How To Create Local Business Schema Markup Using the Schema App Editor

Modified on Mon, 05 Jul 2021 at 09:06 AM

This short video demonstrates the basics of creating Local Business markup. Read on for a detailed step-by-step tutorial with screenshots, based on our example business.

Create a local business data item for local business

For this particular case, we’ve gone further and chosen “Bar or Pub” as our type or class, in order to be more specific. As mentioned earlier in this guide, find the most suitable type for your particular organization.

By defining objects on your homepage as unique entities using schema markup, you are effectively connecting them to a search engine's knowledge graph. This adds context and relevance for your site content, supporting your E-A-T and establishing relationships between your local business and other defined entities across the Web.

Find your type in the Schema.org Types section of the Schema App Editor and click “Create”. The following window will appear. In the Name field, enter the name of the business, then double check that the URI matches the URL of the page you are looking to deploy the markup to. When you’re sure, click “Create”.

TIP! Always copy the URL from the address bar to avoid any typos or missing trailing slashes.

What you will see next is the various recommended and required fields, as well as other fields. Each of these sections have the properties ordered alphabetically.

Create and populate a “Postal Address” data item for local business

The first field available to fill out is the address field. The type of data item that is expected is a PostalAddress data item. Simply name your data item, choose “Postal Address” from the type drop-down and click “Create”.

Most of the fields (locality, region, postal code & street address) are expecting text and are, therefore, simple to complete. The country field is one where you can create a link with Wikipedia by using our “Search Wiki” function to find a suitable page to reference.

Add an image to the image field for local business

Google continues to make changes to its documentation for the requirements around image markup. The simplest way to add an image is to copy the image address and paste it directly into the image field.

If you would like to convert this to an ImageObject, you can use our Image Repair tool to do so. This is best if you would like to add licensing information to the data item. This Optimizing for Google’s Image License Metadata Feature Tutorial describes this process in detail.

Accepts Reservations: Choose from the dropdown

This is a simple true/false selection. Remember to only indicate this if relevant and mentioned on your homepage.

Add an aggregate rating data item for local business

If you have an aggregate rating on display on the page you are marking up, then you can definitely create this data item. We have a tutorial dedicated to aggregate rating and review markup. For assistance with this piece, see Creating “Review” Schema Markup Using the Schema App Editor.

Add department information (if relevant) for local business

Schema.org defines the department property as: “A relationship between an organization and a department of that organization, also described as an organization (allowing different urls, logos, opening hours). For example: a store with a pharmacy, or a bakery with a cafe.” If this property is relevant to you and your markup, create another data item, and link them together via the department field.

Create a “GeoCoordinates” data item for local business

In the geo field, name your data item, click on “Convert to data item” and then click “Create”. Make sure to have the latitude and longitude information available based on the address listed on your page. Once you populate these fields, click “Done”.

Add menu information to “Has Menu” field for local business

This property may or may not apply to you. If it is available—based on the type you’ve selected for your organization—you will want to insert the URL of the page where your menu exists on your site.

There is no need to create a data item, simply paste the URL and click “Done”.

Create “Opening Hours Specification” Data items for local business

If your hours are listed on your homepage, you can add them via this property. You can find detailed information about how to add this markup here.

TIP! Use this to add information about your opening hours on holidays.

Continue to go through the rest of the recommended fields for local business

The last three recommended properties for our example are priceRange, review and telephone. For the price range, you want to use the “$” symbol to indicate the range of pricing for your business. This can be displayed like “$$” or like this “$$-$$$”, for example.

As with the aggregate rating, we have detailed information about how to add review markup here. If you have reviews/testimonials listed on your page make sure to mark them up!

Lastly, with the telephone number, always remember to include “+” and the country code (e.g. +1(555)555-5555). The rest of the format of the telephone number doesn’t matter.

Other fields: complete relevant and available fields for local business

We’ve made our way past the required and recommended fields for our example. We now have a very long list of “other” fields available for marking up your business. With schema markup, sometimes less is more. Try not to focus on completing everything, but rather fill out the fields that provide additional context and value.

Here are some fields that are most relevant to local business markup, and how to complete them.

Area Served For Your Local Business

For the area served, you want to use our “Search Wiki” function to find Wikipedia pages that best describe the geographical area that your business serves.

To add these, use the field as a search box and then click “Search Wiki”. A list of options will appear below. Find the most relevant item, and click on it to link.

Additional Type for Your Local Business

Additional type is a property that you can use in order to further clarify the business. It is great for adding additional context, beyond the schema.org type that you have chosen.

We did a quick Wikipedia search for “Gastropub”, and then used that URL in the field. Simply paste it in and click “Done”.

Local Business Description

This field only needs text. You can copy and paste a description directly from your page. An alternative is to view the page source and search for the meta description. Once found, copy and paste it into the description field.

Local Business Logo

Just like the image, you can simply paste the URL of the logo into this field.

SameAs

This is an opportunity to link external sites which unambiguously indicate your business’ identity. This is where you can link your social media profiles and even your Wikipedia page, if you have one.

Serves Cuisine

This field is looking for text describing the type of cuisine served. It only applies to restaurants.

URL

This is the URL of your page. Copy it directly from the address bar and paste it in.

Sample JSON-LD from Baker Street Station Example

From the Schema App Editor you are able to see all the JSON-LD that you’ve created. In order to visualize the work we have done, here is the JSON-LD of the BarOrPub data item that we created for Baker Street Station.

{

"@context": "http://schema.org",

"@type": "BarOrPub",

"areaServed": "http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q504114",

"telephone": "+1519-265-7960",

"description": "Craft Beer and Good Food in #Guelph.",

"sameAs": [

"https://twitter.com/BakerStStation",

"https://www.facebook.com/bakerstreetstation/",

"https://www.instagram.com/bakerststation/"

"image": "https://res.cloudinary.com/scvr/image/upload/c_fill,dpr_auto,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto,w_576/v1/production/gallery_photos/images/000/003/995/original/baker_logo.png",

"hasMenu": [