Structured Data For Small Businesses: How Does It Work
Structured data is something you might have heard of as a small business owner who’s trying to improve their website’s SEO. But implementing it as a complete beginner can be confusing.
In this article, we’ll discover what structured data is, why it’s important, if it is a ranking signal, what schema markup is, the different types, and how to add structured data for small businesses.
If you want to optimize all the technical elements of your website, I’d recommend reading the complete technical SEO guide.
What is Structured Data?
Structured data is an organized format you add to your web page’s HTML code. It helps search engines (like Google) understand what your content is about and the key elements. It increases the chances of rich results. Google does not guarantee that your structured data will show up in search results.
For example:
You have a local bakery. Without structured data, search engines guess it’s about bread and cake. But with structured data you can tell search engines that you have a local business with these opening hours and a certain review rating. This clarity powers rich results and transforms your listing into a noticeable snippet.
Luckily, you don’t need to be an expert in coding. There are plenty of tools out there to help you generate structured data.
Why Is It Important For SEO?
As a small business owner, you want as many customers as possible. Structured data helps your SEO by making your website easier for Google to understand, categorize and showcase. Structured data helps you create rich snippets that stand out in SERPs, driving real traffic and potential customers to your website.
Improves relevancy
Structured data clarifies your page’s entities and relationships. This helps search engines link your website to relevant searches. You’ll be more visible for more related search queries.
This semantic boost, being more visible in related semantic queries, helps in Knowledge Graph building, where Google connects facts about your business. The Knowledge Graph represents an organized network of real-world entities and their relationships. When your business appears in the Knowledge Graph, you gain instant credibility. It also boosts visibility in AI overviews and voice searches.
This way, you rank for the right terms as your small business’s markup address, services, and reviews appear for local queries.
Boosts CTR
As mentioned, structured data increases the chances of creating rich snippets, such as results with stars and/or prices. This increases your click-through rates (CTR).
A result with phone taps or directions showing directly will increase CTR, making it easier for the users. This is helpful for small businesses to increase the number of customers.
Is Structured Data A Ranking Signal?
Structured data is not a direct ranking signal. It creates rich snippets and helps search engines understand your content better, but it will not push your rankings as Google’s John Mueller confirmed in 2025.
Even though it won’t push your rankings, it helps your SEO indirectly. These rich snippets increase your CTR, which signals relevance and can improve your rankings over time.
What Is Schema Markup?
Schema markup is a structured data code you add to your website to help Google understand your content better. Schema markup is a specific implementation of structured data using schema.org’s standardized vocabulary to label elements like your business name, address, or product prices. Not all structured data is schema markup, but all schema markup is structured data.
Schema markup sits in your HTML, often as JSON-LD. This is Google’s preferred format. There are two other ways to add schema markup: with microdata and RDFa.
Microdata is great when your content stays static, but struggles arise if you edit often. RDFa is great when you have a complex website with multiple vocabularies. I’d recommend always using JSON-LD as it is the most beginner-friendly and perfectly does the job.
Different Types Of Structured Data
There are over 800 schema types available via schema.org, but Google supports a core set for rich results. For your small business, start with basics like “LocalBusiness” for your business’s NAP details or “Product” for e-commerce items. Each type targets specific content.
“FAQ” and “HowToSchemas” are perfect for customer queries. “Review” schema displays stars from trusted sources, building trust and social proof.
If you’re interested, here is a list of structured data types that Google supports.
How To Add Structured Data For Small Businesses
Now it’s time to add structured data to your own website. Follow this step-by-step process and boost your small business’s visibility online.
Generate markup
As a beginner, you have three options: write it yourself, use markup generators, or use schema plugins. It really depends on what you’re comfortable with. Let me guide you through these options.
Write it yourself
If you’re comfortable with HTML, you can code it yourself. Use JSON-LD format, as we discussed earlier. Start with a simple “LocalBusiness” script from schema.org for your small business’s website.
You can copy this basic template and paste it into the <head> or <body> of your page. If you work with Elementor, you can add the markup in the HTML widget. You can place the HTML widget anywhere on your page, it will remain invisible.
For non-WordPress users, you often have the option to add HTML code for each page in the page’s settings. You can copy and paste the schema markup there.
<script type=”application/ld+json”>
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “LocalBusiness”,
“name”: “Your Business Name”,
“address”: {
“@type”: “PostalAddress”,
“streetAddress”: “Your Street”,
“addressLocality”: “City”,
“addressRegion”: “Region”,
“postalCode”: “ZIP”,
“addressCountry”: “Country”
},
“telephone”: “+1-123-456-7890”,
“url”: “https://yourwebsite.com”
}
</script>
Replace the placeholders with your details. Add opening hours, review ratings, or geo coordinates for richer results. You can find examples of how to do this on schema.org.
For example, to add opening hours it looks like this.
If you don’t have a clue how to work with HTML, choose one of the more beginner-friendly options.
Use markup generators
Schema markup generators save you time and errors. I have had a great time using the Schema markup generator from Technicalseo. It’s very easy to use.
You start by choosing which type of schema markup you want to add, it creates JSON-LD markup. (Scroll down for more options.)
For now, we’ll choose the “LocalBusiness” type. Here, you’ll fill in the boxes with your small business’s information and you can copy the schema markup on the right side of your screen.
You’ll then add it in the <head> or <body> of your page, as explained earlier.
Use schema plugins
If you’re a WordPress user, you have the possibility to use plugins. I use the Rank Math SEO plugin. The free version has limited schema markup options, but the upgraded version gives you access to the Schema Generator.
You can add schema for your pages by clicking the Rank Math icon.
Here, you go to the schema icon. You can choose the schema markup of your choice. I use the free version as the “Article” schema is available for free.
There are other plugins like Yoast SEO or Schema Pro that can generate schema markups as well.
Test your structured data
It’s important to test your schema markup to avoid penalties and fix errors.
Schema Markup Validator
You can use schema.org’s validator. Here, you paste your URL or code snippet and click on “Run test.”
After you run the test, the results will show. Check if all the details are correct. If the schema markup is correct, you should see “0 errors & 0 warnings.“
In case there are warnings or errors, review and fix them accordingly.
