Structured Content
Structured content is content stored according to defined fields and relationships rather than existing only as a free-form page or document.
Its meaning is separated from the layout used to present it.
What It Means in Practice
Instead of storing this:
Dr. Jane Smith — Executive Director — Halifax — [jane@example.ca](mailto:jane@example.ca)
as one piece of rich text, structured content might store:
- Name
- Role
- Location
- Biography
- Photograph
as separate fields.
Those fields can then be displayed differently in different contexts.
How It Relates to Content Models
A Content Model defines the structure.
A Content Type defines a particular kind of structured content.
Custom Fields hold individual values.
For example:
Content Type: Team Member
Fields:
- Name
- Position
- Photo
- Biography
Platforms such as Contentful describe content modelling as defining the structure and organization of content so it can be managed consistently and reused.
Structured Content vs. Structured Data
Structured content and Structured Data are related ideas but solve different problems.
Structured content is primarily about how information is stored and managed internally.
**Structured Data** in the Technical SEO collection describes machine-readable information added to web pages to communicate entities and relationships to external systems such as search engines.
For that second use case, Schema.org provides a widely used vocabulary for describing entities such as people, organizations, products, events, and articles.
A well-structured CMS can make producing accurate Structured Data easier because the underlying information already exists in predictable fields.
Why It Matters
Structured content can be:
- Reused
- Filtered
- Sorted
- Validated
- Queried
- Migrated
- Integrated
- Displayed through different templates
It also reduces the need for editors to repeatedly format the same kind of information manually.
Common Problems
Common problems include:
- Creating fields based entirely on the current visual design
- Storing several concepts in one field
- Too many custom fields
- Nearly identical Content Types
- Editors bypassing fields and rebuilding information in rich text
- Structures becoming so rigid they cannot support legitimate variation
How to Improve
Model information according to meaning.
Ask what the content is, not just how the current design displays it.
Then let Templates and Components decide how that information is presented.