How To Implement Local Business Schema For SEO Success

Local businesses are always busy coming up with new ideas and solutions to capture their target audience’s attention. And over the years, websites have become an increasingly popular way to create a digital presence.

However, with every other local business aiming to do the same, what more can you do to attract more customers to your business? By simply implementing the local business schema markup, your website becomes easily crawlable by search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

The schema will help these engines understand your business better and rank it higher whenever a relevant search is made. If you are still wondering what local schema is and how it can help your business, fasten your seatbelts as we dive into knowing everything about local schema.

What is a Local Business Schema?

Local business schema is a set of structured data markup codes that are embedded in the local business website. It helps search engines understand the contents of web pages better by providing additional information about the local business.

This information can include name, business hours, services offered, contact number, email, and address. The schema markup uses common groups of tags to display information that is relevant to your local business and something that your potential customers could also be looking for.

Your local business website can benefit from schema markup as it optimizes the website for improved local searches, thereby becoming an important parameter for your website’s SERP rankings.

How Local Schema Can Impact Rankings

Local business schema on the website makes it easier for search engines to find your local website and crawl the website structure hierarchy. It helps search engines identify business locations and display the local businesses whenever a related search is done. Notably, local schema markup is not a direct ranking factor; however, it does have an influence on improved ranking potential in the longer run.

Here are more ways local schema can improve rankings:

• It can attract rich results wherein the search engine displays information about your business in a way that seems attractive to the visitors. The range of information displayed can range from ratings, contact numbers, services offered, work timings, etc.
• A clear and concise data structure helps search engines display your business website for relevant local searches. It can boost your local presence and attract more footfall to your business website.
• As users will be able to find the information they need directly, they are less likely to leave the website and instead further enquire.
• Clearly, available information also boosts click-through rates on the website, increasing the potential of your website ranking higher on search engines.

Local Business Schema Types

Currently, 797 types of schema and 1453 schema properties are available for businesses of all capacities to use. If you are a local business looking to explore these types, you can check the list here.

Here is how you can choose the right schema for your local business:

• Select the schema that most accurately fits and describes the content of your website. For instance, use “articles” for articles, “award” for where your awards are on display, and “review” for pages where client reviews are shown. Avoid using unrelated schema.
• Use the JSON-LD format, which is easy to maintain (even for large websites).
• Test your schema with Google’s recommended tool for testing rich results, Rich Result Test, to ensure your markup is implemented correctly.

How to Mark Up a Business With Multiple Locations

If your local business has more than one location, then adding schema for individual locations can ensure higher visibility. In case your business has no defined address, consider using the Organization type for schema.

If it has more than one schema, here is how to implement it for all the locations:

How to Implement Local Business Schema

Local business schema markup implementation is essential for businesses that are looking to establish their footing in the local online marketplace.

As a matter of fact, implementing local business schema is an effective way to strengthen your local SEO reselling strategy. Schema markup is a structured data type that helps search engines accurately understand what your website has to offer.

To successfully implement local business schema on your website, follow these steps:

• Choose the schema markup that suits and defines what your business does the best. If you are not sure, filter the schema that relates to your business and spend to understand if the schemas you have picked suit your business niche or not. Refer to the local list from Schema.org for this.
• Update your home page with the necessary details about your business that your potential customers can be searching for. Add the schema markup to your website using JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa. It is highly recommended to use JSON-LD to implement the schema markup as it is easy to maintain in the long run.
• Add all the necessary information to your schema markup. To accurately complete this process, keep the following information handy: business name, exact address (that’s easy to reach), contact number, email address, working hours, and website URL. On top of these, you can add information like reviews, ratings, and menus.
• Once you have updated everything, use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to test the accuracy of your schema markup. Ensure it is working properly and shows no errors. In case of errors, rectify them before proceeding. Check Google’s guidelines for schema implementation.
• Your schema markup implementation is all set! Repeat the same process across the website.
• Check the accuracy of your local business structured data with Google’s recommended tools. Find them here.

