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FreeYour site + Google's free test toolsAbout 40 min

Add Schema That Only Says What Is True

Schema is a block of code that tells search tools the facts about your business. It has to match what a visitor can see on the page. If it claims more, it hurts you.

Why This Matters
The worst mistake is copying schema from a site with five star reviews and pasting it onto yours. You have no such reviews on that page. Google says not to mark up content visitors cannot see. Breaking that can cost you rich results or draw a manual action.

✓ How To Do It

  1. Write down the facts that are printed on your page. Business name, address, phone, hours and the services you list.
  2. Use the LocalBusiness type or a closer type for your trade. Google requires name and address, and recommends phone and hours.
  3. Put the same phone number in the schema that shows on the page. Use the number your visitors see.
  4. Only add an address people can visit. If you work from a truck and travel to customers, list the area you serve and skip the street address.
  5. Add the Service type for each service page, with the same name the page uses.
  6. If a page has a visible question and answer list, add FAQPage schema with the same words. If the page has no list, add none.
  7. Do not add star ratings or review counts about yourself. Only add them if a visitor can see real reviews on that very page and you control none of the wording.
  8. Check the code in the free Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator. Fix every error.
  9. Open the page and read the schema next to the visible text, line by line. Delete any line you cannot find on the page.
  10. Check again after every edit to hours or phone numbers. Old hours in schema are a lie too.
Done WhenSave the Rich Results Test result for your home page and a note that every schema fact was matched to visible text.
Tips & Pitfalls
  • See Add and Validate Schema for the first pass.
  • No award, rating or badge goes in schema unless you earned it and can link the source.
  • Schema does not guarantee any special display.
Done with this step? Mark it complete to track your campaign progress.