TrustPublishing™

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Microdata

Microdata is an inline HTML markup format that uses attributes like itemprop, itemscope, and itemtype to define structured data directly in the page’s visible content.

Full Definition

Microdata is a W3C standard for embedding structured data directly into the HTML of a webpage. It allows you to label content elements with semantic meaning—so that machines can understand what a piece of text, link, or image actually represents.

Common Microdata attributes include:

  • itemscope – defines the scope of an entity
  • itemtype – declares the schema type (e.g. schema:Person)
  • itemprop – defines a property of the entity (e.g. name, description, url)

Although JSON-LD has become the preferred format for structured data, Microdata remains useful for:

  • Inline schema on elements like product ratings or authorship
  • CMS-driven environments where inline content rendering is required
  • Legacy SEO plugins or content editors that don’t support JSON-LD

Why It Matters

Microdata isn’t always visible to the user—but it’s still read by search engines and AI crawlers. In the TrustPublishing framework, it may serve as:

  • A fallback signal when JSON-LD is not available
  • A complementary trust marker inside paragraph or heading tags
  • A way to wrap dynamic content with semantic meaning

Use in Trust Publishing

While TrustPublishing prioritizes JSON-LD for all glossary, FAQ, and TrustDigest outputs, Microdata may be used for:

  • Inline rendering of DefinedTerm and FAQPage types
  • Marking up nested entities within the visible body of a page
  • Enhancing co-occurrence and semantic reinforcement in block-level content

Microdata is part of the Trust Publishing Markup Layer.

In Speech

“Microdata is how you add semantic meaning to content right in the HTML—without needing a separate script block.”

Related Terms

  • JSON-LD
  • TrustDigest™
  • Structured Signals
  • Trust Publishing Markup Layer

More Trust Publishing Definitions: