Course schema markup: example, properties and WordPress setup

JSON-LD example

Copy this into a <script type="application/ld+json"> tag and replace the values with your own.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Course",
  "name": "Intro to Data Analysis with Python",
  "description": "A six-week course covering pandas, data cleaning, charts and a final analysis project.",
  "provider": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Brightline Academy",
    "sameAs": "https://example.com"
  },
  "educationalLevel": "Beginner",
  "inLanguage": "en",
  "educationalCredentialAwarded": "Certificate of completion",
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "category": "Paid",
    "price": 349,
    "priceCurrency": "USD"
  },
  "hasCourseInstance": {
    "@type": "CourseInstance",
    "courseMode": "Online",
    "courseWorkload": "PT4H",
    "instructor": {
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Dr. Samuel Osei"
    },
    "startDate": "2027-01-12",
    "endDate": "2027-02-23"
  }
}

Properties

When to use it

Use Course on a page describing one course: its landing page, syllabus page or enrollment page. It fits online courses, bootcamps, university modules and multi-session workshops.

Don't use it for:

• A single one-off class with a date. That is closer to an Event, which still has a Google feature.
• A blog post that teaches something. That is an Article.
• A catalog page of many courses. Mark up each course on its own page.

Google has also documented a course list carousel for summary pages that link to several course pages. Check Google's current documentation before building for it, since its structured data features have changed several times since 2023.

Add it in WordPress

By hand. Print the JSON-LD from wp_head on each course page, or generate it from your LMS plugin's course fields if it does not output markup already.

With Hydrogen SEO. Course is one of the documented schema types. Choose it in the course page's SEO Settings sheet and fill in the name, description and provider; smart tags (type @) can insert values such as the page title. If your LMS plugin already prints Course markup, check the page source and keep one block. With a free account, AI-assisted schema can draft the fields from a plain-language description of the course for you to review.

Common mistakes

• Expecting a rich result. Course info is gone; don't prioritize this over types that still earn features.
• Provider missing or vague. Name the organization that actually runs the course.
• Stale dates and prices. Update hasCourseInstance and offers when a new cohort opens.
• Marketing copy as description. Say what the course covers, not how life-changing it is.
• Durations as text. Use ISO 8601, such as PT4H for a weekly workload.

More: invalid structured data.

Test it

Use the Schema Markup Validator (validator.schema.org) to confirm the Course, its provider, offers and course instances parse as expected. Google's Rich Results Test is still worth running on the same live URL to check any other markup on the page, such as breadcrumbs or ratings. Purge page caches before testing, and run a free SEO audit to find course pages with no structured data.