A comprehensive schema markup audit reveals errors, missed opportunities, and optimization potential in your structured data implementation. This workflow systematically examines every piece of structured data on your site to ensure maximum rich result eligibility and SERP feature capture. By the end, you'll have a prioritized action plan to fix errors, implement missing schema types, and optimize existing markup for better search visibility.
This audit is essential for sites with existing structured data that want to maximize their rich snippet potential, troubleshoot declining SERP features, or prepare for a major content update.
What You'll Need
A live website with existing schema markup, access to Google Search Console, and Screaming Frog SEO Spider installed on your computer. You'll also need Schema Pro plugin access if you're auditing a WordPress site, or basic HTML knowledge to examine schema markup in the source code.
Step 1: Crawl Site for Existing Schema Markup
Time: 20 minutes | Tool: Screaming Frog SEO Spider Launch Screaming Frog and enter your domain in the URL field. Before starting the crawl, go to Configuration > Spider > Extraction and enable "Structured Data" extraction - this will pull all JSON-LD, Microdata, and RDFa markup during the crawl. Set the crawl to follow internal links only and start the analysis. Once complete, navigate to the "Structured Data" tab in the interface. Export this data to Excel, which will show you every page with structured data, the schema types implemented, and the specific properties used. Look for patterns in which pages have schema and which don't - this reveals your current coverage gaps. Note any pages showing "No Structured Data" that should have markup, particularly product pages, articles, or local business information.
Step 2: Test Critical Pages with Rich Results Tool
Time: 45 minutes | Tool: Google Rich Results Test Open Google's Rich Results Test tool and begin testing your highest-traffic pages identified from the Screaming Frog crawl. Start with your homepage, key product/service pages, and top blog posts. Paste each URL into the tool and analyze the results for both valid structured data and rich result eligibility. Pay close attention to the "Rich Results" section, not just the "Valid" structured data section. A page can have valid schema that doesn't qualify for rich results due to incomplete required properties. Document any warnings or errors for each page type. Common issues include missing required properties like "author" for articles, "priceRange" for local businesses, or "aggregateRating" for products. Create a spreadsheet tracking which pages have errors, which properties are missing, and which schema types could be enhanced.
Step 3: Analyze Search Console Performance Data
Time: 30 minutes | Tool: Google Search Console In Google Search Console, navigate to Enhancements > Structured Data to see Google's perspective on your schema implementation. This report shows valid items, warnings, and errors across your entire site. Click into each structured data type to see specific error details and affected URLs. Cross-reference these errors with your Screaming Frog data to identify discrepancies - sometimes Google sees errors that testing tools miss, often related to dynamic content or JavaScript rendering. Export the error data and note which schema types have the highest error rates. Check the "Valid with warnings" section particularly carefully, as these represent optimization opportunities where your schema works but could perform better.
Step 4: Identify Missing Schema Opportunities
Time: 40 minutes | Tool: Schema Pro Using Schema Pro's schema type library, audit your content types against available schema opportunities. Go through your site's main content categories - if you have FAQ sections, check if you're using FAQ schema; for how-to content, verify HowTo schema implementation; for reviews, ensure Review and AggregateRating schemas are present. Pay special attention to newer schema types that might not be in your original implementation: VideoObject schema for embedded videos, SpecialAnnouncement for COVID updates or business changes, or Product schema with enhanced properties like shipping details or return policies. Create a priority matrix based on traffic potential and implementation effort - high-traffic pages with easy schema wins should top your list.
Step 5: Create Implementation Priority Matrix
Time: 25 minutes | Tool: Google Search Console + Manual Analysis Combine data from all previous steps to create a prioritized action plan. Start with pages that have the highest Search Console impressions and click-through rates, then identify which of these have schema errors or missing opportunities. Use your GSC Performance report to see which pages already earn SERP features and could benefit from schema improvements. Categorize findings into three buckets: critical fixes (errors preventing rich results), high-impact opportunities (missing schema on high-traffic pages), and optimization wins (enhancing existing valid schema). Set timelines for each category - critical fixes should be addressed within one week, high-impact opportunities within one month, and optimization improvements within a quarter.
Common Pitfalls
- Testing only homepage and major pages while missing schema errors on category pages, author pages, or pagination URLs that often contain important structured data
- Focusing solely on validation without checking rich result eligibility - valid schema doesn't guarantee SERP features if required properties are missing
- Ignoring mobile-specific schema issues that only appear when Google renders pages on mobile devices, which can affect mobile SERP features
- Not accounting for dynamic content that changes schema markup based on user behavior, inventory levels, or time-sensitive information
Expected Results
A complete audit should reveal 15-30% of pages have schema markup errors or optimization opportunities, with high-traffic pages showing immediate improvement potential once fixes are implemented. You'll typically find 3-5 new schema types that could be implemented across your content, and existing schema can usually be enhanced with 2-4 additional properties per page. Track rich result appearances, SERP feature capture rates, and organic click-through rates as key performance indicators following your schema improvements.