefit isn't a ranking boost. Google has stated schema doesn't directly improve rankings, but it increases click-through rates by making your listing more visible and informative. A search result with star ratings and price typically pulls more clicks than a plain blue link, even at the same position. That traffic increase can indirectly signal relevance and improve performance over time. Common schema types we implement for Ottawa SEO clients: - Organization and LocalBusiness for NAP consistency and knowledge panels - Article or BlogPosting for news and blog content - Product and Offer for ecommerce with price and availability - FAQPage to trigger expandable FAQ boxes in search results - Review and AggregateRating for star ratings in SERPs Test your markup with Google's Rich Results Test tool before deploying. Invalid schema won't break your site but it won't trigger rich results either, so validation matters. Schema.org maintains the vocabulary, but Google only supports a subset, so check Google's structured data documentation for what actually works in search. We add schema during initial site builds and update it when content types change. It's not optional anymore for competitive industries. If your competitors have rich results and you don't, you're losing clicks even if you rank higher.