Profile Schema

Profile Schema 

The Profile schema is designed for websites to detail structured information about individuals or organizations, enhancing their visibility in search engine results. This schema is integral for enabling search engines to accurately understand and index profile information, thereby improving its discoverability online.

Similar to schemas tailored for specific content types, such as the FAQPage or NewsArticle, the Profile schema requires detailed inputs about the person or entity being profiled. By incorporating a Profile schema into a webpage, critical information is highlighted, including the name, occupation, location, and a brief description of the profile subject. This structured approach significantly enhances how profiles are displayed in search results, providing immediate and valuable insights to users.

The Profile schema encompasses essential fields, categorized into mandatory and recommended, as detailed below:

Mandatory Fields:

name: Specifies the full name of the person or the official name of the organization.

occupation: Describes the primary occupation, role, or business focus of the subject.

location: Indicates the geographical location, detailed further with address components.

Recommended Fields:

description: Offers a concise summary or introduction to the individual or organization.

image: Links to representative images or logos.

affiliation: Lists any associated institutions, organizations, or entities.

alumniOf: Mentions educational affiliations, if pertinent to the individual’s profile.

awards: Highlights notable recognitions or awards received.

skills: Details specific skills, competencies, or areas of expertise.

By thoughtfully incorporating these fields, anyone can create a more engaging and informative profile. This not only enriches the user experience but also potentially elevates the profile’s visibility and ranking in search results. The detailed presentation of profiles through this schema helps users in quickly grasping key information, facilitating a better understanding and discovery of professionals and organizations.

The main distinction between a Profile and Person Schema is found in their applications. The Person Schema is designed exclusively for individuals, capturing personal details such as name, job title, and achievements to boost visibility on search engines and ensure consistency. 

On the other hand, the Profile Schema is more comprehensive, designed to hold information about both individuals and organizations across different platforms, with the flexibility to add specific details relevant to the context. The Profile Schema offers greater flexibility, tailored to cater to the diverse requirements of various platforms and their users.

How to access Profile schema using Rich Snippets

Access it from METAs – Rich Snippet – Profile

Clicking on the “+” symbol will open up a panel where you can start editing and customizing your Schema Template.

A pop-up will appear

Add your data, a question and its answer.
Mandatory fields will have small red starlike symbol (*) added to them:

Headline: Serves as a summary that captures the main focus of the profile. For an individual, it can be the professional identity, key skills, and aspirations, similar to a Person schema. For an organization or a business profile, the headline could highlight its primary mission, value proposition, or the services it offers. For example, an organization’s profile might have a headline like “Innovating Sustainable Energy Solutions for a Greener Tomorrow.” The headline is designed to grab attention and convey a snapshot of what the profile is about in a compelling way.

The “{{title}}” section might have different interpretations depending on the profile’s nature. For individual profiles, it retains its meaning as the job title, describing the person’s official position or role. For organizational or project profiles could refer to the official name or designation of the project, department, or the organization itself. 

This field is automatically added by Squirrly SEO, however you can manually change it.

Description – Offers a detailed narrative about the profile, whether it’s for an individual, a company, an event, or a project. This field is where you can elaborate the background, skills, achievements, mission, or any other significant details that provide a fuller understanding of the profile subject.

This field is {{excerpt}} meaning that if not manually added/modified it will import a brief summary or snippet of the content on the page.

Email – Use a professional-looking email address, especially for business or professional profiles. This typically means using an email that incorporates the name of the individual or organization (e.g., john.doe@example.com or contact@companyname.com).

Address – It indicates where you, your business is located. It’s like dropping a pin on a map so others can find you. The format and level of detail can vary depending on the context and the need for privacy, however, for businesses we recommend adding this field.
A recommended format for structuring the “address” field is as follows:

• Street Address: The number and street name of the building (e.g., “123 Main St”).
• City/Town: The name of the city or town (e.g., “Springfield”).
• State/Province: The name of the state or province, if applicable (e.g., “Illinois”).
• Postal/Zip Code: The postal or zip code to help in mail delivery (e.g., “12345”).
• Country: The name of the country (e.g., “United States”).

Gender –  This section can include a variety of options beyond just “male” or “female” to respect and acknowledge the diversity of gender identities. People might identify as non-binary, genderqueer, transgender, and more, or simply prefer not to say. For a business this field can be skipped. 

Job title – Specific label that describes a the current position or role within an organization

Note: While the job title is about one’s current role and its specific functions, the headline is a broader, self-defined statement that provides a snapshot of the person’s professional identity and aspirations.
Example:
Job title:  “Software Engineer” versus Headline: “Experienced Software Engineer Specializing in Machine Learning and AI”

Make sure to click on Save

With this you have a Profile schema set up. All there is left to do is check it up and see if it works as expected. This is easier than you imagine, and Squirrly will help with the steps.

Verify Markup

After saving your changes, you can verify that the Profile schema markup has been added correctly by viewing the page or post source code. Look for the JSON-LD markup representing the Profile schema.

1. Click on JSON-LD Code – Validate JSON-LD

2. A new page / tab will open you will get you test code, click on TEST CODE

3. A small pop-up appears, and you will have to wait a few moments for the data to be processed
4. Once data is processed, you will be able to see your work, test it, share it and use it to enhance your work.

For further details, we recommend referring to the following resources
Profile Page Schema
Profile page (ProfilePage) structured data

The Squirrly SEO Patterns List