How to Add and Test Structured Data on a Small Business Site

Impact Digital

9 hours ago

Laptop showing JSON-LD structured data code next to a search result preview

This guide is for small business owners, bloggers and agency staff who keep hearing that they “need schema” but are not sure what to add, where it goes or how to check it. It covers the four types that matter most for a typical small site, a short JSON-LD example, how a WordPress SEO plugin handles the work, and how to test and monitor the result. It also covers which types Google no longer shows, because older advice on this topic is often out of date.

What structured data does (and does not) do

Google’s documentation describes structured data as a standardized format for giving information about a page and classifying its content. Search can use it to understand the page and, where a feature exists, to make the page eligible for a richer display, known as a rich result.

The key word is “eligible”. Google’s general guidelines say structured data does not ensure a rich result will appear, and that Google may show a plain text result instead. Markup can also fail to produce a feature if it does not represent the page’s main content, is misleading, or marks up content hidden from users. Treat schema as clear labelling of what is already on the page, not as a ranking trick.

Which types matter most for a small site

Google’s Search gallery lists 25 structured data features. Most are aimed at specific kinds of content, such as recipes, events, jobs or products. For a small business site or blog, four are the practical starting point.

Type	Where it goes	What Google documents
Organization	Home page or About page	No required properties. Helps Google understand administrative details and tell your organization apart from others. Google suggests a name, a real-world presence (address or telephone) and an online presence (url or logo).
LocalBusiness	Home page or location page	Required: name and address. Recommended includes telephone, url, geo, openingHoursSpecification and priceRange.
Article (or BlogPosting)	Each blog post	No required properties. Recommended: author, datePublished, dateModified, headline and image.
BreadcrumbList	Pages with a breadcrumb trail	At least two list items, each with a position and a name; item URLs for all but the last.

Organization or LocalBusiness?

If customers visit a physical location, use the most specific LocalBusiness subtype that fits, such as Restaurant or DaySpa, rather than the generic type. Google’s Organization page gives the same advice for local businesses. If you are an online-only business or a blog, Organization is the better fit.

Article and author details

Google’s Article page lists three supported types: Article, NewsArticle and BlogPosting. For authors, it asks you to include every author shown on the page, give each one a separate author entry, and put only the name in the name field, with job titles or publisher names elsewhere. That ties in with our post on honest bylines and author pages: the markup should match the byline readers can see.

JSON-LD basics with a short example

Google supports three formats: JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa. All three are equally fine for Google as long as the markup is valid and properly implemented, but Google recommends JSON-LD. It lives in one script tag, separate from your visible HTML, so it is easier to add and maintain.

Below is a minimal LocalBusiness example for a fictional shop. Every value must match what visitors can see on the page.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Bakery",
  "name": "Example Corner Bakery",
  "url": "https://www.example.com/",
  "telephone": "+1-555-010-0100",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "1 Example Street",
    "addressLocality": "Springfield",
    "addressRegion": "IL",
    "postalCode": "62701",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "openingHoursSpecification": [{
    "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
    "dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"],
    "opens": "08:00",
    "closes": "17:00"
  }]
}
</script>

Bakery is a LocalBusiness subtype in schema.org; use LocalBusiness itself only if nothing more specific applies to you. The structure is the point. A context line names the vocabulary, a type says what the thing is, and properties describe it. Nested objects, like the address, carry their own type.

Google also advises placing markup on the page it describes, using the most specific applicable type, and including all required properties. Its introduction adds that fewer but complete and accurate recommended properties are better than many incomplete ones.

Which rich results are still supported

Check the current status before you invest time in a type. At the time of writing, the Search gallery lists Organization, Local business, Article and Breadcrumb among its features, with no deprecation noted for them. FAQ and HowTo are not listed in the gallery. Google’s documentation changelog states that FAQ rich results stopped appearing in Google Search from May 7, 2026. HowTo has no current documentation page in the gallery either, so do not plan around it.

