This article provides a step-by-step guide to troubleshoot missing schema markup on a website, specifically when schema has been generated in OTTO but is not displaying on the live site. Follow these steps to resolve caching conflicts, deployment issues, or plugin conflicts that may be blocking your schema from appearing.
Step 1: Confirm Schema Generation
Check Schema in OTTO or Other Schema Generators:
Ensure your schema is correctly generated in OTTO or any other schema deployment tool.
Copy the generated schema to compare with your live site to verify that it’s fully implemented.
Step 2: Check the Live Site Source Code
View Page Source:
Go to your website, right-click the page, and select "View Page Source."
Search for key schema properties, such as
"type": "Organization"
,"address": "PostalAddress"
, and"context": "https://schema.org"
.If the schema is not visible in the page source, proceed with the following steps.
Step 3: Validate Schema with External Tools
Use Schema Markup Validator:
Go to Schema Markup Validator and input your website URL to see if the schema is recognized.
Alternatively, you can use Google’s Rich Results Test to verify if the schema meets Google’s requirements for rich results.
Step 4: Clear Website Cache
Website caching may serve an older version of your site, which could be missing recent updates, such as schema markup.
If Using a Caching Plugin (e.g., W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache):
Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
Go to Plugins, locate your caching plugin, and open its settings.
Select Clear Cache or Purge All Cache to clear the stored website version.
Refresh the page and check if the schema appears in the source code.
If Server-side Caching is Enabled:
Access your hosting control panel (e.g., GoDaddy, SiteGround, or Bluehost).
Locate Cache or Performance settings and clear the server-side cache.
Refresh the website to confirm if the schema updates are now visible.
Step 5: Purge CDN Cache (if applicable)
Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) can cache content globally, which may prevent schema updates from appearing.
If Using Cloudflare or Another CDN:
Log in to your CDN dashboard (e.g., Cloudflare).
Select your domain and go to the Caching section.
Click Purge Everything to clear all cached data across CDN servers.
Once purged, revalidate the schema with the tools from Step 3.
Step 6: Check for Plugin Conflicts
Deactivate Potential Conflicting Plugins:
Temporarily deactivate any SEO plugins (e.g., Rank Math, Yoast) that might interfere with schema deployment.
Refresh the page and re-check the source code for the schema to determine if a plugin conflict was blocking schema updates.
Step 7: Confirm Deployment in Google Search Console
Use Google Search Console:
Check for any indexing or crawl issues in Google Search Console that could prevent schema from being fully recognized.
Look under Coverage and Enhancements to confirm that Google is detecting your schema correctly.
Summary
Following these steps should help you resolve any issues with schema markup not appearing on your live site. This guide addresses common causes such as caching conflicts, CDN issues, and plugin interference. By systematically checking each area, you can ensure that schema markup is deployed properly and reflected in search engine results.