Glossary
Plain-English definitions for every technical term you'll encounter while using Schemafy.
Glossary
Every term explained in plain English — no assumptions, no jargon.
Structured data
Invisible code you add to a web page that tells Google what the page *means* — not just what it says. Without it, Google guesses. With it, Google knows: this is a product priced at $49, this is an event on Friday, this is a FAQ page. Structured data is what makes rich results possible.
Schema markup
The same thing as structured data. "Schema" comes from Schema.org — the organization (founded by Google, Bing and Yahoo) that defines the standard vocabulary for describing web content. "Markup" means code added to a page. The terms are used interchangeably.
Schema.org
A shared dictionary for the web. It defines what a "Product" is, what fields a "Recipe" can have, what makes a "LocalBusiness". When your schema uses Schema.org vocabulary, every search engine understands it the same way. Visit schema.org to browse all types.
JSON-LD
The format Schemafy uses to write structured data. JSON-LD stands for "JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data" — but you don't need to know what that means. All you need to know is that it's injected inside a <script> tag in the <head> of your page, Google reads it, and it never affects how the page looks to visitors.
Rich results / Rich snippets
A search result that shows more than just a title and description. Examples: stars from reviews, a price, expandable FAQ questions, a recipe photo with cook time, a job listing with salary. Rich results are only possible when Google finds valid structured data on the page.
SERP
Search Engine Results Page — the page Google shows after you type a search. Each result on the SERP is either a standard result (title + description) or a rich result (with visual enhancements). Schema is what makes the difference.
CTR (Click-Through Rate)
The percentage of people who see your result in Google and actually click it. Rich results improve CTR because they stand out and provide more information. A product result showing 4.8 stars and $29 gets more clicks than a plain result with just a title.
Meta tags
Hidden lines of code in a page's <head> that describe the page to browsers and search engines. The most important ones are:
- Meta title (
<title>): the clickable headline in Google results - Meta description: the text under the title in Google results
- Open Graph tags: control the title, description and image shown when sharing on social media
Open Graph
A set of meta tags (og:title, og:description, og:image) that control how your page looks when shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and other platforms. Without them, those platforms pick a random image and title from your page — usually the wrong ones.
Twitter Cards
Similar to Open Graph, but specifically for Twitter/X. Controls the card format (summary, summary with large image) and the text shown when someone tweets your URL.
Crawling
When Google's bots (called "Googlebots" or "spiders") visit your pages to read their content. Google crawls the web continuously. How often a page is crawled depends on how popular and frequently updated it is.
Indexing
After crawling a page, Google decides whether to add it to its search index — the database of pages it shows in results. A page must be indexed to appear in Google search. Schema only helps if the page is indexed.
noindex
A signal you can add to a page (via a meta tag or your SEO plugin) that tells Google "don't add this page to your index." Pages with noindex can't appear in search results and can't have rich results. Common on: checkout pages, thank-you pages, internal search results.
Google Search Console (GSC)
A free Google tool that shows you how Google sees your website. In GSC you can check which pages are indexed, see schema errors, request faster crawling of specific pages, and monitor your rich results performance. Essential for anyone serious about SEO.
Rich Results Test
A free Google tool (search.google.com/test/rich-results) where you paste a URL and it tells you whether the page's schema is valid and which rich result types it's eligible for. Use it every time you create a new schema.
E-E-A-T
Stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. Google's framework for evaluating content quality. Structured data (especially Author, Person, and Organization schemas) helps signal E-E-A-T by giving Google verifiable information about who created the content.
Canonical tag
A tag that tells Google which version of a page is the "official" one, to avoid duplicate content issues (e.g., with URL parameters or paginated content). Schemafy's schema injection respects canonical settings automatically.
Hreflang
A tag that tells Google which language and region a page is for, so Google shows the right language version to the right user. Relevant if your site has multiple language versions.
WooCommerce
The most popular e-commerce plugin for WordPress. Schemafy has a native WooCommerce integration that automatically maps product data (price, stock, ratings) to Product schema without manual entry.
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)
A way to structure data as text, using curly braces and key-value pairs. JSON-LD is schema written in JSON format. You don't need to write JSON — Schemafy does it for you — but you'll see it when using the Manual Editor or reading schema source code.
Orphan schema
A schema that was assigned to a page that no longer exists (because you deleted or renamed it). Orphan schemas sit in the database doing nothing. Rich Snippets Manager → Clean Orphans removes them automatically.
AI Proxy
Schemafy's AI Generator doesn't connect directly to OpenAI from your WordPress site. Instead, it sends the request to Schemafy's proxy server (endpoint-schemafy.vercel.app), which calls the AI on your behalf. This means your WordPress site never stores an API key, and the AI call is always made securely.
Gutenberg
The default WordPress block editor — the visual editor you use to write posts and pages. Also called the "block editor." Schemafy adds a sidebar panel to Gutenberg so you can configure meta tags without leaving the editor.
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for the feedback!