This factor reports whether RankGear finds a HowToSection @type declaration in a page’s raw HTML — a value of 1 when the string is present, 0 when it is not. It is a text match on source, not a validation that your structured data forms a correct JSON-LD graph.
| Factor ID | RG-SCJ-115 |
|---|---|
| Family | Structured Data — JSON-LD |
| Measurement | Binary presence (0 / 1) |
| Measured zone | Raw rendered HTML |
What it measures
This factor reports whether RankGear finds an @type value of HowToSection in the page’s raw source. HowToSection is the schema.org type used to group a set of related steps inside a larger HowTo — for example, splitting a long procedure into named phases. The factor is a single yes/no observation: the markup is there, or it is not.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear searches the raw HTML for the @type declaration, allowing flexible whitespace around the value and optionally accepting a schema: prefix. Matching is case-insensitive, so capitalization differences do not affect the result. Any match anywhere in the source returns 1; no match returns 0.
What RankGear looks for
"@type": "HowToSection"The pattern tolerates variable whitespace and an optional prefix, so all of the following also match:
"@type":"HowToSection"
"@type" : "howtosection"
"@type": "schema:HowToSection"| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | The HowToSection type string was found in the raw HTML. |
| 0 | No HowToSection type string was found. |
How to optimize it
Use HowToSection only for a logical group of related steps within a valid HowTo, with an accurate section name and correctly ordered contents. Every property should reflect content a user can actually verify on the page. Treat this factor as an observation of what your markup declares, not a target to chase: adding the string without a genuine step-by-step procedure behind it does not improve the page — it just makes the structured data inaccurate.
Important considerations
- The detector pattern-matches source text; it does not parse or validate a JSON-LD graph.
- A matching string that sits outside valid JSON-LD — in a code sample, a comment, or malformed markup — can still produce a 1.
- Capitalization differences do not affect detection.
- Validate your complete structured data independently (for example, with a schema testing tool) — this factor confirms presence, not correctness.
- This is a prioritization signal that relates to how pages are structured within a measured result set. Presence of the markup correlates with structure; it does not, on its own, cause or guarantee a ranking.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.