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§ 6.0.6 ARTICLE
Published VerifiedEvery 6 weeks Sources3 named Authored bySquareRank Team

Glossary · § 6.0.6 · Defined term

Structured data

Structured data is machine-readable markup that describes the meaning of page content — an event, a product, a person, a recipe — in a standard vocabulary like Schema.org1, so search engines and AI engines can interpret the page beyond raw HTML. The vocabulary is Schema.org; the recommended syntax is JSON-LD; the install on Squarespace is Code Injection.

On a site without structured data, a page about a wedding photographer in Brooklyn is a string of words. With structured data, that same page is a Person entity whose jobTitle is "wedding photographer," whose address is in Brooklyn, who knowsAbout film and digital wedding photography, whose sameAs includes their Instagram and a Knot directory listing. The page becomes parseable as data, not just text.

Definition

Structured data is machine-readable markup that describes the meaning of page content — an event, a product, a person, a recipe — in a standard vocabulary like Schema.org, so search engines and AI engines can interpret the page beyond raw HTML.

The phrase has two parts. Structured means there is a predictable shape — named properties, typed values, parent-child relationships — that a parser can rely on. Data means the content is treated as information to be processed, not just as text to be displayed. Together: markup that turns a page into a record a machine can read with confidence.

Vocabulary vs syntax: Schema.org and JSON-LD

Structured data has two parts: a vocabulary (the words and grammar — what fields a Person has, what an Event requires) and a syntax (how the markup is written on the page). The vocabulary used across 99% of the web in 2026 is Schema.org. The syntax Google recommends is JSON-LD, embedded in a <script type="application/ld+json"> tag in the page's HTML.

Two older syntaxes still exist: Microdata (HTML attributes embedded directly in elements) and RDFa (similar). Both are valid; neither is recommended for new builds. JSON-LD wins because it separates markup from layout: a designer changes the page's visual without breaking the data, and the data can be authored once at the top of the page rather than scattered across every element. On Squarespace this matters even more because Squarespace's editor manages the layout autonomously; JSON-LD survives template changes that would shred inline Microdata.

What structured data actually does

Three real outcomes in 2026. First: Google may render the page with a rich-result enhancement (star ratings, FAQ accordion until 7 May 2026, recipe card, breadcrumb trail, event card) when the markup is feature-eligible and the page ranks. Second: AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, AI Overviews) parse the markup to disambiguate entities and extract structured fields. Third: the page becomes machine-readable in any downstream context — Knowledge Graph absorption, Pinterest rich pins, Apple Spotlight indexing.

A frequent misconception: "schema makes my page rank higher." Structured data is not a direct ranking signal in classical Google search2. What it does is enable specific surface features and improve the engine's confidence in what the page is about. The downstream effect on traffic comes from those features (richer SERP card, AI-engine citation), not from a rank boost.

Structured data on Squarespace specifically

Squarespace ships basic structured data automatically — Article schema on blog posts, ImageObject on images, BreadcrumbList on most pages. The platform's auto-emitted markup is conservative and incomplete by 2026 standards. Custom JSON-LD via Code Injection (Business plan and above) is required for: full Person schema with sameAs, Organization schema with knowsAbout, LocalBusiness with hours and service area, Service with price, FAQPage on the FAQ hub, HowTo on tutorial pages.

The install pattern: open Page Settings → Advanced → Page Header Code Injection on the specific page, paste your validated JSON-LD inside <script type="application/ld+json"> tags, save. For sitewide schema (Person, Organization), use Site-Wide Header Code Injection under Website → Website Tools → Code Injection. Validate at validator.schema.org before declaring the install done; the Schema.org validator continues to recognise all valid markup even after Google's Rich Results Test narrows its scope3.

Structured data sits at the centre of the schema cluster. Adjacent terms below.

Keep reading · § 6.0.6