Structured data helps search engines and AI systems understand who you are, what you offer and how your pages relate to each other. For service businesses, a small set of schema types does most of the work.
Use JSON-LD
Google recommends JSON-LD — a script block in the page that describes entities — over microdata. It is easier to maintain and doesn't affect your visible HTML.
The essential schema types
Organization (or LocalBusiness / ProfessionalService)
Describes your business: name, logo, URL, address, contact email, founding date and sameAs links to official profiles. Put it on every page, ideally with a stable @id so other schema can reference it.
WebSite
Identifies your site and its publisher. Usually only needed once, on the homepage or site-wide.
Service
Describes a specific service you provide, the provider (your Organization), the areaServed (country, state or city) and optionally an OfferCatalog of sub-services. Ideal for service and location pages.
BreadcrumbList
Shows where a page sits in your site hierarchy and can display breadcrumbs in search results.
FAQPage
Marks up question-and-answer content that is visible on the page. Google limits FAQ rich results to certain authoritative sites, but the markup still clarifies content structure.
Article / BlogPosting
For blog posts and guides: headline, author, publish date, modified date and image.
Review and AggregateRating
Only use these for genuine reviews that are shown on the page. Fabricated or self-written reviews violate Google's guidelines and US consumer protection rules. Note that Google does not show star rich results for "self-serving" reviews of your own organization on your own site.
Common mistakes
- Marking up content that isn't visible on the page.
- Using different business names or addresses in different places.
- Copying schema from another page without updating URLs and names.
- Adding review stars without real reviews.
How to test
Use Google's Rich Results Test and the Schema.org validator after every template change, and monitor the Enhancements reports in Search Console.
FAQs
Does schema improve rankings directly?
Schema isn't a direct ranking factor, but it helps search engines understand and display your content and supports AI search visibility.
Should every page have schema?
Every page should at least carry Organization, WebSite and BreadcrumbList. Add Service, Article or FAQPage where relevant.
Can I add schema to WordPress without coding?
Yes, SEO plugins add basic schema. Custom JSON-LD gives more control for service and location pages.
