{"id":3030,"date":"2015-01-14T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-14T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmudev.whitespark.ca\/why-your-local-business-schema-sucks-and-how-to-make-it-better\/"},"modified":"2024-10-28T16:06:17","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T22:06:17","slug":"why-your-local-business-schema-sucks-and-how-to-make-it-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/blog\/why-your-local-business-schema-sucks-and-how-to-make-it-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Your Local Business Schema Sucks and How To Make it Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hanz<\/p>\n

There are hundreds of articles that can be found online about how to mark up your local business\u2019 NAP with schema.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, this isn\u2019t another one of them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article is about how to take that basic, plain Jane markup, and add a few underused properties and types to it to provide even more information to search engines about the business and, in turn, increase the markup\u2019s power and SEO value. \u00a0Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n

Use the Most Specific Schema Type for Your Business<\/h3>\n


\nOne problem that I commonly see with many schema markups is that they use the typical LocalBusiness type. \u00a0There\u2019s nothing wrong with that in itself, but it doesn\u2019t tell search engines much about what type of business it is or what it does. \u00a0After all, a local business could describe a store, a plumbing company, a mechanic shop, a bowling alley, and so on. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the purpose of using structured data markup is to help search engines better understand your business, the first thing you should do is select the schema type that best describes your business<\/strong>. \u00a0And there are many to choose from. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I won\u2019t get into listing all of them, but local SEO wiz Phil Rozek and I partnered up a few months ago and wrote an article<\/a> on this very subject. \u00a0Phil even posted a spreadsheet that lists almost 400 different types of businesses and the most appropriate schema type to use for each of them. \u00a0So if you haven\u2019t checked it out yet, it\u2019s a great place to start.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sameAs Property<\/h3>\n

You already know how important citations are for local SEO<\/a>. But when you create new citations for your business (or for your client\u2019s)<\/a>, it\u2019s a waiting game hoping that Google and the other search engines will find your new citations quickly and make the connection between those listings, the business, and the website.<\/p>\n

The \u201csameAs\u201d property can help make that process much quicker and<\/em> easier.\u00a0 Schema.org explains that the \u201csameAs<\/a>\u201d property is used along with the \u201cURL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item’s [or business\u2019] identity.\u201d\u00a0 By using the \u201csameAs\u201d property in your NAP schema markup, you can tell search engines that the business you\u2019ve marked up is the same one found at a certain citation URL. Pretty sweet, right?<\/p>\n

Using a Google+ Local page as an example, here is how you can use the \u201csameAs\u201d property to help Google understand the connection:<\/p>\n

\n

<div itemscope itemtype=”http:\/\/schema.org\/LocalBusiness”><\/p>\n

<span itemprop=”name”>Touch Point Digital Marketing Agency<\/span><\/p>\n

<link itemprop=”url” href=”http:\/\/www.touchpointdigitalmarketing.com\/”><\/p>\n

<link itemprop=”sameAs” href=”https:\/\/plus.google.com\/+TouchPointDigitalMarketingAgencyNewOrleans”><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Of course, Google+ isn\u2019t the only important citation source.\u00a0 There\u2019s also Bing Places, Facebook, Yelp, Citysearch and a few others<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The nice thing about many schema.org properties is that you can use them multiple times in your markup.<\/p>\n

There’s nothing wrong with using the \u201csameAs\u201d property and linking it to a few important citation listings on the same page.\u00a0 Just don\u2019t go crazy with it and be sure to use a separate tag for each citation source.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The geo and hasMap Properties<\/h3>\n

One of the most important things you can do for your local SEO is to make it absolutely clear to search engines where your business is located.\u00a0 Marking up your address is a good start, but like I said, you want to make things absolutely<\/em> clear…<\/p>\n

Enter the \u201cgeo\u201d and \u201chasMap\u201d properties:<\/p>\n

1) The \u201cgeo<\/a>\u201d property is used to mark up your business location\u2019s geographic coordinates.\u00a0 This is one property, though, that requires us to declare a new type–GeoCoordinates<\/a>. \u00a0By marking up the geo coordinates, we\u2019re able to help search engines as well as other machines and apps understand exactly where the business is located, even if they don\u2019t exactly understand the address and especially if they have been showing the incorrect location on a map.<\/p>\n

