Search engines are good at reading web pages, but they still benefit from a little help. Structured data, often called schema markup, is code added to your website that spells out key facts in a format machines understand: your business name, address, opening hours, the services you offer, the author of an article and so on.
It is invisible to visitors, but it helps search engines interpret your content accurately and can make your pages eligible for richer search results.
How structured data works
Most structured data uses a shared vocabulary from Schema.org, written in a format called JSON-LD, which Google recommends. It sits in the page’s code as a small block of text. Here is a simplified example for a local business:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "LocalBusiness",
"name": "Example Plumbing Ltd",
"telephone": "+44 1482 000000",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "1 Example Street",
"addressLocality": "Hull",
"postalCode": "HU1 1AA",
"addressCountry": "GB"
},
"openingHours": "Mo-Fr 08:00-17:30",
"url": "https://www.example.co.uk/"
}There are more specific types than LocalBusiness, such as Plumber, Electrician, Dentist or AccountingService, and using the most accurate one is best.
Useful types for small business websites
- LocalBusiness (or a more specific type): name, address, phone, opening hours, area served and links to your social profiles. Usually added to the homepage or contact page.
- Organization: your logo, official name and contact details, helping search engines connect your website with your brand.
- Article or BlogPosting: headline, author, publication date and image for blog posts.
- BreadcrumbList: shows your site structure, which can appear in search results instead of a long URL.
- Product: price, availability and reviews for online shops.
- Event: dates, location and ticket details for workshops or events.
Photo by Haberdoedas on Unsplash
What structured data will and will not do
It is important to be realistic. Structured data is not a ranking shortcut, and adding it does not guarantee any special appearance in search results. Google decides when to show rich results, and it has restricted some types over time; FAQ rich results, for instance, are now mostly limited to authoritative government and health websites.
What it does do is remove ambiguity. It makes it clearer which business a page is about, where it operates and what the page contains, which supports how search engines, and increasingly AI-powered search tools, understand and present your business.
Rules to follow
- Mark up only what is visible on the page. Structured data should describe content visitors can see, not add hidden claims.
- Keep it accurate. If your opening hours or phone number change, update the markup as well as the page.
- Do not invent reviews. Review markup must reflect genuine reviews and follow Google’s guidelines, and self-serving reviews of your own business are not eligible for review stars.
- Be consistent. Your name, address and phone number should match your Google Business Profile and other listings.
Testing your markup
Two free tools help: Google’s Rich Results Test shows whether a page is eligible for rich results, and the Schema Markup Validator checks the code against the Schema.org vocabulary. After adding structured data, Google Search Console also reports on certain types under its Enhancements section, highlighting errors to fix.
Adding it to your site
On WordPress, SEO plugins can add basic Organization and Article markup automatically. LocalBusiness details often need configuring manually or adding to your theme, particularly if you want a specific business type or several locations. For custom websites and web applications, it is added directly to the templates.
Once it is live, check Search Console’s enhancement reports every few months, because theme or plugin updates can quietly break structured data that was working perfectly before.
If you would like structured data set up properly on your website, get in touch with our team.
