How worthwhile is schema markup for a local business?
-
One of our clients was told that they need to implement schema on their website, and now they're very concerned that the lack of schema might be holding them back. We could certainly implement it for them, but I'm doubtful how much of a difference it will make. The client is a plastic surgery practice, so their content is fairly straightforward (services, locations, photo galleries, etc.). We're planning to add schema markup to their name, address and phone info in their website footer, but we're not sure if it's worthwhile doing anything beyond that. (I'm assuming schema markup for customer ratings would best be handled by a dedicated review management system like RealPatientRatings.com). What would you recommend for schema implementation?
-
Thanks, Miriam! I'll take a look at those two links.
-
Hi Christopher!
David Deering over at Whitespark just wrote a really super blog post on this topic. I highly recommend:
http://www.whitespark.ca/blog/post/50-how-to-make-your-local-business-schema-better
Is it absolutely necessary for every local business to use Schema? No ... honestly not. But in a competitive market where your client wants to be the best, then yes, clearly structured data may be a competitive difference maker. I think Deering's article will help you assess whether the effort will be worth it for your client, if you weigh it against their level of competition and their need to be on top.
*Also, be sure to check out this Moz thread on the subject of recent changes in Google's stated attitude toward schema and testimonials:
-
Thanks, guys. I'll check what their competitors are doing (I doubt they're doing much, if anything at all). Then we'll implement the NAP markup and maybe call it good there, so we can focus on more productive activities going forward.
-
It's not really holding them back. I would start with the usual, NAP markups on each page of the site since its a local business. Plus the maps markup.
Then dedicate the time to checking what the competitors are doing vs what your client has right now (more citations? etc)
That should stop them from worrying about schema at this point so you can focus on making them improve in rankings.
-
As a ranking factor it's not a huge boost, but it could help with click through rates depending on the presentation of the search results. Richard Baxter did a nice study on this a couple of years back here: http://builtvisible.com/review-snippet-over-saturation-in-google-search-results/, and concluded it was a little over-played in some searches; however, beneficial in others. To better tackle this perhaps do what Richard did and look at results for some of the clients top performing words, then address the page as a whole, so instead of saying, "Hey you're number 2 for this keyword," present the page with a break down of where they appear and what happens if someone clicks on a result that's not them, but a review about them, whether or not review stars look to be a differentiating quality, if they could get into image results that would have an impact, and so on. Cheers!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
No Appreciable Effect of Moz Local?
I've been using Moz Local for over a year and these are the results for $129?! ... https://moz.com/products/local/check-listing?ubrecheckid=152151793&ubrechecktoken=zc2pg9Ic2qkADDYL Please advise.
Local SEO | | ianpritchardphd0 -
How to rank in Google against a business with the same name?
My client has a coworking space in London, but shares its name with a recruitment company also in London. When searching for my client's brand name, they don't appear anywhere on the first page as this recruitment company dominates. How can I rank prominently for my brand term if there is someone else in these top spots who isn't a direct competitor (in the typical sense)? Thank you!
Local SEO | | WhitewallGlasgow0 -
Local Site stuck on page 2 for years. Can’t penetrate page 1! Help!
Hey there Moz community! This is the first time I've ever asked a question here so please forgive if I slip up on any etiquette. I manage a website for a small Orlando Florida family law and divorce law firm who are targeting search phrases that include those "Orlando divorce attorney" variants. The site is located at https://www.affordablefamilylawyer.com/ If you run a search for "Orlando divorce attorney" along with close variant search terms our law firm website for about the past two years has hovered at the top of the second page of google but has never actually penetrated page 1. When you examine metrics such as page authority, domain authority, trust, and other traditional metrics it tells you that our site should be on page 1 but alas it's not happening. We have, however been featured quite often in the three pack for the local listings for the target search terms. Though valuable, our goal has always been to be featured in the top three of the organic search results. To add to the confusion we have a practice area page located at https://www.affordablefamilylawyer.com/orlando-divorce-lawyer/ dedicated to divorce and expected that page to rank for these divorce attorney search terms but it will not rank for the search terms and instead our homepage ranks for them every single time regardless of how we swap around the optimization on the page. Never had any manual actions. any help you guys can offer is greatly appreciated and I really appreciate your time!
Local SEO | | Seanthewood1230 -
Micro Data Schema Warning - How to solve?
How to solve the Price range warning. i'm using Yoast Local plugin, i've tried many things like dollar sign, and put price range $1000 - $2000 with no luck. Thanks in advanced
Local SEO | | batot_mahmoud0 -
Getting Schooled in Local by 'Lesser' Brands?
Hi Moz! First question I've asked here. I've been working on campaign for my company (regional solar installation company in Northeast USA) for close to 7 years, we've always done well in local search but recently have noticed sites that, for lack of a better word, we 'school' in terms of all the usual metrics - better/more consistent local listings, better domain strength, better backlink profile, bigger company (in the real world), brand recognition, etc... However recently we have started seeing smaller competitors beat us in state-specific rankings, using stuff I would call 'old school' SEO that is no longer really tolerated, in theory - stuffing keywords onto page, keywords in domain, etc... domains of much less strength pulling #1 or #2 terms. Based on data I don't actually think keywords like "solar + state name" are actually that powerfully but frankly it is bit embarrassing to get crushed by 1-2 person companies when you have a 150+ company with a three-person in-house digital marketing team. My strategy so far has consisted of building a better Google review solicitation process, adding schema markup to our project gallery, and some SEO 101 stuff like reworking keywords and title tags. I've noticed a strong uptick on our site of leads from outside our territory (like folks from all across the USA who are NOT in our service territory) - I'm almost thinking I've done 'too good' a job of building a nationally relevant website and not enough state-specific options. Has anyone ever experienced something like this? Any clever strategies beyond the obvious? Can share more specifics if it'll be helpful. Cheers,
Local SEO | | revisionsolar
Fred0 -
Schema for Multiple Stores
Our business has 26 stores throughout the UK and the website has a page for each of these that includes contact information, a Google map, a form etc. I was going to add some LD-JSON Schema to all of my pages so that Google would display my social profiles in the SERPS: My problem with this is that I'm worrying my store pages may have a conflict with the data that it is pulling from the individual Google Business Pages that each store has set up. Should I only include the social profile Schema on the home page of my website or could I include this on every page except my store pages - and on these, display "LocalBusiness" Schema? I just don't want to do anything that will confuse Google!
Local SEO | | LiamMcArthur0 -
Whitespark or Moz Local
Hello all, We can't use Moz Local as we're in the UK. Tempted to use Whitespark, but not quite sure what the differences are between the two. Also, can a website design / digital marketing agency be considered to be a local business - in Googles eyes? Thanks!
Local SEO | | wseabrook
William1 -
Citations for a non-local campaign?
Is it worth building citations if one is targeting a national campaign with NO local keywords? Even if they have some effect, are they really worth the time, effort and costs?
Local SEO | | Gavo0