Schema markup is a block of structured data in your page that spells out what the page is: an article with an author and a date, a product with a price, a business with an address. Search engines read it to understand your content rather than infer it. TamRank writes it for you, and the whole schema side of the plugin is free. This page shows what it outputs, where to change it, and the one thing about it that surprises people.
In short
- TamRank outputs schema automatically. There is nothing to switch on.
- Set your organisation details once under TamRank → Schema.
- Change the schema for a single page in the Schema tab of the TamRank SEO box.
- All of it is free. No credits, no PRO.
What TamRank outputs
On every page, TamRank writes one block of JSON-LD containing a connected set of nodes rather than a pile of separate snippets:
- an entity node for the site itself, which is your organisation
- a WebSite node that names your organisation as its publisher
- a node for the page you are on
- a BreadcrumbList, matching the trail a visitor sees
Connected matters here. Search engines follow the references between nodes to work out that this article belongs to this site which belongs to this organisation. A page that emits four unrelated snippets says much less than one that says how they fit together.
Your organisation details, set once
Go to TamRank → Schema. This is the Schema Builder, and it is a top-level menu item, not a settings tab.
Pick what your site represents:
- Organization, the default, for a company, publication or project. Fill in the name, logo, URL, contact details, address and social profiles.
- LocalBusiness, for a business people physically visit.
- Custom, if you would rather hand-write your own JSON-LD.
One thing to know about Custom: when you select it, TamRank outputs only your code. The structured fields above are ignored, even though they still have your values in them. It is an either/or, not a merge.
Changing the schema for one page
Open any post or page and find the Schema tab in the TamRank SEO box, next to SEO, Content and Social. You get three choices:
- Automatic, where TamRank works out the type from your content. This is the default and it is right most of the time. A Re-detect button re-runs it after you have changed the page.
- A template, where you pick the type yourself from the list, which covers the usual suspects such as Article, BlogPosting, NewsArticle, Product, Event and Recipe, plus a Custom option for your own JSON-LD.
- None, if you want this page left alone.
A live preview shows the JSON-LD the page will actually output, so you can see the effect before you save.
Why a suggested type sometimes does not appear
This is the part worth reading twice, because it is the most common schema question we get.
The chips showing extra schema types for a page come from a detector that reads your content and recognises patterns. A heading that reads like a set of instructions suggests HowTo. A run of questions and answers suggests FAQ.
The JSON-LD itself is built by a separate renderer, which tries to construct each suggested type from real data. If the data is not there, a HowTo without actual steps, an FAQ without question and answer pairs, it drops that type rather than emitting an empty shell.
So a chip is a suggestion, not a guarantee. If a type is suggested but missing from your output, the page does not yet contain what that type needs. Add the steps, or the questions and answers, and it appears. This is deliberate: an empty structured-data block is worse than none, because search engines treat it as a page that claims something it cannot back up.
Tip: schema describes your page, it does not upgrade it
It is tempting to read schema as a lever for rich results, and to add types in the hope of stars and prices in the listing. It does not work that way, and Google has narrowed which types earn a visual treatment considerably: HowTo results were retired, and FAQ results are now limited to a small set of government and health sites. Marking up a HowTo will not get you a HowTo result, whoever generated the markup.
What schema reliably does is remove ambiguity about what your page is, who published it and how it connects to the rest of your site. That is worth having on its own. Treat any rich result as a bonus, and never mark up something the page does not actually contain: markup that does not match the visible content is the one version of this that can genuinely hurt you.
Checking your markup
Two free tools, both worth using:
- Google’s Rich Results Test at search.google.com/test/rich-results shows what Google can do with your page.
- The Schema.org validator at validator.schema.org checks the markup against the vocabulary itself.
Test the live URL rather than pasted code, so you are checking what is really being served.
Troubleshooting
The Schema tab says no schema detected. Click Re-detect in the Automatic card, or choose a template by hand.
A suggested type is missing from my output. The renderer drops types it cannot build from real content. Add the steps, questions or fields that type needs.
My custom JSON-LD is showing but my organisation details are not. That is how Custom mode works. It outputs your code only. Switch back to Organization to use the structured fields.
Google reports duplicate structured data. Another plugin or your theme is also writing schema. Two SEO plugins at once is the usual cause. See Fixing plugin conflicts.
The dashboard Schema card says Set up. That card is a status, not a score. It turns to Active once your entity details are filled in under TamRank → Schema.
Frequently asked questions
Is schema markup a PRO feature?
No. The builder, the templates and the automatic detection are all free, and none of it costs credits.
Do I need to configure anything?
Only your organisation details under TamRank → Schema. Per-page schema is automatic.
Will schema improve my rankings?
Not directly. It helps search engines understand and present your page correctly, which is a different and more durable benefit.
Why is my FAQ markup not showing as an FAQ result?
Google restricted FAQ rich results to certain government and health sites. The markup is still correct and still read; the visual treatment is no longer generally available.
Where do I change schema for one page?
In the Schema tab of the TamRank SEO box on that page.
Related
- The other tabs in that box: Writing meta titles and descriptions
- When two plugins collide: Fixing plugin conflicts with TamRank
- The bigger picture: The complete WordPress SEO guide
- Back to Documentation
