Google is smart, but it's not psychic. When it crawls your website, it's reading text and code — not understanding your business the way a human would.
Schema markup is structured data you add to your website's code that explicitly tells Google: "This is a dental clinic. It's located at this address in Edmonton. It's open these hours. It offers these services. Customers rate it 4.8 stars."
Without schema, Google has to guess what your content means. With it, you're giving Google a cheat sheet. And Google rewards clarity with better search results — including rich snippets, knowledge panels, and enhanced Map Pack listings.
What Schema Markup Looks Like
Schema is JSON-LD code placed in the <head> of your web pages. You don't see it on the page — it's invisible to visitors but readable by search engines.
Here's a simplified example for an Edmonton plumbing company:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Plumber",
"name": "Edmonton Plumbing Co.",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "123 Main Street",
"addressLocality": "Edmonton",
"addressRegion": "AB",
"postalCode": "T5K 0A1",
"addressCountry": "CA"
},
"telephone": "+1-780-555-1234",
"openingHours": ["Mo-Fr 08:00-17:00", "Sa 09:00-14:00"],
"url": "https://example.com",
"areaServed": ["Edmonton", "St. Albert", "Sherwood Park"],
"priceRange": "$"
}
This tells Google everything in a format it can immediately process — no guessing required.
Schema Types Every Edmonton Business Should Implement
LocalBusiness (or Specific Subtype)
The foundation. Use the most specific type that matches your business:
Dentist(not justMedicalBusiness)Plumber(not justHomeAndConstructionBusiness)LegalServiceorAttorneyRestaurant(withservesCuisineproperty)AutoRepairGeneralContractor
Include: name, address, phone, hours, URL, service area, price range, logo, image.
Service Schema
For each service you offer:
- Service name
- Description
- Service area
- Provider (your business)
- Associated with your LocalBusiness schema
This helps Google connect your services to specific search queries. A plumber listing "Emergency Plumbing," "Drain Cleaning," and "Water Heater Installation" as separate services gives Google three more reasons to show the business for those searches.
Review/AggregateRating Schema
Display your star rating directly in search results:
- Average rating
- Number of reviews
- Best/worst rating
Important: Google has strict guidelines about review schema. Reviews must be collected by your site (first-party) — you can't just mark up your Google reviews. If you collect testimonials on your website, those can be marked up.
FAQ Schema
Turn your FAQ page into rich results with expandable questions directly in Google search:
- Each question-answer pair gets marked up
- Can earn significant search real estate
- Particularly valuable for "People Also Ask" positioning
BreadcrumbList Schema
Show your site hierarchy in search results:
Edmonton-SEO.com > Services > Local SEO
This improves click-through rates and helps Google understand your site structure.
Article Schema
For blog posts:
- Headline
- Author
- Date published and modified
- Image
- Publisher (your business)
Helps Google understand and properly index your content.
How to Implement Schema
For WordPress Users
Plugins handle most schema automatically:
- Yoast SEO — Basic LocalBusiness and Article schema
- Rank Math — More comprehensive schema options
- Schema Pro — Dedicated schema plugin with extensive type support
Set up the plugin, fill in your business details, and verify with Google's testing tool.
For Custom Sites
Add JSON-LD scripts to your page templates:
- LocalBusiness schema on every page (or at minimum, your homepage and contact page)
- Service schema on service pages
- FAQ schema on FAQ pages
- Article schema on blog posts
For Shopify
Use Shopify's built-in Product schema, and supplement with a schema app for LocalBusiness and other types.
Testing Your Schema
Google's Rich Results Test
search.google.com/test/rich-results — Enter your URL and see which rich results your page is eligible for. Fix any errors or warnings.
Schema Markup Validator
validator.schema.org — Validates your markup against the Schema.org specification.
Google Search Console
The Enhancements section shows schema-related issues across your entire site — errors, warnings, and valid items for each schema type detected.
Common Schema Mistakes
Using the wrong business type. Organization when you should use Dentist. LocalBusiness when Plumber is available. Always use the most specific type.
Inconsistent NAP. Your schema NAP must match your GBP, your website footer, and your citations exactly. Any discrepancy weakens the signal.
Marking up content that doesn't exist on the page. Schema should describe content that's visible on the page, not add invisible information. Google penalizes "hidden" markup.
Review schema without actual reviews. Don't use AggregateRating schema with made-up ratings. Google will eventually catch it and you'll lose eligibility for review rich results entirely.
Not testing after implementation. Schema errors silently prevent rich results. Always test with Google's tool after adding or modifying markup.
The Impact
Properly implemented schema won't single-handedly rank your site #1. But it:
- Earns rich results that increase click-through rates by 20-30%
- Gives Google clearer signals about your business, services, and location
- Supports your local SEO signals with structured location data
- Enables FAQ results that can dominate search real estate
- Future-proofs your site for AI search platforms that rely on structured data
Most Edmonton business websites have zero schema markup. Implementing it puts you ahead of the vast majority immediately.
Get your schema markup audited →
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