How to Validate Schema Markup

Step-by-Step Guide to Validating Your Schema

Validating your schema markup is one of the most important SEO maintenance tasks. Here's exactly how to do it, from preparation through error correction.

Step 1: Prepare Your Schema Markup

Before you validate, have your schema markup ready. You can validate in two ways:

• Test a live page URL – Provide the full URL of your website page. The validator will crawl it and extract all schema markup automatically.
• Paste schema code directly – Copy your JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa code and paste it into the validator's input field.

The live URL method is usually easier for initial testing, while pasting code is useful for testing changes before you deploy them to production.

Step 2: Choose the Right Validator Tool

Different tools provide different levels of detail:

• Google Rich Results Test – The most important. Shows exactly how Google interprets your schema and whether it qualifies for rich snippets.
• Schema.org Validator – Checks compliance with Schema.org standards and catches structural errors.
• JSON-LD Validators – Specialized validators for JSON-LD syntax validation and property checking.

Start with Google Rich Results Test – it's the validator that matters most for SEO.

Step 3: Run the Validation

Once you've entered your URL or pasted your code, run the validator. It will analyze your schema markup and generate a report.

The validation typically takes just a few seconds.

Step 4: Review the Results

Your validation report will show three categories:

• Errors – Critical issues that prevent search engines from understanding your markup. These MUST be fixed. Examples: missing required properties, invalid data types.
• Warnings – Non-critical issues that don't break functionality but could impact performance or rich snippets. Fix these when possible.
• Valid Markup – Green checkmarks for properly formatted and compliant schema. These are good!

Step 5: Fix Any Errors

Common schema validation errors include:

• Missing required properties – Example: Organization schema requires "name" and "url"
• Invalid property values – Example: A URL field that contains non-URL text
• Wrong data types – Example: Using a string when the property expects a number or date
• Malformed JSON – Syntax errors like missing commas or brackets
• Invalid schema types – Using a schema type that doesn't exist in Schema.org

For each error, the validator should provide a clear message explaining what's wrong and where. Fix the error in your source code, then re-validate.

Step 6: Re-Validate and Confirm

After fixing errors, run the validator again. Repeat steps 4-6 until all critical errors are resolved.

Warnings can usually be ignored unless they directly impact your SEO goals.

Common Schema Markup Mistakes to Avoid

• Incomplete schema – Missing required properties. Each schema type has minimum requirements.
• Multiple conflicting schemas – Having two different types of schema for the same content (e.g., both Article and NewsArticle)
• Hardcoded test data – Using placeholder values instead of real data in your schema
• Outdated schema formats – Using old Microdata instead of JSON-LD when possible
• Schema in hidden content – Putting schema markup on elements users can't see (this can trigger manual actions from Google)

Why Automated Validation Helps

Manual checking of schema markup is error-prone. Automated validators:

• Catch syntax errors instantly
• Verify compliance with Schema.org standards automatically
• Flag missing required properties before deployment
• Show exactly how search engines will interpret your markup
• Save time and prevent SEO mistakes

Best Practices for Ongoing Validation

• Validate regularly – Check after every content update or schema change
• Test multiple pages – Don't validate just your homepage; check article pages, product pages, etc.
• Monitor Google Search Console – Watch for structured data errors reported by Google
• Stay updated – Schema.org standards evolve; keep up with new properties and best practices
• Document your schema – Keep a record of which pages use which schema types