A HowTo schema generator, with the caveat up front
This howto schema generator writes HowTo JSON-LD: a named task, the steps that complete it, and
optionally what it costs, how long it takes, and which supplies and tools it needs. Fill in the form
and the block assembles itself beside it, ready to paste. Everything happens in your browser.
Before you use it, the important part. Google no longer shows HowTo rich results. In 2023 it cut them back to desktop and then removed them from Search entirely, so this markup will not put step thumbnails or a collapsible list under your result on Google. The tool says so beside the output as well, because an old tutorial promising otherwise is the likeliest reason you arrived here.
Why the markup can still be worth writing
HowTo remains a valid type in the schema.org vocabulary, and Google was never its only reader. Other search engines, voice assistants, answer engines, browser reading modes and internal content pipelines parse how-to structured data to lift steps out of a page reliably. For a site that already has procedures in a consistent template, emitting the block costs little. For a site deciding where to spend markup effort for Google alone, there are better candidates, such as product, recipe or video markup, which still earn rich results.
What goes in the block
Steps. step is an ordered list of HowToStep nodes. Each one needs text, the instruction
itself. A short name is optional and useful when the page shows headings per step; an image per
step is optional too. A step row with a name but no text is flagged and dropped, since the text is
what a reader or an assistant actually follows.
Time. totalTime is an ISO 8601 duration such as PT1H30M. Type hours and minutes and the
string is written for you; 75 minutes becomes PT1H15M.
Cost. estimatedCost is a MonetaryAmount with a three-letter currency code and a plain
number. £3 in the amount box is caught, as is a currency without an amount.
Supplies and tools. One per line. Supplies are used up; tools are kept. Duplicates and blank lines are removed.
Keep the markup and the page in step
Structured data describes what is on the page; it is not a second copy with extra detail. Every step in the block should appear on the page in the same order, with the same wording or close to it, and the time and cost should match what readers are told. When you edit the tutorial, regenerate the block from the new text rather than patching one by hand, so the two never drift apart.
HowTo JSON-LD compared with FAQ markup
A procedure and a list of questions are different shapes, and each has its own type. If your page is a set of separate questions, the FAQ schema generator is the right tool; if it is a guide or blog post, the article schema generator marks up the page as a whole, and a HowTo block can sit beside it. Once published, the structured data validator checks the JSON-LD for syntax and vocabulary errors, which is the relevant test now that no Google rich result is at stake.