FAQ and structured data: what still works

What FAQ markup is

A FAQ page answers common questions in plain view. FAQ markup repeats those questions and answers in a form that programs can read, so that they do not have to guess. The vocabulary comes from schema.org: a page of the type FAQPage lists its questions (type Question, with a name), and every question has an accepted answer (type Answer, with a text). The usual format is JSON-LD, a block of data inside the page that visitors do not see.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "Do you ship abroad?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Yes. Countries and shipping costs are listed on the page Delivery."
      }
    }
  ]
}

What changed at Google

So you can no longer expect a list of expandable questions under your result in Google. Older guides that promise this are out of date.

The vocabulary of schema.org still exists, and the type FAQPage is still described there. Whether other search engines or tools read the data is up to them. Do not build your FAQ page for a rich result.

Rules for correct markup

• Mark up only what visitors can see. Every question and answer in the markup must also be on the page. Google's general rules say not to mark up content that is not visible.
• Use the real text of your page. Do not invent questions or answers for the markup alone, and do not use markup to mislead.
• Keep it current. When an answer on the page changes, change the markup too.
• Prefer JSON-LD. Google recommends it; Microdata and RDFa also work.
• Check every fact. Prices, times, addresses and links in an answer must be right, because both people and programs rely on them.

Is it still worth doing?

A clear FAQ section on the page helps your visitors, and that is reason enough to write it. Markup is an optional extra with no promised effect on how your page appears in Google. If you add it, keep it exactly in line with the visible text. Misleading markup can lead to a manual action by Google, which removes the eligibility of the page for rich results (general structured data guidelines of Google).

A sensible order

1. 1Collect the questions your customers really ask: support mails, chats, reviews.
2. 2Write short, true answers and put them on the page where everyone can see them.
3. 3Only then add the matching markup, if you want it.
4. 4Check that the markup is valid and says the same as the page. Check again whenever you change the content.

Create and check

The FAQ and schema markup tool writes FAQ entries from a page or from support texts and builds JSON-LD for FAQPage, Organization, LocalBusiness and Product. The code checks the required fields and compares numbers, addresses and links with your source. The text is AI-generated: read every answer and compare it with your page.

Do4U gives you a draft. It does not promise that a search engine will show anything for it.