The practical lesson: do not add FAQ or HowTo markup expecting a visual boost in results. You can still write a helpful FAQ section for readers. Just do not expect it to change how your listing looks.

How WordPress SEO plugins handle it

On WordPress you usually should not hand-paste JSON-LD. Google’s introduction suggests checking your CMS’s search settings or a structured data plugin. Yoast SEO’s implementation guide, for example, says the plugin outputs core schema pieces on every page and adds more based on context, without coding, though you must adjust some settings and supply information. According to that guide:

The pieces are tied into one connected structured data graph rather than separate blocks.
In the Site representation settings, you choose whether the site represents a person or an organization.
By default, pages are described as WebPage and posts as Article. You can change these in the Search Appearance settings, or per post in the Schema tab of the Yoast SEO meta box or sidebar.
Breadcrumb markup is added by the plugin, though Yoast’s guide links to separate instructions for breadcrumbs.

Other SEO plugins, including Rank Math (see our Rank Math review), have their own schema settings, but menu names and defaults differ, so check your plugin’s own documentation rather than assuming it matches the list above.

Avoid duplicate markup

Themes, page builders and a second plugin can each output their own JSON-LD. Yoast’s guide says to consult its integration guidelines when another plugin or theme already outputs schema.

Test before and after publishing

Rich Results Test. Google’s introduction says to use it to validate markup during development and, in some cases, preview a feature. Google notes that it catches most technical errors but cannot catch every structured data error, and that passing does not guarantee a rich result.
Schema Markup Validator. This is a schema.org tool rather than a Google one. It is useful for a second opinion on whether your markup is well formed against the schema.org vocabulary. Google’s own guidance is that its documentation is authoritative for Search behaviour, so a clean result here does not mean Google will use the markup.
URL Inspection tool. After the page is live, it confirms whether Google has found the structured data on that page.
Read the page like a visitor. Compare every value in the markup (phone, hours, author, dates) with what is visible. Mismatches are a policy problem, not just a technical one.

Monitor in Search Console

Google recommends checking the rich result status reports in Search Console after deployment, because templating or serving problems can break markup later. The reports appear under Enhancements in the Search Console navigation. Per Search Console’s help page, an item is valid if it has no critical issues, or invalid if at least one critical issue prevents a rich result. Critical issues appear under “Why items are invalid”, while non-critical ones appear under “Improve item appearance”. Because the markup lives in your site, fixes are made in your plugin settings, theme or code, not in Search Console.

Google’s introduction also suggests using the Performance report to compare pages with and without structured data over several months, filtered by URL. Our guide to the Search Console Performance report shows how to set up those filters. Separately, the Manual Actions report is where to look if you suspect a structured data penalty. Google says such an action removes rich result eligibility but does not change the page’s ranking in web search.

Key takeaways

Start with Organization or LocalBusiness, Article on posts, and BreadcrumbList.
Use JSON-LD, Google’s recommended format, ideally generated by your SEO plugin.
Markup makes you eligible for rich results; it never guarantees them.
Everything in the markup must match what visitors see on the page.
FAQ rich results are no longer shown, so do not add markup for that purpose.
Test with the Rich Results Test, then watch the Search Console reports after launch.

FAQ

Will structured data improve my rankings?

Google’s structured data documentation describes it as helping Google understand a page and making it eligible for rich results. They do not describe it as a ranking boost, so do not rely on it for one.

Why did my valid markup not produce a rich result?

Google’s guidelines say that eligibility is not a guarantee. The algorithm decides what suits each user, and it may show plain text. The markup might also not represent the page’s main content, or the page may fail another guideline.

Do I need to write JSON-LD by hand on WordPress?

Usually not. An SEO or structured data plugin can output the core types, as in the Yoast example above. Hand-written code is mainly useful for gaps the plugin does not cover, and it should not duplicate what the plugin already prints.

Should I add FAQ markup to my service pages?

Not for search appearance. Google’s FAQ documentation says the feature no longer appears in Search. Visible questions and answers can still help readers, so keep them if they are useful.