HowTo is a Schema.org type for instructions that achieve a result through a sequence of steps, with optional tools, supplies, time and cost. Google used it for HowTo rich results that showed steps directly in search. In August 2023 Google announced HowTo rich results would be limited to desktop, and shortly afterward removed them entirely. The markup is still valid Schema.org but has no Google search feature.
The markup structure
A HowTo has a name and a step array of HowToStep items, each with text and optionally a name, image and url to an anchor on the page. HowToSection groups steps, and HowToTool and HowToSupply list what is needed.
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "HowTo",
"name": "Connect Slatebarrow to your data warehouse",
"step": [
{ "@type": "HowToStep", "text": "Create a read-only warehouse user." },
{ "@type": "HowToStep", "text": "Add the credentials under Settings, Sources." }
]
}What changed and what to do
With the rich result gone, HowTo markup offers no documented Google benefit. Existing markup does no harm. For new work, effort is better spent on clear numbered steps in the HTML itself, which search engines and AI systems can parse without markup, and on screenshots and headings that make the steps easy to follow.
Recipe markup, a separate type, still supports rich results and is unaffected.
Example
Help center tutorials
Slatebarrow's help center added HowTo markup to dozens of setup guides in 2022. After the feature was removed, the team stops maintaining the markup in new articles and reallocates the time to adding ordered lists and anchor links to each step.
Common mistakes
Following outdated tutorials
Guides from before late 2023 present HowTo markup as a quick win. It no longer is.
Questions
No AI search vendor has documented using HowTo markup. Clear, well-structured steps in the visible content are the safer investment.
