Structured Data: A Visibility Strategy, Not a Ranking Shortcut

Google’s John Mueller’s recent post on Bluesky confirms that structured data won’t make a site rank higher. The headline might sound discouraging: structured data is not a ranking shortcut. But let’s not be anxious and jump to the conclusion.

Read this article to understand the nuance, and then pick your conclusions that fit your techniques to aim for rich media displays and site ranking results effectively.

What Exactly is This “structured data”?

In 2011 Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and Yandex collaborated to create Schema.org, a shared vocabulary for structured data, to improve search engines’ understanding of content.

Structured Data is code (usually in JSON-LD format) added to a website’s HTML. It uses schemas from Schema.org to mark up your website’s content, which makes it easier for search engines to understand your site’s intent better. It can also be understood as the “language of search engines.”

Past Overview :

Back in 2018 (in a deleted tweet), John Mueller explained that there is “no generic ranking boost” from structured data, but structured data rather improves targeting and ranking for the right terms.

Here’s his deleted tweet:

Touching the same grass on April 13, 2025, on Bluesky with a post clarifying that schema.org won’t have any effect on your site’s Google Search (organic search results). This proves that structured data is rather just a blueprint of your site’s content and not the ultimate key to ranking high on Google Search.

Here’s his Bluesky post:

Why Care About Structured Data?

Now that it’s clarified that structured data isn’t a direct ranking factor, using it for its designed purpose seems more logical. Here’s how:

Unlock Enhanced Displays: Think of structured data as a VIP pass for your content, unlocking visually engaging “rich results” on Google. Like a captivating storefront, showcasing key details (price, ratings, images) directly in search results grabs attention and entices more clicks.

Speak the Search Engine Tongue: Think of structured data as meticulously labeling every element on your webpage in a language search engines fluently understand. This clarity helps Google understand the context and purpose of your content, making it more likely to appear in relevant search features.

“Schema-First” Content Creation: How a library easily provides information and knowledge in a well organized manner for humans, structured data provides a precise format for modern search technologies, including AI. By tagging your content clearly, you ensure it’s readily understandable for these evolving systems, potentially unlocking new ways for your information to be presented.

Building a Clear Foundation: Implementing structured data isn’t just about talking to algorithms; it’s about architecting a cleaner, more logical, and user-friendly home for your website’s content. This commitment to clarity enhances the user experience, which search engines deeply value, creating a robust foundation that benefits both their crawlers and your click-through rates.

This clarifies that you can’t ignore or stop using structured data because it’s crucial for helping search engines understand your website. Which is the first most important step to “get your website recognized” by ensuring your website is crawlable and indexable.

• Enable Crawler Access: This involves having a properly configured robot.txt file that doesn’t block essential crawlers.
• Ensure indexable pages: Use meta robots tags (index, follow) to allow search engines to include your pages in their index.
• Submit an XML sitemap to search engines: This helps them discover all the important pages on your site.

Clarity to Clicks:

Despite John Muller’s clear stance that structured data directly affects ranking, dismissing it would be a strategic misstep. This clarity of communication is the catalyst that transforms mere presence into engaging displays and, ultimately, drives clicks from interested users.

In essence, while structured data may not be the ranking “magic bullet,” it’s an essential blueprint that enables your content to shine brighter and communicate effectively with the search engines. It’s an important attribute for better site ranking and showcasing your media clearly.