Introduction to Structured Data Markup
The goal of this article is to show a part of what JSON-LD structured data to build a foundation for learning all of it. The focus is to introduce two parts of structured data called the structured data Type and the Property.
Definition of Structured Data Markup
Structured data is written a coding language with logical structure to it. It’s called a Markup Language. A markup language is computer code that is can be written, read and understood by humans. HTML is an example of a markup language.
Understanding the different parts of structured data markup takes the mystery out of it and helps you become better able to use it and not have to depend on others to help you with it. Structured data is easier than it looks!
Once you finish this article you will have a better understanding of structured data and can begin to understand the code. You will also be better able to take advantage of the ranking opportunities that structured data offers.
In my previous article (What is Structured Data) I outlined the basics of structured data that explains what structured data is.
If you haven’t read that article yet, I encourage you to read it to get an understanding of what structured data is, who is responsible for it and how Google uses it for your benefit.
About JSON-LD Structured Data
JSON-LD is used to communicate Schema.org structured data. JSON-LD stands for JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data. There are others ways to communicate structured data but JSON-LD is Google’s preferred version. It’s easier to understand, too.
How Structured Data Markup is Organized
Structured data is basically information (data) that is presented in an organized manner (structured). When you think about structured data, just remember that it’s nothing more complicated than information that is presented in an organized way.
Two Structured Data Terms You Need to Know
There are many technical terms used in Schema.org structured data. But there are two that are important to understand first because they are the basic building blocks of structured data.
Two fundamental terms to know are:
- Types
- Properties
A Schema structured data is about a (data) Type and can contain more than one Type within the JSON-LD structured data script. Each Type has Properties that are associated with each Type.
The Type can be thought of as a thing and the Property can be thought of as attributes of that thing that describe what that thing is.
As an analogy, let’s think of a Type as being a person. That person may have attributes associated with them like their educational level, address, their job status, etc.
The person in the above analogy is the Type. The attributes of that person (education level, etc.) are the Properties associated with that Type.
So when you see the phrase Structured Data Type, you can know that it’s the main topic or thing of what the structured data is about.
Structured Data Type and Case
Taking a look at the above examples of structured data types, it’s evident that there is a capitalization structure to it. The first letter of each word in a structured data type is capitalized.
That’s called PascalCase. PascalCase is a way of naming things by using compound words (where two words are joined together) and capitalizing the first letter of each word.
Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/introduction-to-structured-data/381451/
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