Schema Markup Every Business NEEDS to Have on Their Website and HOW to Actually Get It on There
December 12, 2016
This is a step-by-step guide on how to get the essential Schema markup on your website. I am operating under the assumption that you already are aware of what Schema is and just want to know how you actually get it on your site. If you would like a refresher on what structured data is and the benefits it can provide to your site, you can check out our Schema Markup Refresher and How Schema.org Markup Can Help You Succeed in the Age of Universal Search.
Which Schema Do I Need?
If you have ever tried looking through the Schema.org website, you were probably overwhelmed with how many options there are. If you are just getting your feet wet with structured data, I suggest sticking with schema.org/LocalBusiness and Schema.org/PostalAddress as it is applicable to every business.
How Do I Write the Code?
If you go to schema.org/LocalBusiness and scroll to the bottom you will see a list of examples. You can copy the Microdata from one of those if you see it more fitting to your business than my example, otherwise you can just copy the code below into Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool and replace it with your businesses info. Then click Validate to make sure the code is clean and showing the correct information. Be very careful editing the information since one character out of place can throw the entire code off.
Here is an example of local business and postal address schema for Brighthaus. Replace the bolded items with your information.
<div style=”display: none”>
<div itemscope itemtype=”http://schema.org/LocalBusiness”>
<span itemprop=”name”>Brighthaus</span>
<div itemprop=”address” itemscope itemtype=”http://schema.org/PostalAddress”>
<span itemprop=”streetAddress”>1047 University Ave</span>
<span itemprop=”addressLocality”>San Diego</span>,
<span itemprop=”addressRegion”>CA</span> <span itemprop=”postalCode”>92103</span>
</div>
<span itemprop=”telephone”>1-800-605-8913</span>
<a itemprop=”url” href=”https://brighthaus.com”>brighthaus.com</a>
</div>
</div>
You will see my script has an additional line of code at the beginning, which is to make sure the code is hidden and not actually shown on the homepage.
Once you have your code, move on to the next step.
Ok, So Where Do I Put This?
Before you go pasting the code, you should either download the Moz Bar or a Chrome Developer Tool add-on called SchemaDump. It’s not a bad idea to have both because they will show you what Schema is on a given page. I’ve had instances where it shows in SchemaDump and not in the Moz bar, so it is always good to have both.
These instructions are for WordPress users, but you can follow the same steps with other CMS’s, however, I have had issues with it not working on some platforms, like WIX.
- Navigate to the editor of your homepage and click the “text” option and paste the code at the bottom.
- Click on preview
- Right click on the homepage and click Inspect
- If you downloaded SchemaDump you will see it listed as one of your developer tools. If the code was implemented correctly, you will see your information listed under Schematic Data.
- If you have the Moz bar, you can find it under “Markup”, as shown in the screenshot.
6. You can then click on “Structured Data Testing Tool” to see which code Google is reading. You will see in the screenshot that Google is reading “Organization, LocalBusiness, and WebSite” on this page.
7. If all looks good, just click publish!
Congratulations, you have successfully added structured data to your website and Google will reward you for your hard work. You can essentially replicate this exact same formula now with more advanced markups from Schema.org.