Advanced techniques for using structured data that will also improve your local SEO

To have a hassle-free time using local business structured data for implementing schema markup on your website, follow these steps:

• Use the schema markup to offer search engines detailed information about what your business does. It is similar to understanding a concept well enough to explain it to someone, even if they ask a twisted question. However, in the case of schema markup, you will not be required to read through thick texts. Instead, you will be required to provide details about the range of products or services you are offering, the pricing structure (optional), and when the business is operational. Adding reviews and ratings will add more credibility to your website and make Google search engine bots trust your website more. Avoid adding too much promotional information or using tags from different item groups. It can confuse the crawler into believing your website is spammy, resulting in a drop in rankings.
• The local business schema markup is an excellent way to tell search engines everything that your potential customers could be looking for, ranging from contact information, address, and operational hours. If you are a business that works on an appointment basis, use relevant schema to specify this information to the crawler.
• If your business engages in frequently hosting events, use schema markup to communicate this information to the search engines. The best way of doing this is through planning everything about the event in detail and updating the details on your website. If you are running ads, this step will create consistency in brand messaging across all channels.
• Social media has become another way people verify if a business is genuine, credible, and worth opting for. Creating a social media presence has its own benefits in that you can use it beyond the app’s screen to upscale your local SEO strategies. With schema markup, you can provide information about your social media presence by including links from platforms (Facebook, Instagram, X, and others) by linking your accounts. It will further add to your credibility, make your local business more accessible, and create a space where you will be able to add content about your business.

Common Issues With A Schema Markup You Should Be Aware Of

Schema markups can be complicated to understand and even more complicated to implement if you are not familiar with coding. While you can always opt for professional local SEO services (our experts will be thrilled to help you, by the way), if you still decide to do it on your own, here are some common mistakes to keep an eye on:

• Using the wrong type of schema for your business. The list of schema markups you can use for your website is vast, and it can become overwhelming to find the one that suits your business perfectly. By using the wrong schema, you could be jeopardizing your chances of ranking higher on search engines. Be sure to think with a clear mind when choosing the markup that aligns with what your business does.
• Adding too many markup types in an attempt to rank higher and faster. When adding structured data, use only the ones that are genuinely related to your business. Avoid using too many markups, as it can confuse the crawler instead of making things easier for it.

A Local Business Schema Example

The following example of a local business schema is from schema.org/LocalBusiness. For this example, the business name we are taking is My Hotspot, a food restaurant that sells freshly cooked meals all through the day. Here’s how the local business schema markup will be for My Hotspot will be in  JSON-LD format:

<script type=’application/ld+json’>

{

“@context”: “http://www.schema.org”,

“@type”: “Restaurant”,

“name”: “My Hotspot”,

“url”: “http://www.myhotspot.com”,

“description”: “Food restaurant committed to cooking fresh and healthy meals. “,

“address”: {

“@type”: “PostalAddress”,

“streetAddress”: “1995 Lane Bay Shore”,

“addressLocality”: “New York City”,

“addressRegion”: “New York”,

“postalCode”: “10001”

},

“openingHours”: “Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr, Sa 10:30-21:30 Su 10:30-20:30”,

“contactPoint”: {

“@type”: “ContactPoint”,

“telephone”: “(212) 704-1537”,

“contactType”: “call, direct appointment, reservations”

}

}

</script>

Here is how the above schema code runs on schema markup validator:

Parting words

As a local business that is eager to capture the attention of the right target audience, local business schema markup can be the secret ingredient in your SEO strategy. With adequately planned and laid out local business structured data, your business can make it 10x easier for search engines to understand everything about your business.

As a result, it will be able to show your business on search engines whenever a relevant search is made. Schema markup can also increase the chances of your website showing up in rich results, eventually increasing footfalls to your particular physical business location.