Structured data gives machines an explicit description of the things a page contains: a product, organisation, person, article or event, for example. It adds context. It does not replace useful content or make an unsupported claim true.
The original 2013 article used punctuation to explain meaning: “Let’s cook Jim!” is not the same as “Let’s cook, Jim”. A machine-readable description similarly needs the right relationships, not just recognisable words.
Start with the visible facts
Choose a relevant schema type and describe the actual subject of the page. Product information, availability, business details and reviews must agree with the content people can see. Do not manufacture ratings, reviews or offers to make the markup look more complete.
This also resolves the question raised in our later article about markup working for or against a site: relevance and accuracy matter, not an arbitrary rule to use as little markup as possible.
Validate the implementation
Google supports JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa. Its structured-data introduction says all three are acceptable when correctly implemented and recommends JSON-LD in most cases because it is usually easier to maintain. Guidance checked 10 September 2026. Follow the requirements for the specific supported search feature rather than copying an unrelated example.
Use the Rich Results Test for applicable Google features and URL Inspection to check the published page. Inspect what the theme and apps already output so they do not describe conflicting prices, availability or identities.
Keep it maintained
Assign an owner for changes to the underlying business facts. Recheck markup after theme, app and product-data changes. Technical validation is one check; accuracy against the visible page is another.
Valid structured data does not guarantee a rich result, rankings, sales or an AI citation. It helps describe the page clearly. The page still needs to answer a real customer question.
See our SEO service, AI consulting and internal linking guide.
This article has been updated to focus on accurate, maintainable structured data that agrees with the visible page.