This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung →
Indexing
Why must the schema context be written without www?
Because Google expects the context value in the form "https://schema.org" — with www in front, the parser doesn't recognise the context, and the page's entire structured markup gets ignored: no rich results, no entity matching. The difference is a single word fragment, the effect is total. Our check reads the @context value of every JSON-LD block and reports the www variant as its own finding.
An address as a vocabulary reference
A JSON-LD block's @context line tells the machine what vocabulary the following data uses — it's an identifier, not a clickable address. That's why strictness applies here: the accepted form is "https://schema.org" (the older http variant is also understood). The www spelling looks identical in a browser, since the website redirects there — but the data parser doesn't follow any redirect, it compares character strings. To it, "www.schema.org" is an unknown vocabulary, and it sets the whole block aside.
What the check exactly measures
The check reads the @context value of every JSON-LD block on the pages measured. The www variant produces its own finding, classed as serious — serious because it invalidates the complete markup, and yet is fixed in seconds: the value gets changed to "https://schema.org", centrally, if a template or extension generates it.
- Change the @context value to "https://schema.org" — without www.
- Find the source of the value: if it's in a template or extension, one fix covers every page.
- After the fix, cross-check with the Rich Results Test — the markup should now be recognised.
FAQ
In the browser, www.schema.org leads to the same page, though — why doesn't that count?
Because the context isn't an address anyone visits, it's a vocabulary identifier that's compared as a character string. The redirect that helps the browser doesn't happen during that comparison.
Is the old http spelling also an error?
"http://schema.org" is still understood for historical reasons and isn't a finding. The recommended form for new markup is "https://schema.org" — consistent and future-proof.
Does the error affect just one block or all of them?
Every block that carries the www variant. If the value comes from a central template, usually every block on the website carries it — then a single typo invalidates the structured markup for the entire domain, and a single fix restores everything.