Sidenote:<\/strong>\u00a0This is an area where I regularly see many people make mistakes\u2014they declare a property value simply with text when the expected value of that property is a new type.\u00a0 So please pay close attention to what schema.org states the expected value is for a property, whether it\u2019s simply text or a new type.<\/p>\n

2) The \u201chasMap<\/a>\u201d property is used, as I\u2019m sure you can guess, to mark up a map of the business.\u00a0 When the \u201cgeo\u201d and \u201chasMap\u201d properties are used together within the markup, it makes it really difficult for search engines to get the business\u2019 location wrong.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how you can implement the \u201cgeo\u201d and \u201chasMap\u201d properties within our markup:
\n*You’ll notice I added the logo and phone number as well, I’ll address this below.<\/p>\n

\n

<div itemscope itemtype=”http:\/\/schema.org\/LocalBusiness”><\/p>\n

<span itemprop=”name”>Touch Point Digital Marketing Agency<\/span><\/p>\n

<link itemprop=”url” href=”http:\/\/www.touchpointdigitalmarketing.com\/”><\/p>\n

<img itemprop=”logo” src=”http:\/\/www.touchpointdigitalmarketing.com\/images\/logo.png” \/><\/p>\n

<link itemprop=”sameAs” href=”https:\/\/plus.google.com\/+TouchPointDigitalMarketingAgencyNewOrleans”><\/p>\n

<link itemprop=”hasMap” href=”https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/Ko9vX”><\/p>\n

<a itemprop=”telephone” href=”tel:+15048752225″>(504) 875-2225<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<div itemprop=”address” itemscope itemtype=”http:\/\/schema.org\/PostalAddress”><\/p>\n

<span itemprop=”streetAddress”>4035 Washington Ave. #100<\/span><\/p>\n

<span itemprop=”addressLocality”>New Orleans<\/span><\/p>\n

<span itemprop=”addressRegion”>LA<\/span><\/p>\n

<span itemprop=”postalCode”>70125<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<span itemprop=”geo” itemscope itemtype=”http:\/\/schema.org\/GeoCoordinates”><\/p>\n

<meta itemprop=”latitude” content=”29.9516186″ \/><\/p>\n

<meta itemprop=”longitude” content=”-90.1007005″ \/><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

With regards to the map URL, because you’ll want to provide search engines with the most specific information possible, it\u2019s best to use a link to the map of the business itself and NOT<\/strong> of a map simply of the address.<\/p>\n

How to obtain a Google map URL of your business:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. go to google.com\/maps<\/a> and search for your business by name.<\/li>\n
  2. Next, click on the “hamburger menu”\u00a0in the search field.<\/li>\n
  3. select \u201cShare or embed map\u201d<\/li>\n
  4. then copy and paste the URL or use the short URL.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    It should be mentioned that the \u201chasMap\u201d property is relatively new to schema.org.\u00a0 If you use it and then test your markup with Google\u2019s Structured Data Testing Tool<\/a>, you\u2019ll get an error message.\u00a0 But no worries; the testing tool just hasn\u2019t been updated to accept this property yet.<\/p>\n

    And lastly, you can choose to display your location\u2019s latitude and longitude, but it\u2019s not absolutely necessary<\/strong>.\u00a0 That is one markup that\u2019s there more so for the benefit of search engines than for visitors.\u00a0 However, if you\u2019re proud of your particular GPS coordinates then by all means feel free to display it!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The Knowledge Graph and Your Logo & Telephone<\/h3>\n

    Like I mentioned earlier I also added the logo and the phone number into the markup. This is a basic markup tactic and this post is suppose to be more advanced, so why did I mention it?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Google recommends marking up your logo because, as stated on their Webmaster Central blog<\/a>, \u201cmarkup like this is a strong signal to our algorithms to show this image in preference over others, for example when we show Knowledge Graph on the right hand side based on users\u2019 queries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    Did you hear that? A STRONG SIGNAL! If you’re having a hard time triggering the KG for your business check your logo markup, it might help.<\/p>\n

    With regards to the telephone number, you\u2019ll notice that it\u2019s hyperlinked and the US country code (+1) is also included. \u00a0The hyperlinking of the number makes it easy for your visitors on mobile devices to tap and call, and it also allows you to easily include the internationalized version of your phone number, which is something that Google also recommends that you do<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The image Property and the ImageObject Type<\/h3>\n

    Images on your website can help your local SEO, but especially is true when images are marked up with structured data. (That’s a Tweetable!<\/a>)<\/p>\n

