Make your business machine-readable.

What structured data is

Your website already tells people your name, what you do and where you are. Structured data repeats those facts in a fixed vocabulary, so a program does not have to work them out from the layout of the page. The vocabulary most sites use is schema.org, a shared set of types and properties supported by the major search engines.

Google's introduction to structured data explains that it supports several formats and recommends JSON-LD in most cases, because it is the easiest to implement and maintain. JSON-LD sits in a script block in the page's code, separate from the visible text, which means you can add it without redesigning anything.

The business facts worth describing

For a local business, the core type is LocalBusiness, and schema.org offers more specific types beneath it, such as AccountingService, LegalService, Plumber, Electrician and RoofingContractor. Using the most specific type that fits tells a reader exactly what kind of business you are.

Google's local business documentation lists required and recommended properties, among them your name, address, telephone number, opening hours and website, and schema.org adds areaServed for the places you cover. Add the services you offer in plain words, and link your other official profiles, such as your Companies House record or your professional directory listing, with the sameAs property.

Keep the description honest and specific. A plumber who covers six towns should say which six. A practice that specialises in contractors should say so in its service descriptions, not leave a reader to infer it.

Consistency matters more than markup

Structured data is one source among many. Your Google Business Profile, your Bing Places entry, your sector directories and your own pages all describe the same business, and a reader comparing them has an easier job when they agree. The same trading name, the same address format and the same phone number everywhere remove doubt about whether two listings are the same firm.

Google's Business Profile help describes relevance, meaning how well a profile matches what someone is looking for, as one of the main factors in local results, and encourages complete and accurate business information. That advice applies equally to every other place your business is listed.

A practical step is to write your facts down once, in a single document, and copy from it whenever you update a listing. Small differences, such as an old phone number on one directory, are common and easy to fix once you look for them.

Clear answers on your own pages

Markup describes facts. The visible text on your pages answers questions. Both matter. A page that says, in everyday words, which services you offer, who they are for and which towns you cover gives search engines and assistants something to match against the way people actually ask.

Write the questions your customers ask, then check that each one has a plain answer somewhere on your site. If the answer is buried in a PDF or a long paragraph about your history, give it its own short section with a clear heading.

The rules to follow

Google's structured data policies are clear on one point that catches many sites out: do not mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page. If your JSON-LD describes a service, the page must describe the same service. Markup that claims more than the page shows can stop your structured data being used at all.

Validate your markup after every change. Google's Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator both read a live page and report errors. Then keep the markup up to date: opening hours and phone numbers change, and stale structured data is worse than none.

A short checklist

Choose the most specific schema.org type for your business. Describe your name, address, phone number, opening hours, website and area served. List your services in plain words. Link your official profiles with sameAs. Make sure every marked-up fact is also visible on the page. Check that the same facts appear in your Google Business Profile, Bing Places entry and sector directories. Validate the page, and repeat the check whenever something changes.