Microdata is a structured-data syntax that embeds item and property attributes directly inside a page’s existing HTML elements, so the same markup that shows content to people also labels it for machines.
| Term | Microdata |
|---|---|
| Category | Structured Data, Social and Media |
| Also known as | HTML Microdata |
| Where it appears | Schema factors |
What it means in RankGear
Among the Schema factors, RankGear checks whether a page describes its content with Microdata — the inline attribute style, distinct from a JSON-LD script block. Rather than trusting the raw source, it reads the rendered markup and records whether the item and property attributes are present and what type they declare, then compares that against the pages already ranking for your query. Microdata annotates elements a visitor can already see: a heading becomes an itemprop for a product name, a span becomes the price, a byline becomes the author. Because it wraps visible content instead of living in a separate script, RankGear treats its presence as one structured-data signal worth confirming on a schema audit, alongside the other markup formats a competitor set might use.
How to interpret it
Read Microdata for what it actually declares, not just whether it exists. The point of the factor is coverage and correctness: does the markup name a real, supported type, use the exact property names a consumer expects, and describe content that appears on the visible page? Markup that asserts a rating, price, or event a user cannot find on the page is the failure mode search engines penalize, so a present-but-wrong annotation is worse than none. Check the specific properties and their formats rather than treating the signal as a simple yes/no. And as always, finding that ranking pages carry a given markup type describes how your page differs from theirs — it is not a score the search engine has assigned.
| Attribute | What it declares |
|---|---|
itemscope | Marks the element as the container for one item. |
itemtype | Names the vocabulary type for that item (for example a Schema.org type). |
itemprop | Labels an element as a named property of the item, such as name, price, or author. |
Example
You are auditing a recipe page and the Schema factors show that the top-ranking results all carry Recipe markup, while your page carries none. Opening the competitors’ HTML, you find Microdata woven through the visible layout — an itemscope itemtype on the recipe container, itemprop attributes on the title, cook time, and rating. The report surfaces the gap; you add the equivalent Microdata to your own visible elements, re-run the audit, and confirm the page now declares the same recipe properties the ranking set does.
Important considerations
- Microdata should describe content that is actually visible on the page; markup asserting information a user cannot see risks being ignored or flagged as spam.
- Being eligible for a rich or social presentation is not a guarantee that Google or any platform will display it — eligibility and display are separate steps.
- Microdata is one of several structured-data formats; JSON-LD is now the format Google most often recommends, so the presence of Microdata specifically is a fact about how a page is built, not a ranking verdict.
- Matching the markup that ranking pages use is a correlation with what currently ranks, not proof the markup caused those positions.
- Schema factor measurements are comparative indicators of how your page differs from competitors, not scores Google assigns.
Related terms
Part of the RankGear glossary · how RankGear measures · the 870 factors.