    Images can be marked up in a couple of different ways with schema.org.\u00a0 You can simply use the URL of the image, or you can declare a new ImageObject type.\u00a0 The most commonly used method is simply using a URL with the \u201cimage<\/a>\u201d property, such as:<\/p>\n

    <img itemprop=”image” src=”http:\/\/yourwebsite.com\/image.jpg” alt=”a few keywords” \/><\/p>\n

    This is ok, but it doesn\u2019t tell search engines much about the image so it\u2019s not providing a lot of SEO value. Low SEO value, not ok.<\/p>\n

    The other<\/em> and\u00a0better<\/em> way to mark up an image is to mark up each one using the ImageObject<\/a> type.\u00a0 This is because with ImageObject, you\u2019re able to provide far more details about the image to search engines.\u00a0 For example, you can mark up the name of the image, caption or description, where and when the picture was taken, and much, much more. \u00a0This sends very strong signals to search engines about the business, where it\u2019s located, and what it does.<\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s say you have (or your client has) a construction business and you\u2019ve just finished a kitchen renovation project.\u00a0 You created a new blog post with some pictures of the project and now we want to mark those pictures up with schema.<\/p>\n

    You could use this example:<\/p>\n

    \n

    <div itemscope itemtype=”http:\/\/schema.org\/Article”><\/p>\n

    <span itemprop=”name”>The Parker Kitchen Renovation Project in New Orleans<\/span><\/p>\n

    <span itemprop=”articleBody”>For the past 4 weeks, we’ve had the pleasure of working on a kitchen renovation project for…<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    <div itemprop=”image” itemscope itemtype=”http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject”><\/p>\n

    <img itemprop=”contentUrl” src=”http:\/\/yoursite.com\/parker-kitchen-renovation.jpg<\/span>” \/><\/p>\n

    <span itemprop=”name”>The Parker Kitchen Renovation<\/span><\/p>\n

    <span itemprop=”description”>The completed Parker kitchen renovation project after all the new appliances were installed.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Taken on <time itemprop=”dateCreated” datetime=”2011-11-28″>Nov. 28, 2014<\/time><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    <div itemprop=”contentLocation” itemscope itemtype=”http:\/\/schema.org\/City”><\/p>\n

    Project Location: <span itemprop=”name”>New Orleans<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/div><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    <div itemprop=”creator” itemscope itemtype=”http:\/\/schema.org\/HomeAndConstructionBusiness”><\/p>\n

    By: <span itemprop=”name”>Our Construction Business<\/span><\/p>\n

    <link itemprop=”url” href=”http:\/\/www.yourwebsite.com\/”><\/p>\n

    <link itemprop=”sameAs” href=”http:\/\/yourgoogleplusurl.com”><\/p>\n

    <\/div><\/p>\n

    <\/div><\/p>\n

    <\/div><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    You can see how much more information you\u2019re able to provide search engines about the image by using the ImageObject type. You\u2019ve even told them where the picture was taken!<\/p>\n

    This sends nice signals to search engines about where you provide your services, especially if your business is not located in that particular city.\u00a0 And it\u2019s a lot better than keyword-stuffing the alt tag. Actually, it’s a whole-heck-of-a-lot-better than that!<\/p>\n

    \"before<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Conclusion<\/h3>\n

    I\u2019m a self-confessed structured data geek, so I could go on for days about ways to improve your schema markup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    But these few things mentioned above are a great start.\u00a0 Take a few minutes this week to make these few improvements to your business\u2019 schema markup.<\/p>\n

    Every detail that you can provide search engines through your markup is another step towards helping them understand even more about your business, and everything that you can help them understand can only help your local SEO efforts.<\/p>\n

    Any questions? Leave a comment and I’ll answer them!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Note from the editor (Darren):\u00a0David Deering is the owner of Touch Point Digital Marketing Agency<\/a> in New Orleans. He’s one of the most knowledgeable people I know on structured data and schema. Thanks for the awesome post, David!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    There are hundreds of articles that can be found online about how to mark up your local business\u2019 NAP with schema.org. Don\u2019t worry, this isn\u2019t another one of them. This article is about how to take that basic, plain Jane markup, and add a few underused properties and types to it to provide even more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Learn how to take that basic schema markup and increase its power and SEO value.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"classification":[],"class_list":["post-3030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3030"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5131,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030\/revisions\/5131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3030"},{"taxonomy":"classification","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/classification?post=3030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}