Structured data is machine-readable markup added to a page’s HTML that labels its entities, properties, and relationships using a shared vocabulary — most often Schema.org — so search engines can read a page’s meaning directly instead of inferring it from the prose.
| Term | Structured Data |
|---|---|
| Category | Structured Data, Social and Media |
| Also known as | Schema Markup, Semantic Markup |
| Where it appears | Workbook Schema and structured-data factors |
What it means in RankGear
Structured data shows up in RankGear as the Schema area of the workbook and as a set of structured-data factors scored across the pages you analyze. Instead of reading the visible copy, these factors inspect the machine-readable layer a page ships — its JSON-LD, microdata, or RDFa — and record which markup types are present, which properties are populated, and whether your target page carries the same markup as the pages already ranking for the query.
How to interpret it
Read a structured-data factor as a presence-and-parity signal, not a ranking lever. The useful questions are which specific markup type and properties the ranking set uses, whether your page ships the same, and whether the format actually validates. Markup should describe content the visitor can see on the page: declaring a rating, price, or author that never appears on-screen invites a penalty rather than a rich result. Check the exact property and format, not just whether some schema exists.
| Comparison result | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Ranking pages carry it, target does not | A gap worth investigating — the markup may support how the query is presented in results |
| Target and ranking pages both carry it | Parity; no differentiation from this factor |
| Only the target carries it | Possible over-markup or a genuine differentiator — confirm it reflects real, visible content |
Example
A recipe page sitting on page one might ship Recipe schema in JSON-LD with cookTime, ratingValue, and ingredient properties filled in. Running the target recipe page through RankGear’s Schema workbook shows the ranking set consistently declaring Recipe markup while the target ships none. The report flags the missing type, and the fix is to add valid Recipe JSON-LD that mirrors the ingredients and rating already printed on the page.
Important considerations
- Eligibility is not display: valid markup makes a page eligible for a rich or social presentation, but the platform decides whether to show it — presence is never a guarantee.
- Describe only visible content: markup that asserts ratings, prices, or claims the visitor cannot see on the page risks a manual action rather than a reward.
- Correlation, not causation: a structured-data factor shows what ranking pages have in common, not that the markup caused the ranking. RankGear surfaces comparative patterns, not Google’s scoring.
- Validate the format: a factor reading “present” says nothing about correctness — confirm the type, required properties, and syntax validate before treating a gap as closed.
Related terms
Part of the RankGear glossary · how RankGear measures · the 870 factors.